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> put water into cans People need to stop buying packaged water. Municipal water in developed countries is always cleaner than bottled water. There are very lo

> put water into cans People need to stop buying packaged water. Municipal water in developed countries is always cleaner than bottled water. There are very low standards for bottled water where as city water in the US, EU, Japan et. al. are tested constantly (in some cities; up to 400 times per month at various sites and sections). Bottled water is at 1000% markup compared city/water fountains. It is also almost always tap water. It's a plight on the world in plastic/oil waste and people need to stop buying it. Putting it in cans will not make it better, and countries without clean water need heavily to invest in better domestic clean water infrastructure. It should be the highest priority of ever low income country to provide this most basic need to its people. The documentaries Blue Gold and Tapped go into the issues with the private and bottled water industries.

esotericn 7y ago
It's so weird that this just sort of happened. I don't think it was even 15 years ago that bottled water was like, a non-thing. It might sort of be in shops but people would laugh at it. It's one of those collective action problems whereby I'd happily pay ten quid a year or whatever stupidly low cost would be required to have some free fountains. Gah.
- slavik81 7y ago
  Even 15 years ago, vending machines sold many different flavours of bottled water. As people became more health-concious, the sugar-free variety grew more popular. It's less mysterious when you consider the sales trends for bottled soft drinks vs bottled water. People are buying bottled water in situations where they used to buy bottled soda.
  - esotericn 7y ago
    It's still pretty mysterious to me. I can't really grok statistical trends - I need stories of individuals and why they felt, for example, at some moment in time, paying a dollar for a bottle of water felt like a reasonable thing to do over just like, asking someone to fill a bottle they probably had in their car. It's not even the pollution stuff, it's more like, you've just paid for a free resource. Wat? Bottled soda is completely different because it's a resource that isn't anywhere close to free.
fingerlocks 7y ago
This is not true in the United States[1]. Bottled water from municipal sources must be re-filtered by various means, eliminating chlorine, heavy minerals, and other contaminates beyond the acceptable levels for the municipal source alone. [1]https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/bottled-water-everywhere-keeping-it-safe https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/bottled-water...
- GuB-42 7y ago
  It is not what's written in the link you provided. It just says that bottled water can be tap water that may be purified. And obviously, that bottled water has to be drinkable, just like tap water. The only indication that tap water may be inferior is that the tolerance for lead is higher in tap water, to account for possibly of lead piping. But I suppose that you can check your water if you think it is a problem.
  - fingerlocks 7y ago
    I think you're being pedantic. What I wrote is true for purified bottled water. The FDA link says "Municipal water is usually treated before it is bottled." and then "water that has been treated...may meet standards that allow it to be labeled as “purified water.”". If you believe that bottled water is less clean than tap, then only one of the following must be true: 1. The sourced municipal tap water is already purified such that any additional treatment does nothing. 2. The bottled water in question is not labeled as purified (and is not from a spring, well, or other non-municipal source). A quick internet search reveals that all the major bottled water brands are either explicitly labeled as purified municipal tap (Smart Water, Dasani), or excluded from the discussion because they are from a spring or well (Evian, Arrowhead). I have yet find a single brand of unpurified non-spring water. However, I did learn that all bottled water regardless of source must meet the U.S. Pharmacopeia 23rd Rev. standards (which are unfortunately paywalled). It seems unlikely you'll encounter unpurified, straight-from-the-tap bottled water, striking conjecture #2 from the list. Therefore, if conjecture #1 is true, then the only thing that can be said is bottled water is at least as good as municipal tap, but never worse.
s_y_n_t_a_x 7y ago
The problem is there are usually no fountains around. It's funny, last time I went to LAX I couldn't find a single place to refill our water bottle, meanwhile IAH in Houston has them everywhere. Also, in a lot of countries bottled water is tested and is much better than the local drinking water. It's necessary when you go to Thailand or Mexico for example. It's also necessary for some places in the US.
scottlocklin 7y ago
I'll stop drinking bottled (mostly mineral out of glass if you must know) water when the stuff out the spigot stops tasting like swimming pool water from all the chloramine. It's disgusting, and it didn't used to happen: chlorine worked just fine without making your water taste like the swimming pool. There was absolutely no reason to switch to chloramine other than some chemical company greased a politician. And no I don't care about your goofy stats telling me it's "safe" (or dangerous for that matter, though I assume it probably ain't good for you) -it tastes like a goddamned swimming pool.
- whenchamenia 7y ago
  An RO filter should clear that right up.

