Bottled Water... It's from the Tap!!

[Jack]

So you thought that water in your Aquafina bottle came from some far-away spring bubbling deep in a glen?

Try the tap.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19985269/?gt1=10150

[Kierland]

It has always said right on the bottle that it was 'purified.'

Where did you think it came from?

[Luther]

Pure Water, Perfect Taste.

IMO, both of you are correct. If you are at some company BBQ and you reach into that tub of ice that contains all the beer, soda, ice tea and water bottles and pull out an Aquafina and look at the label, you will see the Aquafina name and the above printing. That label kind of hints that Pure and Perfect, at least to me, means something special. Does it mean that the water was hand dipped with a ladle and carefully poured into the bottle by a man with white hair ('sup Wolfman) and blessed by someone Holy? The taste is Perfect? To me that means the water was natural, that nothing had to be done with it.

Just advertising that fed the gullible public. I haven't looked up the national rankings of best tasting tap water but supposedly our Dinsdale blessed water from the Bull Run watershed might be the best since Jesus himself walked on it.

I'd wager about 90% of the swinging dicks in here have bottled waters either in their car, their athletic bags, by their nightstands, on their desks at work etc. I actually can see Bsmack sitting in his work cubicle, twisting off the cap to an Aquafina, tilting it up to his lips and extending his pinkie finger as he quaffs some "tap water that went through a clean tube sock" to quench his thirst.

Rip City

[Wolfman]

let me think now--- most water that we drink comes from reservoirs, wells, or springs. If the bottle does not specify--I'd guess a municipal water supply. What's wrong with that ? It is usually filtered or treated by some other process before bottling, just like the water in your Coke, Pepsi, or Beast Light !

[Luther]

Lil Luth used to play club soccer and was on the high school team. Her club team coach was a cross between Nurse Ratched, Leona Helmsley and Bobby Knight. They'd practice on MWF and had the "optional"(yeah optional if you wanted to start) fitness on Saturdays. All they did was do running drills. I'd sit up beneath the shaded trees with a few of the other dads and watch the carnage.

Up and down hills, sprints, half mile this, quarter mile that, mile this. Kids blowing bark was common place. Lil Luth used to get in the car for the trip home and claim her shins, top of her feet, calves etc. felt like knives were in them. A massage therapist friend of the family suggested this bottled water that had all these extra goodies in them. Oh, I forget the name of the fooking water or what actually was in them. I kind of remember it had a gauge or graft on the side of the bottle. Neutralytes and shit like that. Anyway, we swapped out the regular Dinsdale blessed water and the Aquafina perfect water for the even more expensive elixir. In a matter of a few days, she said she felt great. She didn't drink any more liquid than when she drank the other stuff, so I don't know...did it really work or what?

Me on the other hand didn't drink the stuff. I used to just sit in the shade with my large bottle of Diet Coke which I had sweetened with either some whiskey or vodka and let it take the edge off. Man, those workouts sure took a lot out of me her.

Rip City

[RumpleForeskin]

I drink Nestle bottled water and the wife drinks Fiji. I dig Aquafina's taste the most, but Nestle is a cheaper and decent substitute. My routine consists of a Coke in the morning and a Coke with lunch, then I will get home and drink nothing but water to help flush out all the bad shit I had for the day. I will drink one Nestle bottled water, then I will fill that empy bottle up 4 or 5 times with the filtered water from the fridge throughout the evening. I really don't mind just drinking the filtered fridge water. Does the job for me.

I am not surprised any of these bottled water companies are just using some Pauly Shore approved purified system, pouring it into a clear bottle, slapping some animated mountains in the background of the title, and shipping it out.

[Wolfman]

I do not usually drink any bottled water, but always have tap water in the fridge run through a Brita filter. Mrs O drinks the Zephyrhills which allegedly comes from springs in FL.

[Atomic Punk]

I drink jizzed bottled water and the wife drinks Nestle.

FTFY

[Jack]

"tap water that went through a clean tube sock"

Rack Luth!!

I am glad that Corporate Accountability International has stepped up. The group has criticized PepsiCo over its blue Aquafina label with a mountain logo as perpetuating the misconception that the water comes from spring sources.

Aquafina is the single biggest bottled water brand, and its bottles are now labeled “P.W.S.” The new labels will spell out “public water source.”

***********

I buy bottled water sometimes and I often reuse the bottle and fill it with my filtered tap water just like many of you do here. I have always thought it was crazy that bottled water sold for more than soda. Especially the water bottled by Coke and Pepsi. They don't even add any special ingredients.

