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Good news. Now they should switch to tap water and it'll also be a win for the environment. (To anticipate answers: Yes, I know, in the US water often contains

• Grishnakh 10y ago
  Tap water is crap. It tastes bad, it has chlorine in it, and sometimes the treatment plant screws up and it becomes contaminated. Anyone in Flint, MI will tell you that advocating tap water is a terrible idea. Reverse-osmosis treated water is almost dirt cheap. I get mine from the local Walmart, in heavy-duty refillable 3 or 5-gallon jugs. It costs me $0.37 per gallon to refill one of my jugs. At that price, there's no reason to suffer with tap water, for either drinking or cooking. I recommend the 3-gallon jugs though; it's easier to carry them and to pour them into smaller 1-gallon jugs or water bottles at home.
• Practicality 10y ago
  "there's no good reason to buy bottled water if your water supply is reasonable" You pretty much explained why many of us drink bottled water, since our supply is not reasonable. :)
  • Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
    Could always filter it yourself.
    • hannob 10y ago
      There's a lot of pseudoscience in water filtering devices.
      • Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
        They do noticably improve the taste in my experience. There's also a lot of psuedoscience in bottled water as well.
      • ars 10y ago
        So don't buy those? Buy an actual, normal, carbon filter?
    • amalag 10y ago
      This is the best answer. Even in a place like Flint, it would be so much cheaper to put a top of the line whole house filter in each house rather than some of the crazy things they were doing like bringing in bottled water.
  • k__ 10y ago
    it's even bought WITH reasonable supply... humans are strange
  • AlexandrB 10y ago
    > You pretty much explained why many of us drink bottled water, since our supply is not reasonable. :) Citation needed. Some choice quotes from Wikipedia[1]: 'The Environmental Protection Agency regulations for tap water are "actually stricter than the Food and Drug Administration regulations for bottled water."' 'A study of drinking water in Cincinnati, Ohio, discovered that bacterial counts in bottled water were often higher than those in tap water and fluoride concentration was inconsistent.' [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottled_water#Perceptions_about_bottled_water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottled_water#Perceptions_abou...
    • d_e_solomon 10y ago
      I agree with your gist, but also Cincinnati has a really good water system: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/water/news/platinum-award-for-utility-excellence/ http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/water/news/platinum-award-for-u...
    • revelation 10y ago
      I don't think they take into account that chlorinated water tastes like shit. Unless you filter it at home with some effort.
      • ars 10y ago
        > Unless you filter it at home with some effort. It's not that much effort. If all you care about is taste they sell kits for under $100, and then you don't need the effort of lugging water.
    • CarVac 10y ago
      People buy bottled water for the taste, not for the cleanliness. If you have bad tap water, it's not like you can just shop around for another provider. But bottled water does actually compete on taste; I do prefer some brands over others when given the choice. But I've gotten lucky with fine-tasting tap water, anyway.
      • notyourloops 10y ago
  • hannob 10y ago
    Maybe true. May also be a nocebo issue. Heard many people claiming that "tap water in XY is terrible" while every study shows that it's not true. Often tap water quality is better than bottled water.
    • rootusrootus 10y ago
      My wife is a good example. She absolutely refuses to drink water from the tap -- and we live in Portland, Oregon, which arguably has some of the purest water in the USA.
      • swift 10y ago
        The point has been made several times in this thread, but some of this may be a matter of what you expect water to taste like. I grew up in a small town where the water had a kind of "mineral-y" flavor to it, and tap water in most places tastes a little off to me by comparison. I know that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it, though.
    • notyourloops 10y ago
      I doubt it's a nocebo effect when you can even smell the difference. I have a reusable metal bottle and can tell when I've refilled it straight from the tap vs. a filtered water source.
  • alkonaut 10y ago
    Maybe the fact that you have accepted having to buy drinking water in a bottle is now at least partly to blame for the tap water quality not improving? Are people demanding that their tap water be as good as the best bottled water? If not, why?
  • niftich 10y ago
    Las Vegas has water that meets the standard of 'very hard' [1], so when I go there and stay with friends it's a challenge to take a nice shower (soap doesn't want to lather), and water from the tap tastes noticeably chalkier than in other places. But my friend has thyroid issues and avoids the tap water due to perchlorates [2], which were produced industrially in Henderson and leeched into the groundwater. Though the levels are considered safe, her particular health issue makes it more of a concern. So bottled water is everywhere at their house, but also at the houses of other people I know in the area. I'm guessing some of it is because it's always hot so it's nice to have a ready-made bottle of water on-hand whenever you need it, and possibly because in Las Vegas, tap water is perceived as expensive (even though this isn't actually true [3]) On the east coast in a metro that ranks as having one of the best municipal water systems, buying large amounts of bottled water is foreign to me, and only crosses my mind if I'm preparing for inclement weather or an extended road-trip. Though I wish our 'best municipal water' tasted more to my liking, a Brita filter adds a pleasant blend of minerals that tastes close to non-store-brand bottled water. [1] https://www.lvvwd.com/wq/facts_hard.html https://www.lvvwd.com/wq/facts_hard.html [2] https://www.lvvwd.com/wq/facts_perchlorate.html https://www.lvvwd.com/wq/facts_perchlorate.html [3] http://www.circleofblue.org/2015/world/price-of-water-2015-up-6-percent-in-30-major-u-s-cities-41-percent-rise-since-2010/ http://www.circleofblue.org/2015/world/price-of-water-2015-u...
