Bottled Water

lobber

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/1015/1224256681750.html

Great article in the Irish Times today.

I work for an environmental company who supplies rainwater harvesting systems so this is something I have become more conscious of and in light of the introduction of a flat rate for water charges it really makes you think

1. How much financially we waste on bottled water when we have a treated supply for free (at present anyway)
2. How much local authorities invest in supplying this to us (In general across the country it is good despite some probs with crypto and the like in some regions)
3. how much of this treated water we waste everyday when we could use recycled water supplies
4. The environmental problems plastic bottles cause

See the below attachments which will make you think further on this topic.

What do people in general think?
Would you pay an extra levy to buy bottled water?

petes

I drink bottled water.

One bottle. Fill with tap water.

Jesus Wept

water water everywhere so let's all have a drink!

walshb

Ah, bottled water, the worlds greatest con!

When they start selling sand to the Arabs, only then will it become
the worlds second greatest con.

M450

I have to say that I really hate buying bottled water but I end up doing it about once a week just to get a new bottle! Which I then keep refilling with tap water until I lose the bottle... basically I'm paying for the convenience of a container that I don't have to worry about leaving behind somewhere...

I think it's ridiculous the amount of bottled water we go through and I'd be all for a tax to be placed on the bottles!

It's also crazy when you compare the fact that in Mediterranean locations you can get a 500ml bottle of water for about 15c whereas in Ireland it's usually €1.50! We have a perfectly good water supply and yet we're paying extortionate prices for bottled water!

brummytom

Complete con.

There's a shop near school selling 750ml bottled water for 19p... it's £1 here for 500ml!

seamus

The only time I pay for bottled water is if I'm thirsty, not at home and need something to drink.

Can't understand people who actually buy bottled water for drinking at home. If you don't like the taste of the tap water, buy a brita filter and save yourself a crapload of money.

Long Onion

I drink one litre of Perrier per day - so fcuking what?

davyjose

walshb wrote: »

When they start selling sand to the Arabs, only then will it become
the worlds second greatest con.

They do already; saudi desert sand isn't coarse enough for certain construction jobs.

nameproblem

I know people who for completely bizarre reasons won't drink tap water at ALL, it's crazy, I grew up in the country and we had a well, but now living in Dublin off the mains, the water tastes different, and softer, but I got used to it, if needs be i'' dilute orange into it... I will only buy bottles of sparkling water as there is a novelty to the carbonated I know we waste a lot of water, worldwide, and I do agree a nominal fee for water usage would help discourage this waste, but I fear i in these Economic times, where the Government wants every one of our hard earned cents, these charges may be extortionate and thus will get no public backing, despite the environmental argument.

I buy water because its tastes way better than tap water. I do drink tap water also at times but it is usually awful stuff.

They also removed our water cooler from work due to the recession and now I drink a lot less water.

Gummy Panda

M450 wrote: »

I have to say that I really hate buying bottled water but I end up doing it about once a week just to get a new bottle!

Buy one of these

Linku

My problem with bottled water isn't the paying for water, but the waste in energy transporting crates of bottles from as far as Fiji to your local shop.
It should be banned like that town in Australia did, and shops should have water fountains and sell reusable bottles.

Auvers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfPAjUvvnIc

lobber

Isaac Green Sticker wrote: »

I buy water because its tastes way better than tap water. I do drink tap water also at times but it is usually awful stuff.

They also removed our water cooler from work due to the recession and now I drink a lot less water.

In terms of taste it is really what you are used to when you talk of better or worse. Most bottled water in fact is tasteless as it getes filtered to the point of having very few minerals in it. his was shown for Coca Cola's Riverrock brand in the Uk a few years ago. It was basically treated mains water which they put through added filtration and treatment and removed just about everything from it.

If water tastes bad then try a brita filter (or something similar, not peddling any particular product here)

Linku

lobber wrote: »

In terms of taste it is really what you are used to when you talk of better or worse. Most bottled water in fact is tasteless as it getes filtered to the point of having very few minerals in it. his was shown for Coca Cola's Riverrock brand in the Uk a few years ago. It was basically treated mains water which they put through added filtration and treatment and removed just about everything from it.