I wonder why someone doesn't totally undercut Pepsi and Coke and sell individual 1 Liter bottles of COLD Filtered Tap Water for 40 cents or so.

[Dinsdale]

Someone was telling me this week about how Ralph Nader gave up attacking municipal water quality

Nader is a fucking tool.

As someone who has actually worked on water treatment systems and understand how it works, it never ceases to impress me how good tap water is in many places(sup not california)

Anyone who demenads more, like Nadertard, should probably take some time to eduvate himself and learn how the process works. Then he can instead turn his whining into high praise for the wonder that is decent tap water. When a system has many resiviors ranging in sixe from a few hundreds thousand gallons to several million, feeding miles and miles of piping, which is impossible to keep completely clean, then couple that with fairly low cost after the intial infrastructure expeditures, the fact tap water is as clean as it is for so few people delivering it is quite RACKable.

There's dirty people walking around inside those reseviors before they get filled. Sure, the chlorine concentration is a little higher when people are disinfecting, and they're "shocked" for a day or two, but... nuff said?

I have personally pulled a dead cat out of a main muni line. Nuff said?(Tank drained much better without the cat in it).


PS -- filter your tap water. Better to have the impurities in a disposable filter than your liver.

And don't take clean running water for granted. Just like people shouldn't take the fact all they have to do is flush a toilet to make turds disappear. That stuff doesn't pump itself. People work hard to make sure that works perfectly every time for you people, at a reasonable cost, in an environmentally sound manner. Appreciate their hard work.

[Jack]

I wonder why someone doesn't totally undercut Pepsi and Coke and sell individual 1 Liter bottles of COLD Filtered Tap Water for 40 cents or so.

Like Brita? A $20 filter is good for 100 gallons.

No, you have to sell the bottles for the times that people are not able to get to their tap.

Brita is fine for home but I am talking about cheap water at the convenience store and supermarket, etc...

btw... Does anyone that has a filter for their water actually change it as often as recommended?

I don't. I change it when I think it is ready to be changed (when I am willing to spend the $$).

[Cuda]

So you thought that water in your Aquafina bottle came from some far-away spring bubbling deep in a glen?

Try the tap.

Other than PUSFAN, Babshice, & B-Monica- who are no doubt totally outraged, does anybody else really give a flying fukk?

[Risa]

found after someone mentioned it at Dlisted, regarding this story:

Penn and Teller: The Truth About Bottled Water

So you thought that water in your Aquafina bottle came from some far-away spring bubbling deep in a glen?

Try the tap.

Other than PUSFAN, Babshice, & B-Monica- who are no doubt totally outraged, does anybody else really give a flying fukk?

I don't know. But then, I don't know anyone who thinks bottled water is all melted
from the purest glaciers in the Swiss Alps (or Fiji), lovingly bottled, flown all the way around the world to be sold at the dollar store for a buck. Drinking water is tap water,
and it tells you right on the bottle where it was bottled.

There's something more going down with this.

group called Corporate Accountability International has been pressuring bottled water sellers to curb what it calls misleading marketing practices. The group has criticized PepsiCo over its blue Aquafina label with a mountain logo as perpetuating the misconception that the water comes from spring sources.

Aquafina is the single biggest bottled water brand, and its bottles are now labeled “P.W.S.” The new labels will spell out “public water source.”

“If this helps clarify the fact that the water originates from public sources, then it’s a reasonable thing to do,” PepsiCo spokeswoman Michelle Naughton said Friday. Aquafina water is taken from public sources then purified in a seven-step process.

The corporate accountability group is also pressing for similar concessions from The Coca-Cola Co., which owns the Dasani water brand, and Nestle Waters North America, seller of Nestle Pure Life purified drinking water, which gets some of its water from municipal sources.

Dasani’s Web site says that Dasani comes from local water supplies, is filtered using a process called reverse osmosis and enhanced with minerals.

Why does Corporate Accountability International seem bent on giving drinking water, municipal water, a bad name?

There's something more going on, here. My gut (yeah, I know, it's always wrong) tells me that CAI is a front for something else. People are very brand conscious. 'Municipal' equals 'mundane'. Factor in how bad water tastes in many areas after going through the piping system, negating its purification, and now you've got 'municipal' equals 'dangerous'. So what happens?

The price of 'speciality' water goes up. The image conscious sheeple pay premium prices to be seen drinking 'good, exotic' water instead of 'mundane, dangerous' purified water.