esotericn 7y ago

It's so weird that this just sort of happened. I don't think it was even 15 years ago that bottled water was like, a non-thing. It might sort of be in shops but people would laugh at it. It's one of those collective action problems whereby I'd happily pay ten quid a year or whatever stupidly low cost would be required to have some free fountains. Gah.

slavik81 7y ago
Even 15 years ago, vending machines sold many different flavours of bottled water. As people became more health-concious, the sugar-free variety grew more popular. It's less mysterious when you consider the sales trends for bottled soft drinks vs bottled water. People are buying bottled water in situations where they used to buy bottled soda.
- esotericn 7y ago
  It's still pretty mysterious to me. I can't really grok statistical trends - I need stories of individuals and why they felt, for example, at some moment in time, paying a dollar for a bottle of water felt like a reasonable thing to do over just like, asking someone to fill a bottle they probably had in their car. It's not even the pollution stuff, it's more like, you've just paid for a free resource. Wat? Bottled soda is completely different because it's a resource that isn't anywhere close to free.

fingerlocks 7y ago

This is not true in the United States[1]. Bottled water from municipal sources must be re-filtered by various means, eliminating chlorine, heavy minerals, and other contaminates beyond the acceptable levels for the municipal source alone. [1]https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/bottled-water-everywhere-keeping-it-safe https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/bottled-water...

GuB-42 7y ago
It is not what's written in the link you provided. It just says that bottled water can be tap water that may be purified. And obviously, that bottled water has to be drinkable, just like tap water. The only indication that tap water may be inferior is that the tolerance for lead is higher in tap water, to account for possibly of lead piping. But I suppose that you can check your water if you think it is a problem.
- fingerlocks 7y ago
  I think you're being pedantic. What I wrote is true for purified bottled water. The FDA link says "Municipal water is usually treated before it is bottled." and then "water that has been treated...may meet standards that allow it to be labeled as “purified water.”". If you believe that bottled water is less clean than tap, then only one of the following must be true: 1. The sourced municipal tap water is already purified such that any additional treatment does nothing. 2. The bottled water in question is not labeled as purified (and is not from a spring, well, or other non-municipal source). A quick internet search reveals that all the major bottled water brands are either explicitly labeled as purified municipal tap (Smart Water, Dasani), or excluded from the discussion because they are from a spring or well (Evian, Arrowhead). I have yet find a single brand of unpurified non-spring water. However, I did learn that all bottled water regardless of source must meet the U.S. Pharmacopeia 23rd Rev. standards (which are unfortunately paywalled). It seems unlikely you'll encounter unpurified, straight-from-the-tap bottled water, striking conjecture #2 from the list. Therefore, if conjecture #1 is true, then the only thing that can be said is bottled water is at least as good as municipal tap, but never worse.

s_y_n_t_a_x 7y ago

The problem is there are usually no fountains around. It's funny, last time I went to LAX I couldn't find a single place to refill our water bottle, meanwhile IAH in Houston has them everywhere. Also, in a lot of countries bottled water is tested and is much better than the local drinking water. It's necessary when you go to Thailand or Mexico for example. It's also necessary for some places in the US.

scottlocklin 7y ago

I'll stop drinking bottled (mostly mineral out of glass if you must know) water when the stuff out the spigot stops tasting like swimming pool water from all the chloramine. It's disgusting, and it didn't used to happen: chlorine worked just fine without making your water taste like the swimming pool. There was absolutely no reason to switch to chloramine other than some chemical company greased a politician. And no I don't care about your goofy stats telling me it's "safe" (or dangerous for that matter, though I assume it probably ain't good for you) -it tastes like a goddamned swimming pool.

whenchamenia 7y ago
An RO filter should clear that right up.