5 ms·

I knew a girl in college that would only drink bottled water. She had convinced herself there was a taste difference. She wouldn't even drink tap water filtered

I knew a girl in college that would only drink bottled water. She had convinced herself there was a taste difference. She wouldn't even drink tap water filtered from a brita filter

greatpostman 3y ago
There’s a huge difference
- fullstop 3y ago
  Not where I live, but my local water supply has been tapped by Deer Park [1]. I still filter the drinking water, but my tap quality is fantastic. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_Park_Spring_Water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_Park_Spring_Water
rvnx 3y ago
She was right, there is a big difference. Try Evian versus the waters sold by Coca-Cola (that are tap-water equivalent) and you can really feel it.
6d6b73 3y ago
All that plastic must have some taste, right?
monktastic1 3y ago
Difference from what? Even different municipalities have vastly different tastes from each other. (That said, it's never bothered me to drink tap water wherever I go, and acclimate quickly. I think the bottled water trend is insane.)
ImHereToVote 3y ago
Aren't Brita filters gonna have the same problem as the nanoplastics discussed in this article? The article specifically says that the plastic isn't from the bottles themselves.
xyst 3y ago
The marketing teams behind bottled water successfully brainwashed people. Most people don’t even realize it
- diggan 3y ago
  Ignoring the taste differences between bottled water and non-bottled water, don't you think water overall can have different taste? Water from different places in the world have different contents, why wouldn't that affect the taste? And if we can agree that different water can taste different, why couldn't some bottled water taste different than non-bottled water?
Clubber 3y ago
Ironically a lot of bottled water is just tap. It's one of the biggest scams out there. You're also generally paying 1600x markup. https://stonepierpress.org/goodfoodnews/bottled-water-or-tap#:~:text=Most%20bottled%20water%20is%20actually,and%20Poland%20Spring%2C%20among%20others https://stonepierpress.org/goodfoodnews/bottled-water-or-tap....
Thorrez 3y ago
I think there is a taste difference. Did you ask her to try a blind taste test?
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
cssinate 3y ago
I had a roommate like this. So I set up a blind taste test. I set up 10 tests with two glasses each, most of which had one of each type, but I think 3 had either both bottled or both tap. Regardless, it came out int he end, that he couldn't even tell them apart, let alone have a favorite. For some reason, even after the test, he continued to drink bottled water.
- smaccona 3y ago
  Penn & Teller did an episode years ago where they tried to debunk the claim that there was any difference between tap and bottled water. They colluded with a New York City restaurant where the waiters told customers that the restaurant was trying out several new waters and asking customers to taste test each one before deciding which one they should ultimately go with. They made up fake bottle labels such as "Arctic Mist", "Himalayan Snow" and similar (I can't remember the actual names), and in reality Penn and Teller were filling the water bottles from a garden hose in the back of the restaurant with New York City tap water (though admittedly NYC water is very good). Not only did the customers like the waters, many of them claimed that one was much better than another, expressed a preference, and justified the preference with comments along the lines of "I can really taste the difference in this one, it's more XXX". There was even one customer who refused to believe Penn and Teller when they revealed that all of the bottles contained NYC tap water, and insisted that the waters were different from each other. A true testament to how the mind can fool itself. The episode in question used to be available on YouTube, but now appears to be paywalled by Paramount+ unfortunately.
  - 93po 3y ago
    clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2qydjVbLJk&t=2s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2qydjVbLJk&t=2s
    - ungruntled 3y ago
      I’m sure people can hallucinate differences in taste, but there are very much differences in taste between water sources and water stored in different containers. For instance, many restaurants in nyc serve tap water in glass containers cleaned with bleach and improperly rinsed so you smell the chlorine. The water supply itself can contain chlorine, for instance in many countries chlorine is added to the water supply for various reasons including known mixing of fresh and sewage water. Plastics used in water bottles affect taste and smell. Aquafina and Dasani bottles for instance have a commonly known strong taste of plastic. Plastic bottles left in sunlight for prolonged periods will have an even stronger taste and smell. Cities will change water sources periodically. For instance nyc recently in the last few years adjusted their sources and building managers sent notices saying the new source will taste more “nutritious and earthy”. My building also has had a hot water boiler and cold water mixture issue as well as a contaminant issue that they solved by introducing additional chlorine. However the cold water also is frequently rusty and brown from boiler water mixing in, which probably has its own flavor. Taste can differ from building to building, city to city, container to container.
kstrauser 3y ago
I’ve been in places with bad tasting tap water. Today I live in East Bay, CA and our tap water is amazing. If I were faced with the sludge coming out of the pipe in some places, I’d stock up on Brita pitchers. Here, I never go out of my way to filter it.
AlexandrB 3y ago
I find that water flavour has a strong context-sensitive component. For example, I find water tastes really good when I'm really thirsty or after a workout. Any flavour differences between water sources are completely overpowered by this effect for me.
- foxyv 3y ago
  I've also found that drinking water while there is moving water around you makes it taste better. So like, if there is a trickle of water coming out of the sink or a fountain.
tivert 3y ago
> I knew a girl in college that would only drink bottled water. She had convinced herself there was a taste difference. She wouldn't even drink tap water filtered from a brita filter There almost certainly is a taste difference. The mineral content is likely different, and the plastic from the bottle can have an influence, too. I can definitely taste a difference between our (Pur-filtered) tap water and the cheap bottled water we get. When I was a kid, I wouldn't drink Aquafina (or Dasani) because they tasted plasticky. I attributed it to them using the same plastic for Cola bottles, without the overpowering flavors to mask subtle tastes from the plastic. I'm not as picky now, but my taste buds have gotten less sensitive and it's also possible they fixed the issue.
dns_snek 3y ago
There's an obvious taste difference between bottled water Vs straight tap water Vs filtered water, ime. That said, you will get used to the different taste after a couple of days and you won't even notice it, so that's not a good reason to buy bottled water.
- TylerE 3y ago
  I'be been in the same house for 30 years and the tap water still tastes like ass to me - and that's city water from a relatively well-resourced town.

