do you drink tap water or buy bottled water

[seabeyond]

[lonestarnot]

1. RO

[Coyote_Bandit]

2. Other

I filter my tap water and it tastes good after being filtered. The taste of my filtered tap water is just as good as bottled water and a heck of a lot less expensive - and I would wager that it is of comparable quality. I haven't a clue what my water tastes like before being filtered. I haven't used unfiltered tap water iin years.

[BringEmOn]

9. Same here

Can't see myself paying $1.50 for a bottle of water.

[seabeyond]

10. we have a filter PUR and it hasnt changed flavor for me

hubby says it does. i dont think it did. i had hope for filter. it is suppose to be one o the best

[seabeyond]

12. added to poll. sorry i didnt have for you

[Coyote_Bandit]

44. Thanks n/t

[conflictgirl]

54. In most cases, it is very comparable

Unless you're buying spring water like Fiji or Evian, most brands like Aquafina or store-brand bottled water are really water from a municipal supply and then run through a filter. It's not hard to find this out, either - just look at the bottles because most of them list the source. When I lived in the Dallas area, Aquafina bottles said their source was the Houston municipal supply.

I actually think that filtering water at home is probably *better* than most bottled water, because I question whether or not the big companies change the filters often enough. Since you filter water at home, you know that the filters aren't exactly cheap. It's cheaper than buying lots of individual bottles, but I can see the cost of filters on a large scale being a disincentive to changing them frequently. Personally, I think that the water I filter at home tastes better than Aquafina.

I do like the taste of spring water like Fiji, and in that case I can probably see the price as being justified. I think that bottled water that's just a city water supply run through a filter is a huge scam, though. I understand why people buy it, but the companies bottling it are making ridiculously huge profits on it.

[johnaries]

3. My tap water is from my own spring.

If I had city water, I would definitely use a filter.

[Dr.Phool]

4. Both

I keep about 20 cases of bottled on hand for hurricane supplies, but I drink a lot of it, because the fridge in the garage is always full of it, and it's nice and cold.

Also, my tap water tastes ok, but it has a sediment problem from the well-fields.

[Champion Jack]

5. well water fed by an artesian spring

[seabeyond]

11. added to poll. sorry i didnt have for you

[TallahasseeGrannie]

6. I drink the water from my fridge

which is filtered tap. Tastes fine. Once in a while I get some bottled water to take on a trip. I also like the bottles to use for making my own salad dressing and taking them to work and also carrying water around for changing the baby and cleaning up after the toddler.

[Qanisqineq]

7. I have a water cooler with big jugs

Have to buy bottled water -- I live in Korea. I guess the water in the city is fine when it leaves the water plant but in some areas of the city the pipes are too old that you shouldn't drink the water.

[tyedyeto]

8. i fill gallon jugs from the machine ...

out in front of the grocery store.

[helderheid]

13. They have floride in our tap and I have a thyroid problem - bottled for me

[tammywammy]

14. Both

I've bought bottled to take to work with me, so I have water handy at my desk.

At home the tap tastes okay so I'll drink it.

At my grandfather's the water is horrible, so I always bring quite a few bottle with me (and he also keeps some on hand for visitors) when I'm down there.

[Milspec]

38. Ya me too

The tap were I live in LA is not bad, but nothing beats a nice cold bottle of Evion.
When I live in a small town in Ventura county I didn't even like showering in the local water and would never drink it. Even the lemon growers wouldn't use it for irrigation, they drilled artesian.

[tammywammy]

47. My grandpa has a filter now

on his kitchen sink tap. It's tons better, but it still has the hint of that nasty taste. I just can't take it though.

When I was a kid and I'd be there for a couple of weeks, this was before bottled water, I just drank a bunch of soda. I'm not a big soda drinker in general, but if it wasn't for bottled water it would be soda or milk when I'm there.

[titoresque]

15. Both

If I run out of bottled I drink tap.

[hyphenate]

If I'm making something

like iced tea or lemonade or something, I use tap water. If I'm drinking plain water, I buy bottled for it, because the tap has a slight chlorine taste to it that you can't usually taste when it's in a mix.

The cats get tap water, and I cook with tap. So the only bottled is for drinking water.

[izzie]

16. Well water and it is good.

Not far from here they sell the water at about 1.00 a bottle. Same water I bet. But I wonder if Maine will have any left after they bottle up all the ground water in the state. Did any one know that Maine used to sell its clean ice around the world on clippers? Even as a child many towns still had ice houses and in the winter we could watch them cut the blocks out. Now that dates me but just sort of interesting. Used to use horses with special shoes to drag the blocks around. We did not use that type ice in our home so maybe my folks just wanted us to see it.