And the rest of us stick to Brita, PUR, boiling and refill stations.

[Mike the Lab Rat]

Why does Corporate Accountability International seem bent on giving drinking water, municipal water, a bad name?

It doesn't, you moron:

From their website

Bottled water corporations use clever marketing and misleading advertising that makes people doubt the safety and quality of their own tap water. In reality, bottled water is less regulated than public water systems, and studies reveal that bottled water can actually contain harmful bacteria and other contaminants. Public water systems are required to disclose the source and quality of their water and are accountable to the public. Often, water bottlers are not.

And how about this link, in which they sure as hell seem to be pushing municipal governments to drop bottled water and push for using municipal water?

It took me a whopping total of three minutes to find CAI's website and find out their stand on the issue.

Of course, doing it your way, jumping to conclusions (using that oversized gut and undersized brain), works faster for you. And gives us more reasons to consider you a waste of carbon.

[Risa]

Why does Corporate Accountability International seem bent on giving drinking water, municipal water, a bad name?

It doesn't, you moron:

From their website

Bottled water corporations use clever marketing and misleading advertising that makes people doubt the safety and quality of their own tap water. In reality, bottled water is less regulated than public water systems, and studies reveal that bottled water can actually contain harmful bacteria and other contaminants. Public water systems are required to disclose the source and quality of their water and are accountable to the public. Often, water bottlers are not.

Thank you for the links. CAI is still a front, it just isn't quite the front I thought it was.

My understanding was those harmful bacteria and contaminants are because folks reuse the bottles without sterilizing. There's an end user issue here. If you keep filling and refilling those bottles -- and the best reason (beyond one's liquid travel needs in a strange city) to buy bottled is for the reusable aspect -- without washing and sterilizing them, something is going to build up, and it won't necessarily be healthy. If that bottled water is contaminated at the source of the bottling, then that is a problem.

But putting 'public drinking source' on the bottle doesn't address that. 'Public Drinking Source' is as much an image thing as putting a mountain on a bottle, just in the opposite direction of consumer desireability. 'Purified' and 'Drinking Water' have always meant 'tap water'. If you want mountain spring water, or mineral water, or water flown in from some frou frou Euro country; then you need to read the labels until you find that mountain spring water or mineral water or frou frou Euro country.

People need to read labels, not look at 'pretty pictures' when making decisions. It's like buying eggs; you don't assume that a product is organic and local just because it has a chicken and a red barn printed on the cardboard. You read the labels. If something is missing, THEN you bitch. But you don't pitch a bitch because you wanted organic and local but the label says some corporation 3 states away.

And how about this link, in which they sure as hell seem to be pushing municipal governments to drop bottled water and push for using municipal water?

Your site writes: "These corporations are privatizing our water, bottling it and selling it back to us at prices hundreds, even thousands of times what tap water costs.... At the U.S. Conference of Mayors this summer, mayors passed a resolution that shines a spotlight on the true environmental costs of bottled water and demonstrates the support of mayors for municipal water. It is a critical step toward keeping our public water supply strong. The ripples of leadership already are being felt in cities and towns across the country with San Francisco, New York City, Minneapolis and Los Angeles among the cities choosing tap water over bottled water. " Following the US Conference link, the site then states "At this year’s U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting (June 22-26 in Los Angeles), San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Salt Lake City Mayor Ross “Rocky” Anderson, and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak introduced a resolution that highlighted the importance of municipal water and called for more scrutiny of the impact of bottled water on city waste....Growth in the bottled water market not only undermines public confidence in the government’s ability to provide basic serves, but it also increases municipal government waste disposal costs. Last year, at least four billion pounds of plastic bottles ended up in city waste streams. It can cost cities more than $70 million in disposal fees, not including the costs of collection, trucking and litter removal."

This is an image issue, and a money issue. The mayors are apparently less concerned about regulating bottled water for public safety and the undermining of public confidence in tap water, than with the cost of litter disposal. A public water source is not portable, though it is (supposed to be) potable. So, what does putting 'public water source' on a bottle mean, that 'purified/drinking' does not? Image.

Do the cities ultimately want more of that 'hundreds, even thousands of times the cost of tap water' that the corporations have tapped into?

It took me a whopping total of three minutes to find CAI's website and find out their stand on the issue.