I knew a girl in college that would only drink bottled water. She had convinced herself there was a taste difference. She wouldn't even drink tap water filtered from a brita filter

greatpostman 3y ago

There’s a huge difference

fullstop 3y ago
Not where I live, but my local water supply has been tapped by Deer Park [1]. I still filter the drinking water, but my tap quality is fantastic. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_Park_Spring_Water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_Park_Spring_Water

rvnx 3y ago

She was right, there is a big difference. Try Evian versus the waters sold by Coca-Cola (that are tap-water equivalent) and you can really feel it.

6d6b73 3y ago

All that plastic must have some taste, right?

monktastic1 3y ago

Difference from what? Even different municipalities have vastly different tastes from each other. (That said, it's never bothered me to drink tap water wherever I go, and acclimate quickly. I think the bottled water trend is insane.)

ImHereToVote 3y ago

Aren't Brita filters gonna have the same problem as the nanoplastics discussed in this article? The article specifically says that the plastic isn't from the bottles themselves.

xyst 3y ago

The marketing teams behind bottled water successfully brainwashed people. Most people don’t even realize it

diggan 3y ago
Ignoring the taste differences between bottled water and non-bottled water, don't you think water overall can have different taste? Water from different places in the world have different contents, why wouldn't that affect the taste? And if we can agree that different water can taste different, why couldn't some bottled water taste different than non-bottled water?

Clubber 3y ago

Ironically a lot of bottled water is just tap. It's one of the biggest scams out there. You're also generally paying 1600x markup. https://stonepierpress.org/goodfoodnews/bottled-water-or-tap#:~:text=Most%20bottled%20water%20is%20actually,and%20Poland%20Spring%2C%20among%20others https://stonepierpress.org/goodfoodnews/bottled-water-or-tap....

Thorrez 3y ago

I think there is a taste difference. Did you ask her to try a blind taste test?