If water tastes bad then try a brita filter (or something similar, not peddling any particular product here)

That was Dasani, not Riverrock. It's still sold in the US, along with Aquafina and other "purified" or "treated" waters.

Also, the Irish Times article refers to Penn & Teller as one person, Penn Teller :pac:

lobber

Linku wrote: »

My problem with bottled water isn't the paying for water, but the waste in energy transporting crates of bottles from as far as Fiji to your local shop.
It should be banned like that town in Australia did, and shops should have water fountains and sell reusable bottles.

I was travelling last year and stopped in Fiji for two weeks. The resort we stayed in wasn't a multinational hotel chain or a fancy resort. It was run by a husband and wifewith a few locals

They said thay couldn't afford to even buy the Fiji Bottled Water brand cos it was now a premium product. They had a well sunk for drinking water on the resort and always asked if you would prefer that fo free or the same water for 2-3 fijian dollars.

While in Kuala Lumpur we landed a great deal in a posh hotel and got a suite in a 5 star hotel for serioously cheap. The water in the bottle bar was from Fiji and very expensive!

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

walshb wrote: »

Ah, bottled water, the worlds greatest con!

When they start selling sand to the Arabs, only then will it become
the worlds second greatest con.

How exactly is it a con? Have you got a conspiracy about everything? Seems like it :rolleyes:

I love bottled water. The stuff you drink from your taps is not water, it is muck. It tastes disgusting and it smells. We have our own well in Wicklow, better than any bottled water. I fill up there when I can. After that I have to say that volvic is by far the nicest of all the bottled water. Evian is muck for the price of it, river rock is nice also, most own brands are muck too. For anyone who drinks a lot of water, you will notice the differance. Brita filters give a nice taste to tap water, which I use when in the apartment.

Auvers

Yareli Tangy Mercury wrote: »

river rock is nice also,

hahahahaha :rolleyes:

river rock is TAP WATER

georgem25

I drink tap water at home, but always have a few bottles of water in the house in case it doesnt taste great which it does from time to time.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Auvers wrote: »

hahahahaha :rolleyes:

river rock is TAP WATER

It doesn't come from my tap, or the any tap in dublin that shares the same water, therefore I couldn't give a sh!t where it came from.

Also, show a link for this if you have it. I belive you are talking about a differant type of water.

Nowhere did I say that all tap water is disgusting, like I said, our own tap water is better than any bottled water out there. We have our own pump/well/filter system.

themacdaddy

drink tap water all the time...although i do have a bottle filled with tap water for college/work situations..... tap water quality varies where you live...mine is fine...others is pure muck!

walshb

Yareli Tangy Mercury wrote: »

How exactly is it a con? Have you got a conspiracy about everything? Seems like it :rolleyes:

I love bottled water. The stuff you drink from your taps is not water, it is muck. It tastes disgusting and it smells. We have our own well in Wicklow, better than any bottled water. I fill up there when I can. After that I have to say that volvic is by far the nicest of all the bottled water. Evian is muck for the price of it, river rock is nice also, most own brands are muck too. For anyone who drinks a lot of water, you will notice the differance. Brita filters give a nice taste to tap water, which I use when in the apartment.

Hey, who killed JFK may be a conspiracy theory; 9/11 may be a conspiracy theory, Marilyn's death may be a conspiracy theory.

Bottled water is as plain as the nose on your face. It's a con job by con-men to make mugs pay for something that is simply the same as what comes from a persons tap in Ireland.

You know, when in Spain for example, I know that you may have to actually buy
water, because the water is of very poor quality, but Ireland and the U.K for example, have perfectly good and clean and healthy drinking water for the most part.
Nothing is 100 percent perfect 100 percent of the time, bottled or not

It's a relatively new fad and folks were duped into believing that the water they are buying came from a spring somewhere high in the French mountains:rolleyes::D

I'll ask: How the hell did we survive before this fad emerged? Those mugs who now
refuse to drink tap water were drinking it before the con-men conned them.

