The Bottled Water Debacle - An Eye Opener!

[JRNYMAN]

We've all read varying accounts about the damage and harm being caused by the incessant manufacture and disposal of plastic water bottles. And depending upon who you believe, the long-term effects of this situation are all cause for at least some concern. Like most, I've seen the ads by special interest groups attempting to shock the world's population through the images of the "garbage island" out in the Pacific which is supposedly larger than Texas and I've also read the occasional story buried on page 17 of section E of any Tuesday's edition of your local paper which, while being full of important information and warnings, just doesn't seem to carry the same sense of urgency given its placement and the fact you have to follow the story over 4 pages.

The biggest problem I personally have with the whole bottled water issue is the fact that the water inside the bottles is plain tap water 99% of the time from nearly ALL of the beverage companies, no matter how big or small. I have a very efficient RO system with multiple holding tanks which we use for nearly everything we ingest and a softener for laundry, dishwasher and even a spigot out front for washing the car. The water here is amongst the hardest on the planet due to the phenomenal amount of evaporation which takes place year round but especially during the 5 summer months here.

We refill and reuse our water bottles numerous times before discarding/recycling them via the city's recycling program which made me feel a little bit better about the size of my own personal carbon footprint - or at least it did until I read a report by an unbiased and transparent reporting agency that literally made my jaw drop as I read just how out-of-control and fucked-up the situation has become (and getting worse every day) with regard to the production of plastic water bottles. My intentions are not to try to guilt anyone into rethinking their choices or anything like that. I have absolutely no agenda here or ulterior motives whatsoever. Just found the info interesting as well as alarming and thought I'd share.

There is a lot of very interesting information about every single one of the 185+ bottling companies in the US including their filtration practices, honesty, letter grades earned for quality, and much, much more.

http://www.ewg.org/bottled-water-2011-h ... o-we-drink

How much do we drink?

Bottled water companies want you to think their water is special, but they continue to hide essential facts about their products, such as the geographic location of the water's source, purification and test results.

Here are some other little known facts that the bottled water industry would rather their consumers not ponder:

Every 27 hours Americans consume enough bottled water to circle the entire equator with plastic bottles stacked end to end.1

In just a single week, those bottles would stretch more than halfway to the moon — 155,400 miles.1

[Every 27 hours Americans consume enough bottled water to circle the entire equator with plastic bottles stacked end to end.]
Between 2004 and 2009, US consumption of bottled water increased by 24 percent. Bottled water sales have more than quadrupled in the last 20 years (BMC 2010).

The federal government does not mandate that bottled water be any safer than tap water – the chemical pollution standards are nearly identical (EWG 2008). In fact, bottled water is less regulated than tap water.

Close to half of all bottled water is sourced from municipal tap water (BMC 2010, Food and Water Watch 2010).

It takes an estimated 2,000 times more energy to produce bottled water than to produce an equivalent amount of tap water (Gleick 2009).

Bottled water production and transportation for the U.S. market consumes more than 30 million barrels of oil each year and produces as much carbon dioxide as 2 million cars (Gleick 2009).

Plastic water bottles are the fastest growing form of municipal solid waste in the United States. Each year more than 4 billion pounds of PET plastic bottles end up in landfills or as roadside litter (Corporate Accountability International 2010).

While plastic bottles can be recycled, the majority are not. Moreover, plastic never actually degrades; it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces. In some parts of the ocean, plastic outweighs plankton by a six-to-one ratio (Moore 2001).

Bottled water has indirect economic costs. Disposing of plastic water bottle waste, for example, costs cities nationwide an estimated $70 million in landfill tipping fees each year (Corporate Accountability International 2010).

[Andrew]

Complete scam. Wish I had shares in it...

[JRNYMAN]

Complete scam. Wish I had shares in it...

Well, if some of the statements are true regarding the numbers of bottles and the mass they have created, I should be able to walk to Sydney on the bottles in about 2 weeks or so... so I guess it's not ALL bad.

[Moon Beam]

Here's a test....
Freeze a bottle of bottled water and one of tap.
Take them out when solid and let them completely defrost.
Tell me what you see at the bottom of the bottled water and if you'd drink it.