[jobycom]

17. Filtered at home, bottled when out. Tap water is scary

It may taste okay, but has so many chemicals, so much chlorine, it just concerns me to give it to my children. So I use a Brita pitcher for drinking and cooking at home, and I drink bottled on the road. I've cleaned water fountains before that had more algae and scum than a cow tank, so I tend to not trust them, either, if I can avoid it.

[Beelzebud]

18. Reverse Osmosis filter in the kitchen.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

19. Both.

[Midlodemocrat]

57. Me, too. I buy Dasani for my husband

the cheaper kirkland brand for the kids and we have a filter through the fridge door.

[Raine]

62. Me too

but no option for that. I drink either one, whichever is available when I'm thirsty. :beer:

[ryan_cats]

20. I tried to vote twice.

I tried to vote twice. We have one of those 5 gallon water dispensers as well as a PUR filter jug.
Our tap water isn't too horrible but after it was revealed many years ago that the Aerojet corp polluted our ground water with TCE, I don't like to touch the stuff unfiltered. I'm actually a little worried about the effects of taking a shower in it but our gov assures us it's safe, they wouldn't lie.

[seabeyond]

24. they wouldn't lie. .... bah hahhahaha oh no, they wouldnt

i dont see our pur changed the flavor more. i dont know how much i trust anything or anyone anymore. hubby trusts pur is taking out the bad stuff. he says flavor is better. i dont think. my mouth is still more dry with tap water. doesnt quench thirst. just think that is odd

[azurnoir]

21. I use a filter on tap

water it works fine, recently I've seen filters that install into the main water line in the house, we've been considering one of those.
A note to anyone living in Minneapolis, if you go to Theo Wirth Park on the wild flower garden side the is a direct public spigot into the Glenwood-Inglewood spring, if you buy this brand in the store you can get it free just BYOB and have a nice walk in very pretty park too.

[OhioChick]

22. Both n/t

[Maine-ah]

23. other

I drink bottled at work (free, btw)I have a well at home and drink that.

[Mabus]

25. other - we buy and filter

We buy drinking water. We use refillable 5 gallon or 1 gallon bottles that we take to the store and refill. We filter tap water for cooking. fwiw, the store bought water is 39 and 59 cents/gallon. Thirty-nine if we buy it at the chain store and fifty-nine when we buy at the local organic food store.

on edit: We buy drinking water because of the taste of the tap water. The quality varies quite a bit throughout the year and rather than play a guessing game of whether the water is potable that day or not, we just use the store bought water.

[B Calm]

26. My water comes from 90 feet underground in my front yard.

[man4allcats]

27. Actually, I only drink grain alcohol and rain water.

It's that flouridation thing.

"A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works."

"I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

General Jack D. Ripper
"Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"

[Carrcian]

40. Rain water?

Rain water is Mother Nature's way of cleaning all the chemicals from the smokestacks, chimneys and vehicle exhaust out of the air. Acid rain is created when the SOX & NOX in the air combine with H20 to from sulfuric acid and nitric acid. This link pretty much confirms what I remember from grad school http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/wea00/wea00044.htm

Carrcian

[man4allcats]

48. I guess General Ripper didn't know that.

The drink was his preference.

"Now why don't you just take it easy, Group Captain, and please make me a drink of grain alcohol and rainwater, and help yourself to whatever you'd like."

Did you miss the fine arts classic movie elective in grad school? ;-)

[Carrcian]

51. We had non engineering electives in grad school?

Well so much for sounding intelligent. I am not familiar with that movie and avoided liberal art electives in undergrad. :)

Carrcian

[man4allcats]

56. Not to worry.

I figured you were younger. Rent the movie sometime. It's a great Cold War satire. You will like it. As an interesting aside, another movie, "The Bedford Incident" (1965) also dealt with the same Cold War topic of mutually assured annihilation, but this latter movie, unlike "Dr. Strangelove" (1964), was on a serious note. If you have a free weekend sometime, I would recommend you rent them both. One other tidbit: The character of Dr. Strangelove portrayed by Peter Sellers (Sellers actually had three roles in the movie - the American President, Group Captain Mandrake and Dr. Strangelove) was actually patterned after former Nazi scientist and subsequent developer of America's hydrogen bomb Dr. Edward Teller, the man Dr. Linus Pauling once called the most dangerous scientist in America.

Oops! Forgot to mention - Welcome to DU! It's good to have you here. It's where all the smart people gather.

[Up2Late]

50. I LOVE that movie! Here's more...

<http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/03.11.99/kubrick-9910.html>

From one of my favorite websites, IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base)

<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/quotes>

General Jack D. Ripper: Mandrake, do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk... ice cream. Ice cream, Mandrake, children's ice cream.

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Lord, Jack.

General Jack D. Ripper: You know when fluoridation first began?

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: I... no, no. I don't, Jack.