They'd swallow a ****ing brick!

Mugs!

Auvers

Yareli Tangy Mercury wrote: »

Also, show a link for this if you have it. I belive you are talking about a differant type of water.

nope I am talking about deep river rock its used to be called Desani which was pulled off the market because due to contamination in a UK bottling plant which was just tap water off the Sidcup main supply.

Any water that has "pure" on the bottle is Tap Water and thats a FACT

hhhmmm dont you just love the taste of water that has been sitting in a plastic bottle for the last 4-6 months

ART6

The mains water where I live in Co. Waterford has an unpleasant musty smell that is very prominent when boiling a kettle, so if I want to drink water I will buy some bottles from the local shop and put up with the price. However, I do find that the tap water is drinkable if heavily diluted with irish whiskey:D

walshb

Also, companies engaged in producing water to consume (bottled water) aren't held to the same stringent tests as a local council or government agency. Tap water is tested more frequently and rigorously, yet we have folks claiming that tap water isn't safe, and bottled is, all because they read it somewhere:rolleyes:

The whole taste debate is another issue and a lot has to do with persuasive
advertising. The blind taste test is the only way to do it

WindSock

Has anyone been to Dublin Airport lately? There was a Bling water shop. Bottles from all over the world (yeah right) with swarovski crystals on the bottles. I think the most expensive was €150 or something.

Insect Overlord

Evian is "naive" backwards :pac:

Kipperhell

Yareli Tangy Mercury wrote: »

How exactly is it a con? Have you got a conspiracy about everything? Seems like it :rolleyes:

I love bottled water. The stuff you drink from your taps is not water, it is muck. It tastes disgusting and it smells. We have our own well in Wicklow, better than any bottled water. etc...

Over the years I have seen a few TV experiments where people are to state from unmarked bottles which they prefer. The have used people whom prefer bottled water and those who don't. Not a single show ever had people reject tap water as the worst with the majority choosing tap water more often than not.

Try the experiment yourself. The key things that did seem to make a difference were how the water was stored (bottled water is often colder as it is stored in the fridge) and the detergents used on the drinking cup. Many people claim they can taste the plastic of bottled drinks and assuming that you may like that taste.

walshb

Kipperhell wrote: »

detergents used on the drinking cup. Many people claim they can taste the plastic of bottled drinks and assuming that you may like that taste.

On a slightly separate note, I cannot understand how anyone can buy milk
from those plastic containers. The taste is discernibly different with the plastic.
It's not nice at all. The milk is the same as what you get in a tetra pak, but the plastic from
those bottles really distorts the taste

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

walshb wrote: »

Hey, who killed JFK may be a conspiracy theory; 9/11 may be a conspiracy theory, Marilyn's death may be a conspiracy theory.

Bottled water is as plain as the nose on your face. It's a con job by con-men to make mugs pay for something that is simply the same as what comes from a persons tap in Ireland.

This part here? This is a conspiracy, you have zero proof of that. I can guarantee it Now gogo troll google for some more tinfoil hat "proof" that volvic is the same as Dublin tap water... you obviously don't know what you are talking about. I am sure you are going to link some crap about river rock, big deal. But guess what, be it from a tap or a spring, it tastes a lot better than any town or city water I have tasted in this country.

Also, you do this quite a lot too, people who disagree with you, or do something differant to you seem to be muppets, mugs or idiots. Why do you do that?

You know, when in Spain for example, I know that you may have to actually buy
water, because the water is of very poor quality, but Ireland and the U.K for example, have perfectly good and clean and healthy drinking water for the most part.

Spains water contains elements and minerals which are not the best for you, can give you the squirts and the like.
Hahaha :rolleyes: this is hilarious. Do you drink the water here? Perfect quality? Clean? This further proves you haven't a clue about what you are talking about, you are agruing for the sake of arguing. Where do you live? Next you will be saying that the water in Galway tastes nice...