[JRNYMAN]

Here's a test....
Freeze a bottle of bottled water and one of tap.
Take them out when solid and let them completely defrost.
Tell me what you see at the bottom of the bottled water and if you'd drink it.

Okay, I did what you suggested and the tap water bottle now has a boot in it and the other has a baby bird in it. I'm confused.... Which one would you pick?

In my case, my tap water would be clear due to the reverse osmosis system removing everything from the water - which is why my ice cubes are crystal clear and not white. But I know what you're getting at and you're right. The big draw to bottled water isn't so much what they take out, more what is added. Nearly all bottled water has a blend of minerals, although minute in their quantity, added for taste. Completely purified water is tasteless and can be achieved from any tap water.

[Andrew]

I live in a place surrounded by hills, mountains and an abundance if cold clean water, right out of the tap.

Tasmania has won international awards for it's water and natural taste. Very proud of that.

[majik]

Just let the kidneys do their work and eat drink and be merry. Tap water is perfectly good, the rest is fear based,its almost like selling ice to the Eskimo.

[AR]

At the Roger Waters concert I went to in Philly a few months ago bottled water was like 5 dollars. I went to the concession stand and asked for an empty soda cup instead which the gave me. Then I walked over to the water fountain and filled the cup for free.

I would have gladly had one of the $10 beers though, but I was driving. No reason to ever pay for water.

[Ehwmatt]

At the Roger Waters concert I went to in Philly a few months ago bottled water was like 5 dollars. I went to the concession stand and asked for an empty soda cup instead which the gave me. Then I walked over to the water fountain and filled the cup for free.

I would have gladly had one of the $10 beers though, but I was driving. No reason to ever pay for water.

Why let that stop you?

[AR]

At the Roger Waters concert I went to in Philly a few months ago bottled water was like 5 dollars. I went to the concession stand and asked for an empty soda cup instead which the gave me. Then I walked over to the water fountain and filled the cup for free.

I would have gladly had one of the $10 beers though, but I was driving. No reason to ever pay for water.

Why let that stop you?

89 mile drive home on a weeknight. If the show had been a weekend, I would have booked the Holiday Inn next to the Philly sports complex and gotten hammered though.

[Monker]

I live in a place surrounded by hills, mountains and an abundance if cold clean water, right out of the tap.

Tasmania has won international awards for it's water and natural taste. Very proud of that.

You should bottle it and sell it.

[Rick]

I live in a place surrounded by hills, mountains and an abundance if cold clean water, right out of the tap.

Tasmania has won international awards for it's water and natural taste. Very proud of that.

You should bottle it and sell it.

[JRNYMAN]

I live in a place surrounded by hills, mountains and an abundance if cold clean water, right out of the tap.

Tasmania has won international awards for it's water and natural taste. Very proud of that.

You should bottle it and sell it.

LMAO!!! Perfect retort!!

[Rip Rokken]

There is a great documentary called "Tapped" that deals with not only this, but also the effect on small towns whose local water supplies are pillaged by big outside bottling companies who ship it out of state. A great watch, available on Netflix.

[Moon Beam]

Okay, I did what you suggested and the tap water bottle now has a boot in it and the other has a baby bird in it. I'm confused.... Which one would you pick?

The one with the bird of course, dinner with the drink.

If you tried it you would have seen that the bottled water once thawed has a lot
of sediment on the bottom.
The thawed tap water has none.

[Monker]

Okay, I did what you suggested and the tap water bottle now has a boot in it and the other has a baby bird in it. I'm confused.... Which one would you pick?

The one with the bird of course, dinner with the drink.

If you tried it you would have seen that the bottled water once thawed has a lot
of sediment on the bottom.
The thawed tap water has none.

So, before I jump in a tub of liquid nitrogen to freeze myself solid, I would be better off drinking tap water then bottled water before the leap, because i won't have sediment in the bottom of my stomach once I am thawed.

[Moon Beam]

So, before I jump in a tub of liquid nitrogen to freeze myself solid, I would be better off drinking tap water then bottled water before the leap, because i won't have sediment in the bottom of my stomach once I am thawed.

Don't let me stand in the way of your leap Mr Monker, need a push?

[AR]

Monker wrote:
So, before I jump in a tub of liquid nitrogen to freeze myself solid

First laugh of the day.

Good one.