General Jack D. Ripper: Nineteen hundred and forty-six. Nineteen forty-six, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Uh, Jack, Jack, listen, tell me, tell me, Jack. When did you first... become... well, develop this theory?

General Jack D. Ripper: Well, I, uh... I... I... first became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love.

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Hmm.

General Jack D. Ripper: Yes, a uh, a profound sense of fatigue... a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I... I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence.

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Hmm.

General Jack D. Ripper: I can assure you it has not recurred, Mandrake. Women uh... women sense my power and they seek the life essence. I, uh... I do not avoid women, Mandrake.

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: No.

General Jack D. Ripper: But I... I do deny them my essence.

More at this link: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/quotes>

[man4allcats]

58. It's a riot, isn't it?

Interestingly, Sterling Hayden who played General Ripper, was in fact apparently involved with the Communist Party in the '50s. According to Wikipedia, he cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee by naming names but later regretted that although his former wife, Betty Denoon, stated that "the 'names' her ex-husband provided had already been named by others."

[stevedeshazer]

28. Bull Run, baby.

http://www.ci.gresham.or.us.nyud.net:8090/departments/des/water/water_system/images/bullrun2.jpg

[MaineDem]

29. For some here in Maine it's the same water

Nestle/Poland Spring bottles water from many of Maine's municipal water systems so it's the same water through the tap or in the bottle.

[BlackVelvet04]

30. I buy bottled water sometimes....

but only if I'm out and about and run out of what I brought from home. I have a well fed by a natural spring. It's great water.

[JackintheGreen]

31. Tap filtered through barley and hops

There's a name for it, but I just can't recall it at the moment <hic>

[madokie]

32. Pur under sink filter

a little expensive to start with but worth every penny.

[uppityperson]

33. Well at home, tap water mostly out, refill bottle at tap, sometimes bottle

I have a well at home so drink that, water is good, tastes good. Drank well water at my last house also, it tasted odd at first, tested fine and I got used to it quickly.

At work I drink tap water (highly chlorinated river/resevoir water from Olymic mountains). They have bottled water that I will grab a glass of if I'm hanging out near it, but usually tap.

Visiting friends usually tap (town) or well (country).

Traveling I take my old nalgene bottle and refill it. Going to events, I may take some bottled if there will be no water, and a 5 gallon container filled from home to refill nalgene. Visiting places with contaminated water I take bottled or use the water filter thing I got for backpacking.

[LibDemAlways]

34. My tap water is treated with chloramines.

You bet I drink bottled water, and I've done some research to determine which of those are the least contaminated.

[1monster]

35. I buy distilled water. Why buy undistilled water? They just take it

from the tap in whatever city or county they bottle it.

Some of that undistilled bottled water is full of nasties...

[politicat]

36. I live in the Rockies. I get mountain spring water from the tap.

I'm not paying for water!!!

We have a chlorine filter on the fridge and water through the door, but that's it. I am a strong proponent of fluoridation and of safe, inexpensive municipal water. The only reason we have a chlorine filter at all is that the ice maker works better if there's a filter.

Having seen the teeth and health problems of family members and friends who grew up on unfluoridated well water, I am never going back to that crap. And bottles are just wasteful.

(As it happens, I'm the first one in the family to not be horribly affected by a thyroid disorder, and I'm the first one in the family to have always had fluoridated water. I don't think there's a connection, but it's worth investigating.)

[Carrcian]

37. Tap water is protected by strict Clean Water Act

Prior to 1995, bottle water companies were not compliant with the Clean Water Act regulations. Bottled water has its uses but for the most part is the proof that manufacturers can skew public perception to become paranoid about everyday tap water. Tap water tastes differently depending on whether or not it came from a ground water source or from a river or lake source because of the different minerals in the water. Every city by Federal law must publish an annual water report showing what is in the tap water. Every city has multiple test locations to verify the distribution system is compliant, any non-compliant, requires print and radio notification to not drink the water.

During college for a graduate environmental engineering research paper, a town during the 70s or 80s along the Mississippi during a drought had the effluent from the waste water plant was backing up into the intake of the water plant. During the few summer months while this cross contamination was occurring, the reported number of waterborne related diseases in the city dropped significantly.

According to the EPA, the average municipality charges 1.75 to 2.00 per 1000 gallons whereas a 16 oz bottle water average $.40 to $1.25 depending on where you purchase it. My tap water is Saarland Germany had its own unique taste and so is my tap water is Cambridgeshire England. Any time I get a bit paranoid, I put a drop of chlorine bleach into a tap water plastic jug and let it sit for 24 hours. Everything else won't hurt you and by according to some water researchers is actually good for you compared to bottled water that is de-ionized or distilled i.e. effectively dead water.