[quote[Nothing is 100 percent perfect 100 percent of the time, bottled or not

It's a relatively new fad and folks were duped into believing that the water they are buying came from a spring somewhere high in the French mountains:rolleyes::D[/quote]

Fad? So you think it will die down in a few years? Maybe so if our public water improves, but for no other reason. I am sure people do not buy it because of where it comes from, I am sure nobody gives a damn, what they do care about is taste and bottled water is 99% of the time, better than tap water. This is a fact.

I'll ask: How the hell did we survive before this fad emerged? Those mugs who now
refuse to drink tap water were drinking it before the con-men conned them.

They'd swallow a ****ing brick!

Mugs!

I never drank tap water, never. The fact that you have to resort to insulting everyone that drinks water further proves you are wrong and have no real debating skills. You have a conspiracy. Nothing more than a crock of made up theoretical bullcrap

Auvers wrote: »

nope I am talking about deep river rock its used to be called Desani which was pulled off the market because due to contamination in a UK bottling plant which was just tap water off the Sidcup main supply.

Any water that has "pure" on the bottle is Tap Water and thats a FACT

hhhmmm dont you just love the taste of water that has been sitting in a plastic bottle for the last 4-6 months[/QUOTE]

IT tastes better than what is in our taps. Therefore people will purchase it, it is also very cheap.

Oh and do you have any evidence to back up that claim?

walshb wrote: »

Also, companies engaged in producing water to consume (bottled water) aren't held to the same stringent tests as a local council or government agency.

Where did you read this? Or was it a dream? It's obvious to most but a few seem to think our water is ok because it is tested, by the council? Of all people to trust... lol.

I suppose you think the banned chemicals pumped into our water are fine too. Considering most of Europe has banned certain chemicals for treating water, it is safe to assume that you are 100% wrong on this one

Tap water is tested more frequently and rigorously, yet we have folks claiming that tap water isn't safe, and bottled is, all because they read it somewhere:rolleyes:

Oh this is just hilarious. You are a conspiracy artist. You theorise about all this, but for most of us looking at what you write, we laugh. Manure and fertilizer is ok in your water, right? So is floride... yea? Bottom line, our water is muck, it is substandard crap that some very very naive people think it's ok because the government, and council say it's fine. Our water is not fit for consumption.

The whole taste debate is another issue and a lot has to do with persuasive
advertising. The blind taste test is the only way to do it

This is just bullsh!t... There are distinct tastes in certain brands of water. I find volvic to taste the best out of the lot. Some are completely differant. As they contain differant minerals depending on where they have been bottled, but telling you this is like telling the pope there is no god... like talking to a brick wall... unreal. lol.

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

walshb

I started to read you rant, but after a few lines, I got bored. Me thinks you are a water company executive, because you are taking this far too seriously. Either that, or you really are a mug, or. a yuppy!

donmeister

Who knew bottled water was such a hot topic to debate! :rolleyes:

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

walshb wrote: »

On a slightly separate note, I cannot understand how anyone can buy milk
from those plastic containers. The taste is discernibly different with the plastic.
It's not nice at all. The milk is the same as what you get in a tetra pak, but the plastic from
those bottles really distorts the taste

Haha, and I suppose there is no plastic in the paper cartons? oh lol... :rolleyes:

Either way, each to their own. Key words in your sentence "I don't understand"

Kipperhell wrote: »

Over the years I have seen a few TV experiments where people are to state from unmarked bottles which they prefer. The have used people whom prefer bottled water and those who don't. Not a single show ever had people reject tap water as the worst with the majority choosing tap water more often than not.

Try the experiment yourself. The key things that did seem to make a difference were how the water was stored (bottled water is often colder as it is stored in the fridge) and the detergents used on the drinking cup. Many people claim they can taste the plastic of bottled drinks and assuming that you may like that taste.

So you are trying to tell me that I don't know what I like and what I dislike? Are you taking the piss?

I can't taste plastic from the bottled water. Volvic and my own well taste completely differant to anything else I have tasted. With my own well tasting the best of the lot, volvic a close second. Tap water is cold too, unless somebody done a botch job in the plumbing.