• usaphp 10y ago
  I recently moved to San Diego from New York, the tap water here is unbearable to drink, it tasted horrible, like you are drinking mold, filters don't help that much, still tastes horrible. I won't drink that, never mind giving it to my kids
  • segmondy 10y ago
    This is really and truly sad that USA can't provide drinkable water.
    • Naritai 10y ago
      "Drinkable" and "Tastes like the water tasted where I grew up" are very different things. There is not one flavor of water any more than there is one shade of white. There's no evidence that the water OP refers to is actually not drinkable.
      • usaphp 10y ago
        To be exact - It smells like water from a swamp. Hard to satisfy your thirst by drinking that nasty smell
        • webkike 10y ago
          If your water is literally smelly than it is either something wrong with your pipes or psychosomatic. I can't imagine that the entire city of San Diego is distributing water that has an odor. I have never had this problem in San Diego. I would suggest calling the city if this is truly a problem.
          • NegativeK 10y ago
            Smell is not an indication of danger. Municipal water in Florida often has the smell of sulfur, due to the presence of sulfur -- and if I'm remembering correctly, a relative who works at the state equivalent of the EPA told me that it's common in coastal areas due to byproducts of bacteria in the water table. But it's completely harmless. I can only speak for Florida, though.
• firebird84 10y ago
  In the US if taste is your problem put a filter on it. If you don't live in Flint, MI, this should be good enough.
  • JoeAltmaier 10y ago
    Mine comes from my well! 110 ft down
  • ars 10y ago
    Even in Flint you can buy filters with lead reduction. I recommend the KX Matrikx 06-250-125-975, it costs about half a cent ($.005) a gallon.
  • camiller 10y ago
    My tap water (Omaha, NE) is ok for most things including drinking, although in the spring the chlorine content goes way up. For drinking, my wife likes the pur filter in the fridge, but I use a special hot filtration process to improve the flavor. For making beer, I will typically use RO water purchased from the grocery in 5 gallon refillable jugs and build back the mineral profile I want for the particular beer style I'm brewing that day.
• Raphmedia 10y ago
  My main issue with tap waster isn't the waste treatment facilities. It's the pipes in my neighbourhood and in my old apartment building.
• mrob 10y ago
  There's another good reason to buy bottled water: water is heavy. If you're walking or cycling somewhere you might not want to carry water when you can buy some at your destination. If you remove this option you might do more environmental harm than good by encouraging use of motor vehicles.
  • Johnny555 10y ago
    When I cycle somewhere, I fill up my bottle when I get there (or along the way). I know where all of the water fountains are on my regular cycling routes. Likewise, when I go for a long walk or a hike, I carry a bottle along and fill it as needed.
  • ufmace 10y ago
    Indeed water is heavy. So get it to your home in the most efficient way - through pipes. I'm happy to do it just to avoid having to carry home everything I drink.
    • toomuchtodo 10y ago
      As soon as distributed rooftop solar takes off, I see a large industry in condensing drinking water directly out of the air with surplus energy. https://github.com/openawg/openawg/tree/master/blueice https://github.com/openawg/openawg/tree/master/blueice
  • woodman 10y ago
    If you find a bottle of water to be that great an encumbrance, then you were never really going to walk or cycle anywhere. There are plenty of good reasons to drive somewhere, but cupholders isn't one of them.
• wnevets 10y ago
  the beverage industry has done a great job marketing the idea that the US water supply isnt clean, at a 1000% markup of course.
  • WalterBright 10y ago
    I'm always bemused that bottled water costs more than gasoline.
    • wnevets 10y ago
      bottled water and printer ink, the most expensive liquids on the planet.
      • wmil 10y ago
        The most expensive liquid is actually bull semen. Yes, that's a real product. Dairy/cattle farmers often need it.
    • Grazester 10y ago
      I never did understand this especially for distilled water
    • Grishnakh 10y ago
      It's about convenience and also distribution costs. It simply isn't very efficient putting water into a bunch of tiny bottles and selling them individually. If you want cheap "bottled" water, find a place that has a reverse-osmosis vending machine. Basically, you bring your own bottles (it's better if you get the big 3 or 5-gallon jugs), put them in, put in some money, press a button, and it refills the bottle using the RO equipment in the machine. The cost is generally pretty cheap: $0.25-50 per gallon (I pay $0.37 locally). It's not as cheap as tap obviously, but it's a lot cheaper than gasoline, or pre-packaged bottled water, and a whole lot cheaper than overpriced fancy brands like Evian.
• joesmo 10y ago
  How can one know if the water is reasonable in the US? We certainly cannot trust the local governments tasked with this job. Recent events in Flint and hundreds of other places in the US show that, if you can afford it, bottled water is at least safe compared to the local tap water (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/19/erin-brockovich-is-back-to-fight-in-flint.html http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/19/erin-brocko...). I guess it's either that or get out the science kits every day and test your own water. Which I'm sure takes a lot more time and money than buying bottled. Basically, drinking tap water in the US is a huge gamble and it's not worth it. You don't have to leave the country to get third world water. It's everywhere here. Then again, much of the US is third world if you judge by such criteria as clean water and healthcare access.
• ramblenode 10y ago
  Further on the point of bottled water, around 45% of brands actually just bottle municipal tap water [0]. [0] http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/03/bottled-water-poland-spring-rubio http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/03/bottled-water...
• Grangar 10y ago
  In my city the water comes straight from a natural reserve, it often actually tastes better than bottled water! A large company gets its water there as well.