Carrcian

[Buns_of_Fire]

39. The water is so heavily chlorinated here that I depend

on the good folks at Miller to supply me with a good supply of potable liquid, neatly packaged and sanitized in 12-ounce cans. And it makes me burp. And this is good. I like to burp.

Other than that, any local water intended for my consumption goes straight through a PUR filter first. The one I have now is almost worn out, but at least it removes the chlorine taste. Past that, I figure I've got enough residual alcohol in my system to kill any free-floating nasties that might be remaining.

[Tracer]

41. Question regarding water filters.

Under the sink, on or the tap.

It seems to me that the filters will eventually fill up with all sorts of gunk. And your water has to run through the gunk.

That doesn't seem too pleasant to me.

(My town water (wells) tastes fine).

[Coyote_Bandit]

46. Simply

change the filter. I do that about once every three months or so. I use only filtered water here at home for drinking, cooking and for my animals.

[in_cog_ni_to]

42. 30 years of bottled water. You couldn't pay me enough $$$$$ to drink tap

water. I don't trust ANY corporation to follow environmental laws. My son is 13 and the ONLY time he drinks tap water is at school when he has no other choice. At home, all he's ever had is bottled water. We have a cooler and water is delivered monthly. It's not wasteful because they pick up empty bottles and refill them. I don't drink pop...I hate pop. I drink water, unsweetened ice tea or coffee (NOT made with tap water. Just the thought of drinking polluted tap water grosses me out.:puke: It tastes HORRID too. Not only that, but it looks like Exelon Nuclear Plant will get to start dumping Tritium into our local river which is where our water comes from. Supposedly that will be in amounts that won't harm us.:eyes: I'm not drinking Tritium laced water! Once it's in the water supply, it can NEVER be removed/filtered out. There's no way in hell I will EVER drink tap water.

[Carrcian]

52. Where does your bottled water come from?

Not to be antagonistic but most water bottle companies are corporations. Have you ever had an independent water lab test your bottled water to verify its truly the good stuff?

Carrcian

[mcscajun]

43. Depends. When I lived in NYC, I drank nothing but tap water.

It was the best.

When I moved to NJ, I found the tap water was awful. I started by buying flavored seltzer, now I drink a lot of bottled water, or Brita Water. Whatever it is, it's GOT to be COLD.

[lse7581011]

45. I Don't Drink Water At All! N/T

[Up2Late]

49. To all of you who Drink your Tap water w/o a filter, STOP, get a filter!

A good one that filters Lead!

Unless your house and neighborhood was built in the last 5 years, you most likely have Leaded Brass fittings on your pipes and water faucets which DO leach Lead into your water every time you turn on the tap.

Unfortunately, older houses have lots of other sources of Lead in the pipes and solder. Houses that are 40+ years or more can even have Lead supply lines.

Growing up in Indiana, as I did, I never had even heard of "bottled water," until I went to California. Bottled Drinking water is a Must in California and many parts of Florida. It's not just about the taste, it's the contaminant content, much of which is not something you taste.

Turns out that, back in the 1970's and 1980's, when I was drinking all that "great Tasting" tap water, I had an EPA Super Fund Cleanup toxic waste dump less than a mile from my house, where we drank that "Great tasting" well water.

Then, when we moved across town and stated getting City water, it turns out that the well field, where most of that City water came from, was also contaminated and declared another EPA Super Fund Clean-up site. That was "great tasting" tap water too!

The best part is, the City, County didn't tell anyone this! And if the local Newspaper (The Elkhart Truth, I kid you not) never made a big deal about it. To be fair the Superfund statute was only passed by Congress December 11, 1980, but it wasn't until the the World Wide Web became popular that I found this info in the late 1990's.

So, the lesson is, unless you've had your water tested for contaminates, don't just trust the taste.

[NJ Democrats]

53. I have a well but I still buy bottle

It just tastes better.

[Lugnut]

55. I have a well

My water is better than bottled water.

[eek MD]

59. Bottled water

I knew a bunch of people back in high school who got sick from cryptosporidium in the Milwaukee water, I only drink bottled water since that time.

I buy it in 2.5gallon containers and recycle 'em though. :)

[TheCentepedeShoes]

60. Tap

I grew up here (well.. age 7 to 18 anyway). Then in LBK, then FL for 30+ years. Nasty over there (FLA IMOH) Now, taps fine.

[WePurrsevere]

61. Well water WITH a heavy duty filtration/purification system. Don't trust

well water unless it's been tested. Depending on where you live it could have contaiminents. We bought part of an old dairy farm, the filtration/purification system was already here. Since this farm and the whole area are in "farm country" and we had read about water concerns existing up here when we first moved up here... we've kept it up and running figuring it's better to be safe then sorry.

[LifeDuringWartime]

63. i have a brita pitcher that i keep constantly filled

I don't have a bottle for taking with me, though. I should probably get one.