Where did these taste tests partake, who was involved? Smokers? How good was their sence of taste? Some of my friends cannot taste the differance between tap water and volvic. I can. Was the test taken in their locality? If I go to another area, I may not be able to tell the differance between an average brand or own brand bottle water and tap water. If you are not used to the two, but I could easily tell the crap in dublin apart from anything else, apart from piss... I think they are pretty similar.

wasper

walshb wrote: »

Ah, bottled water, the worlds greatest con!

When they start selling sand to the Arabs, only then will it become
the worlds second greatest con.

They've already done that. The Saudis in the 70s imported white sand from Australian I think.
Also there was a proposal in the 70s too to toe an Iceberg from the form Antartica region to Saudi to cool & help irrigate the Kingdom for the next 10 years.

Capt'n Midnight

M450 wrote: »

I think it's ridiculous the amount of bottled water we go through and I'd be all for a tax to be placed on the bottles!

+1

in a country where tap water is freely available , bottled water is luxury and there should be a green tax on it, especially since the margins are enormous.


Also we don't need to drink as much water as the ads would suggest, the original research done in the 40's was for active military personnel and included water content in food as well as other beverages

Capt'n Midnight

davyjose wrote: »

They do already; saudi desert sand isn't coarse enough for certain construction jobs.

Crowd in Wiclow used to sell sand to them for water filtration too

walshb

Yareli Tangy Mercury wrote: »

Haha, and I suppose there is no plastic in the paper cartons? oh lol... :rolleyes:

Either way, each to their own. Key words in your sentence "I don't understand"
.

Hey, you need to slow down and relax. I never said that there wasn't any plastic in the paper tetra paks. I simply said, that milk from the plastic containers is not at all nice and the plastic taste is discernible. I personally do not buy milk from these plastic containers because the taste is altered far too much for my liking.

walshb

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

+1
Also we don't need to drink as much water as the ads would suggest, the original research done in the 40's was for active military personnel and included water content in food as well as other beverages

Very true. These misleading lectures about needing two to three litres of pure water a day are bollox. They don't seem to factor in tea or coffee or foods as also being a source of water, not pure, but still water based.

Jeez, if I were drinking two litres a day before any additional water from tea or coffee or food, I'd be fit to burst

Capt'n Midnight

lobber wrote: »

In terms of taste it is really what you are used to when you talk of better or worse. Most bottled water in fact is tasteless as it getes filtered to the point of having very few minerals in it. his was shown for Coca Cola's Riverrock brand in the Uk a few years ago. It was basically treated mains water which they put through added filtration and treatment and removed just about everything from it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasani

Dasani had to be withdrawn in the UK due to contamination with bromate, a suspected carcinogen, produced by the treatment process used on the water
...

Dasani was launched in the UK on 10 February 2004. The product launch was labelled "a disaster"[3], a "fiasco"[4] and a "PR catastrophe"[4].

Early advertisements referred to Dasani as "bottled spunk" or featured the tagline "can't live without spunk". "Spunk" is slang for semen in the UK.[5][6]

Prior to the launch, an article in The Grocer trade magazine had mentioned that the source of the Dasani brand water was in fact treated tap water from Sidcup. By early March 2004, the mainstream press had picked up on the story[7] and it became widely reported that Sidcup tap water was being treated, bottled and sold under the Dasani brand name in the UK.[3] Although Coca-Cola never implied that the water was being sourced from a spring or other natural source, they marketed it as being especially "pure".

....

Ironically, bromate was not present in the water before Coca-Cola's treatment process.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_River_Rock
Deep River Rock is the brand name given to water produced by Coca Cola Bottlers Ulster Ltd


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perrier

Perrier's reputation for purity suffered a blow in 1990 when a North Carolina study reported having found benzene in the water source. Perrier shifted from explanation to explanation on the issue, finally stating that it was an isolated incident of a worker having made a mistake in the filtering procedure and that the spring itself was unpolluted. The incident ultimately led to the recall of 160 million bottles of Perrier.

Tap water undergoes more tests than many bottled water.

