The war on tap water

[Echo In Light]

War On Tap: America’s Obsession With Bottled Water

In 1976, the average American consumed a gallon and a half of bottled water each year. By 2008, the number had grown to about 30 gallons of bottled water per person in the U.S.

That amount, says Peter Gleick, “equals about 115 liters of water each year, most of it from single-serving plastic containers.”

Gleick, a freshwater expert, is the author of Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water. In the book, he examines how drinking water was commodified and branded over the past 30 years, turning what was once a free natural resource into a multibillion-dollar global industry – while raising questions about the taste and safety of drinking tap water.

http://markcrispinmiller.com/

[hobbit709]

1. Much less the fact that the bottled water comes out of a tap somewhere.

[KittyWampus]

7. It's filtered. Never once have I thought bottled water came from a fresh spring surrounded by

fairies scooping water from their hands will sitting on a rock.

[zipplewrath]

9. But not required to be

There are precious little requirements on bottled water. Filtering is a broad word and many brands are vague about what is and is not filtered out.

[hobbit709]

15. If you run it through a tea strainer, it's "filtered"

[hobbit709]

13. Did you ever see that TV station video

Where they filled up some water bottles with tap water, right out of the tap, slapped a fancy ostentatious label on it and did a consumer marketing thing on a hike and bike trail. They told the people that this was a new product taste test and wanted to get people's reactions. The general comment was "This is the best tasting water I ever tried":rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[pipi_k]

26. Hahahahah some of the "best tasting water I ever tried"

came from a spring house about 200 feet up the hill from my home.

Twice a year it had to be mucked out because it was always full of silt, various insects, and a couple of frogs who had made it their home.

We have since installed a well, but damn...that spring water really was pretty tasty.

:7

[lutefisk]

24. Spring water is not the same as "tap" water

It's inaccurate to say it all comes out of a tap somewhere. There is municipal water, well water, and natural spring water. "Purified" water is usually just municipal water processed to remove the chlorine taste and other unpleasant artifacts of water treatment plants- but it is still just municipal water taken from a lake, a well, or whatever. Purified water is a complete scam, unless it is needed because other available water supplies are unsafe. While spring water is filtered for particles and probably has to go through some sort of tap to fill those little bottles, it is not the same thing.

And yes, the privatization of water is a frightening thing!

[hobbit709]

25. One company was selling their "spring water"

because the municipal water supply they were using was partially fed by a couple of springs.
Technically and within the legal definition they got away with it.

Notice where the bottling plants are-not out in the boonies where they might have their own well or spring or whatever.

[The_Commonist]

2. Next product - Air!

It's all part of the plan to privatize and commodify everything.
And "Branding" is the tool...

[BlueIris]

14. No kidding. nt

[backscatter712]

20. Like in Spaceballs: Crack open a fresh can of Perriair! n/t

[Newest Reality]

3. There is a good lesson to be learned here

about the efficacy of social engineering. This one is very obvious in retrospect. Imagine.

[izquierdista]

4. A more entertaining explanation

is found right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNGWn-aWn5g

[ejpoeta]

5. i prefer tap water, but that isn't always possible for us. we have a water softener and an RO unit

to have drinkable water. it makes a gallon an hour and when it gets time to replace the filters we end up having to go buy bottles of water. it's a pain in the ass. someday if they ever bring the town water down here..... lord knows when that will ever be. i go to the store and see people buying bottled water left and right. it is easier to grab it out of the fridge on the go. but i have a nifty bottle i bought at walmart with a straw and everything that cost me $5 that i clean out and refill. I got my daughters each one as well because we would buy bottled water when out and needing a drink and just keep refilling the water bottles which isn't exactly the best thing to be doing. I mean, my sister buys bottled water and then refills the bottles and keeps them in her fridge to take to work and stuff. the one positive about that is that if you lose it it doesn't matter.... though with the deposit now on water bottles i guess it matters more.

I like how i remember traveling and we could get water from mcdonalds and other places for free..... now you can't get it anywhere free. they want to charge you. they always want to charge you.

[X_Digger]

6. bah.. haven't used bottled water in the house for years.

We used some when we first moved in because we didn't have a refrigerator.

We have some in the closet in case of extended power outages, though.

[Speck Tater]

8. I thought Snapple was a stroke of genius, selling 2 cents worth of tea for a dollar

Then along comes the bottled water insanity! Next thing you know the same fools and morons that buy bottled water will be buying pop-top aluminum cans of air!

What a bunch of maroons, to quote Bugs Bunny.

[zipplewrath]

10. $3 for 25 cents of water

There was a time that it was told a 2 liter bottle of soda had 25 cents of product in it. And 20 cents of that was the bottle. That's where Snapple got it's idea.

[Echo In Light]

11. .

... sorry...couldn't help myself :)

[SidDithers]

12. I wonder how many of those bottles per person...

used to be a can of coke or pepsi. I don't drink bottled water at home, or at work. But if I'm grabbing a quick bite, and the options are carbonated fountain drinks, bottled or canned soda, or bottled water, I'll generally grab the water.

As we drink more bottled water, are we drinking fewer canned sodas?

Sid

[SPedigrees]

17. That's one upside to bottled water.

If they replaced the HFCS in the fizzy drinks with water, however, they would still be my choice of drink while on the road.

[SPedigrees]

23. I meant to say "if they replaced the HFCS with *sugar* ...

[SPedigrees]

16. The only use I have for bottled water

is that it is easy to purchase a bottle while traveling, should the container of water filled from the tap at the last motel run out while we are on the road the next day.

Perhaps today's young people have bought in to the "pay for what is free" scam, but what continually amazes me is how other baby boomers who grew up drinking tap water have somehow now concluded that it is unfit to drink. Fools!

[Blue_Tires]

18. bottled was a big thing with me until I finally gave it up

[Echo In Light]

19. Bump

[ecstatic]

21. My tap water tastes great. The only qualm I have is when there is a boil-water advisory

and I don't find out about it until it's over with. It makes me kind of nervous about tap water sometimes. However, the boil water advisories are rare.

[Echo In Light]

22. Bump

[HuckleB]

27. No matter how hard one tries to avoid bottled water, it's almost impossible.

If one attends a ball game, a concert, or goes to a museum, water in your own containers is often not allowed, and drinking are few and far between. Thus, if one wants water, the only way to get it is to purchase overpriced bottled water.

And that's but one example.