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

cssinate 3y ago

I had a roommate like this. So I set up a blind taste test. I set up 10 tests with two glasses each, most of which had one of each type, but I think 3 had either both bottled or both tap. Regardless, it came out int he end, that he couldn't even tell them apart, let alone have a favorite. For some reason, even after the test, he continued to drink bottled water.

smaccona 3y ago
Penn & Teller did an episode years ago where they tried to debunk the claim that there was any difference between tap and bottled water. They colluded with a New York City restaurant where the waiters told customers that the restaurant was trying out several new waters and asking customers to taste test each one before deciding which one they should ultimately go with. They made up fake bottle labels such as "Arctic Mist", "Himalayan Snow" and similar (I can't remember the actual names), and in reality Penn and Teller were filling the water bottles from a garden hose in the back of the restaurant with New York City tap water (though admittedly NYC water is very good). Not only did the customers like the waters, many of them claimed that one was much better than another, expressed a preference, and justified the preference with comments along the lines of "I can really taste the difference in this one, it's more XXX". There was even one customer who refused to believe Penn and Teller when they revealed that all of the bottles contained NYC tap water, and insisted that the waters were different from each other. A true testament to how the mind can fool itself. The episode in question used to be available on YouTube, but now appears to be paywalled by Paramount+ unfortunately.
- 93po 3y ago
  clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2qydjVbLJk&t=2s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2qydjVbLJk&t=2s
  - ungruntled 3y ago
    I’m sure people can hallucinate differences in taste, but there are very much differences in taste between water sources and water stored in different containers. For instance, many restaurants in nyc serve tap water in glass containers cleaned with bleach and improperly rinsed so you smell the chlorine. The water supply itself can contain chlorine, for instance in many countries chlorine is added to the water supply for various reasons including known mixing of fresh and sewage water. Plastics used in water bottles affect taste and smell. Aquafina and Dasani bottles for instance have a commonly known strong taste of plastic. Plastic bottles left in sunlight for prolonged periods will have an even stronger taste and smell. Cities will change water sources periodically. For instance nyc recently in the last few years adjusted their sources and building managers sent notices saying the new source will taste more “nutritious and earthy”. My building also has had a hot water boiler and cold water mixture issue as well as a contaminant issue that they solved by introducing additional chlorine. However the cold water also is frequently rusty and brown from boiler water mixing in, which probably has its own flavor. Taste can differ from building to building, city to city, container to container.

kstrauser 3y ago

I’ve been in places with bad tasting tap water. Today I live in East Bay, CA and our tap water is amazing. If I were faced with the sludge coming out of the pipe in some places, I’d stock up on Brita pitchers. Here, I never go out of my way to filter it.

AlexandrB 3y ago

I find that water flavour has a strong context-sensitive component. For example, I find water tastes really good when I'm really thirsty or after a workout. Any flavour differences between water sources are completely overpowered by this effect for me.

foxyv 3y ago
I've also found that drinking water while there is moving water around you makes it taste better. So like, if there is a trickle of water coming out of the sink or a fountain.

tivert 3y ago

> I knew a girl in college that would only drink bottled water. She had convinced herself there was a taste difference. She wouldn't even drink tap water filtered from a brita filter There almost certainly is a taste difference. The mineral content is likely different, and the plastic from the bottle can have an influence, too. I can definitely taste a difference between our (Pur-filtered) tap water and the cheap bottled water we get. When I was a kid, I wouldn't drink Aquafina (or Dasani) because they tasted plasticky. I attributed it to them using the same plastic for Cola bottles, without the overpowering flavors to mask subtle tastes from the plastic. I'm not as picky now, but my taste buds have gotten less sensitive and it's also possible they fixed the issue.

dns_snek 3y ago

There's an obvious taste difference between bottled water Vs straight tap water Vs filtered water, ime. That said, you will get used to the different taste after a couple of days and you won't even notice it, so that's not a good reason to buy bottled water.

TylerE 3y ago
I'be been in the same house for 30 years and the tap water still tastes like ass to me - and that's city water from a relatively well-resourced town.