There are also concerns over the plasticisers used in making the plastic bottles that are used for all drinks.


In short bottled water may not be as pure as marketers may lead you to believe.

Auvers

Yareli Tangy Mercury wrote: »

Oh and do you have any evidence to back up that claim?

don’t need proof just common sense, think about it the company bottles the water, its then moved to a staging area for delivery, then a truck takes the water and distributes it to just say Tesco’s distribution centre there it remains until another truck comes and collects it for delivery to whatever shop its intended for, there it remains until all stock is consumed on the shop floor and then eventually the bottle makes it to the shop floor. So it will take at least 6 weeks from production to point of sale and thats a best guess estimate, but I think it would be a lot longer than 6 weeks sitting around on pallets

Kipperhell

Yareli Tangy Mercury wrote: »

I can't taste plastic from the bottled water. Volvic and my own well taste completely differant to anything else I have tasted. With my own well tasting the best of the lot, volvic a close second. Tap water is cold too, unless somebody done a botch job in the plumbing.

Where did these taste tests partake, who was involved? Smokers? How good was their sence of taste? Some of my friends cannot taste the differance between tap water and volvic. I can. Was the test taken in their locality? If I go to another area, I may not be able to tell the differance between an average brand or own brand bottle water and tap water. If you are not used to the two, but I could easily tell the crap in dublin apart from anything else, apart from piss... I think they are pretty similar.

You are basically saying your taste is refined enough so you can taste the difference in water yet you think that plastic other people taste is nonsense? Amazing how your taste buds are so in tune to be just at the right range as to denote such tastes of water but not plastics. How likely is that versus it being a mental construct maybe even subconscious

If you are so sure you can tell the difference do the blind taste test. You are pretty sure of yourself about this but I find it strange you think you are not influenced by the environment around you. The few taste tests I saw included people sure they could tell the difference and when all things were equal they failed to do so. It doesn't really matter about their tasting abilities they had the same view as you but were proved to not to be able to tell the difference.

The mind is easily tricked and unreliable. An ad in America showed a nostalgic vision of children drinking large glass bottles of a branded soft drink and was set in the 50s. While doing market research for the brand the company had people saying they always preferred it out of the big old glass bottles. It turns out the product had never been sold in big glass bottles ever and it was just in the ad. It is just like the placebo effect and nobody should think they are immune from such things.

zuroph

I'm a volvic drinker, and you can't stop me. Irish tap water is muck, and river rock ballygowan et al arent far behind.

we'llallhavetea_old

my tap water tastes like swimming pool.
it started tasting funky about two years ago.
i twitch now.

we'llallhavetea_old

zuroph wrote: »

I'm a volvic drinker, and you can't stop me. Irish tap water is muck, and river rock ballygowan et al arent far behind.

do ye not think volvic is ...gritty?

Strings.ie

I can't drink tap water any more. You can smell the bleach in it. Used to buy bottled water but invested in a water filter system (only 200 euro) that treats my tap water. It paid for itself in 6 months and came with two filters each lasting a year. The water is crystal clear, doesn't smell of chemicals and tastes pure. I had a look at the filter 3 or 4 months in, disgusting yellowing muck all over it.

Thing is, since having the filter I can't drink tea at other peoples houses. It just tastes of bleach.

KilOit

Strings.ie wrote: »

Thing is, since having the filter I can't drink tea at other peoples houses. It just tastes of bleach.

Maybe they don't like you and are trying to poison you?

zuroph

we'llallhavetea wrote: »

do ye not think volvic is ...gritty?

I actually know what you mean, but thats what I like about it, I just like the taste! After that, Vittel and/or Evian.

segaBOY

Isaac Green Sticker wrote: »

I buy water because its tastes way better than tap water. I do drink tap water also at times but it is usually awful stuff.

They also removed our water cooler from work due to the recession and now I drink a lot less water.

Should move to the country and drill your own well-can't beat it tbh

moonflower

Our tap water started tasting like chlorine around 2 years ago, before that it was grand. It's also got little white things floating in it. So I drink bottled water now.