You mean this: "This resolution calls for a study of the impact of bottled water on city waste. It also places the political will of mayors behind supporting full funding of municipal water and is a critical first step toward keeping our public water systems strong. Our "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign challenges the marketing muscle and political power of bottled water corporations. It’s part of our larger Campaign Challenging Corporate Control of Water."

It's not about public health. It's about money, who gets it, who gets how much. The cities are being gypped because the corporations are bottling water at a fraction of how much profit they're raking in -- money that's not being shared with the cities whose water the corporations are buying up and bottling, I assume? The cities then have to bear the brunt of the clean-up on top of that. Redoubled recycling efforts and public education about recycling beyond refilling bottles isn't really an option, for whatever reason (cost prohibitive?).

'Public Water Source' is an attempt to take bottled water down a notch, while raising tap water from tap sources up. If it's all the same, then lowered public confidence in bottled water should force the corporations to lower their prices in order to persuade folks to buy bottled while municipalities rake in a little more money because folks will just say 'it's all the same', ignore the bottled, drink local and there's less plastic waste to have to clean up. That is the plan, right? Except that, in order to do that, there is an expectation that 'public water/municipal water' is 'less special'. Real spring water and imported mineral water shoots up.

Of course, doing it your way, jumping to conclusions (using that oversized gut and undersized brain), works faster for you. And gives us more reasons to consider you a waste of carbon.

(shrug) I don't have a bottle of Aquafina or regular Nestle bottled water (Nestle bottles are cute, because the only ones I've seen have been so small) in front of me. I do have Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water; (Diamond Shamrock's) Fresh Choices Genuine Spring Water; and Dasani A Product of the Coca Cola Company Purified Water Enhanced with Minerals for a Pure Fresh Taste. What I remember of Aquafina is that Kierland is right, it already states on the bottle exactly what it is.

Arrowhead Mountain's label states: "Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water Company Division of Nestle Waters North America Inc Greenwich CT 06830 copyright 2003". It states 'Please Recycle CA Redemption Value'. But most importantly, it states: " Arrowhead comes to you exclusively from protected natural mountain sources in the United States and Canada. Enjoy the clean, crisp, refreshing taste of pure Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water -- a taste so good it could only come from protected mountain springs. That's why, since 1894, we've been so proud to share arrowhead Brand Mountain Spring Water with you. arrowheadwater.com"

Buying Arrowhead SPRING water, I don't expect to have bought regular tap water. If it is tap water, then THAT is deceptive advertising. I'm not expecting to have received purified water, generic drinking water, water with additives, chemically processed water to remove all the stuff taken out when the city recycled it from its previous use. If I'm paying hundreds to thousands times what it cost Nestle to bottle it, and Nestle is telling the truth, then your little libertarian heart should be happy... and the cities can kiss my ass.

The Fresh Choices Genuine Spring Water was bought at a Diamond Shamrock filling station. It cost a little over a buck for a liter. It's label states: "Bottled by Premium Waters, Inc. Fort Worth, TX, 76178 For information call 1-877-224-8392 Source: Samantha Springs, Keller TX Processed by: Carbon Filtration, UV Treatment, Microfiltration, Ozonation CT#861, NYSHD CERT #418" I have no idea what anything after 'processed by' means, including the importance of the certificate numbers. But it's there for folks who want to read it, and who find that important. I accept some processing of spring water. I don't expect the same processing that would come with tap water. If Samantha Springs turns out to be a fraud on the level of the urban legend 'city of Usa' and the real life 'Mariana Islands' scandal, then that's a problem and Premium Waters, Inc needs to be sued for it and forced to change their labeling. If it's a real spring, then everything is kosher. I didn't buy it because it was spring water, though. I bought it because it was the cheapest water for the amount of water -- 1.09 for a liter of water with the all-important reclosable nipple tip? makes sucking on it at work a lot easier between calls, and I can just stash it with everyone else's bottled water in the fridge, after refilling it from the break room sink with the filtered tap.

I don't immediately expect mountain spring water from any label that has Coca Cola Bottling on it; it goes against my expectations of what the Coca Cola company stands for. No amount of advertising featuring mountains, trees, rivers and salmon swimming upstream will remove what the words 'Coca Cola' mean to me, image wise. But that's irrelevant, because the only thing that matters is the label. If Coca Cola is bottling spring water or mineral water, then god bless them. They are not, however. At the very top -- as it's always been -- it states that this is Purified Water... and Purified means tap. Along with the reverse osmosis information included, I assume, because of the recent lawsuit, and the normal admonition to 'Please Recycle' and 'CA Cash Refund HI-ME 5 cents', it also states: "proof of purchase 1999-1350 20 oz Consumer Information Call 1 800 788 5047 copyright 1999 The Coca Cola Company Produced Under authority of the Coca Cola Company"

No mention of where exactly it was bottled, or which city's water. Since Coca Cola is a huge company, I guess I can assume that this is an issue like 'this orange juice was made from oranges grown in Florida, Mexico, and/or Brazil' -- there's no telling exactly where this was bottled. If I really want to know, Coca Cola was kind enough to provide a 1 800 number. That's nice of them. I don't personally give a fuck, but somebody who does can call the number and either be satisfied or frustrated. Again, it's the Coca Cola Bottling company, and it says purified water. If CAI wants Coca Cola to list exactly where the water was bottled, that's fine. That's even admirable. Good luck.

Again, this is about somebody getting paid. Be it the city or the designer water companies (which is who I thought CAI was a front for... apparently, they are not. You got me there. neat thing the only thing folks read is the top and the bottom of my posts, if they read at all, right?), somebody wants to get paid more.

As long as bottled water continues to be convenient, cheap and conveniently portable, I will continue to buy bottled water no matter who produces it (unless it's Mexico). As for the restaurant issue the CAI brought up elsewhere on its site, for myself I've only bought a restaurant's bottled water once -- and that was because I wanted the bottle. Most restaurants don't charge for water, unless somebody is squeezing for money in the ghetto. All the times I've asked for water at a restaurant (sit down or fast), I assumed it was tap, and no one has yet run up a bottled water instead of a free courtesy water. Restaurants which pull the 'you have to pay for the cup' scam get the 'nevermind cancel that' and never return treatment.

If a restaurant is claiming to serve spring water, or exotic water, but it's really serving tap water; then that is a problem and the restaurants need to be taken to task for intentionally misleading paying customers. How much of a problem is that, though? and how many people do go to a restaurant, ask for water, and expect to be served something other than tap? Maybe that's a bigger problem than my little world.

[Mike the Lab Rat]

I would like to publicly thank Microsoft's Eric Michelman, the man believed to be the inventor of the scroll wheel.

Thanks to his invention, my brain was spared the intellectual wasteland that is the latest Risa posting.

Mr. Michelman, wherever you are - God bless you.

[Wolfman]

what's a scroll wheel ??

sgned--Mac Pro Mouse

[smackaholic]

rack MtLR and his scroll wheel smack.

risa, I did read the first paragraph or two. got as far as bacteria from reused bottles.

The horrah!!!! You mean there is a possibility that we might be ingesting bacteria? I guess I need to start nuking that empty diet doctor pepper bottle I keep with me at work between the 5-10 refillings it gets a day.

Bottled water is the biggest scam going. Yes, the euros do it. I would too if I had their horrible PWS. We, thanks to dins, have the best fukkign PW on the planet, yet, I still see idiots buy it by the gallon.

[War Wagon]

...it never ceases to impress me how good tap water is in many places(sup not california)

So how well does your municipal water supply grade among these 100 cities?

as glass-half-full types, we'd say that our first-world water supply is generally first rate.

I've bolded some of the cities where notable T1B'ers reside.

Least Pure
100. Phoenix, AZ F
99. Indianapolis, IN F
98. Charlotte, NC F
97. Los Angeles, CA F
96. Charleston, WV D
95 Fort Wayne, IN D
94. Hartford, CT D
93. Greensboro, NC D
92. Billings, MT D
91. Raleigh, NC D
90. Yonkers, NY D
89. Manchester, NH D
88. Newark, NJ D
87. Columbus, OH D
86. Seattle, WA D
85. Columbia, SC D
84. Burlington, VT D
83. Bakersfield, CA D
82. Salt Lake City, UT D
81. Oklahoma City, OK D
80. Orlando, FL C
79 Sioux Falls, SD C
78. Cleveland, OH C
77. Las Vegas, NV C
76. Boise, ID C
75. Houston, TX C
74. Jacksonville, FL C
73. El Paso, TX C
72. Portland, OR C
71. Anchorage, AK C
70. Bangor, ME C
69. Toledo, OH C
68. San Diego, CA C
67. Durham, NC C
66. Tampa, FL C
65. San Jose, CA C
64. Fort Worth, TX C
63. Tucson, AZ C
62. Tulsa, OK C
61. Grand Rapids, MI C
60. Jackson, MS C
59. Lubbock, TX C
58. Chicago, IL C57.
57. Cheyenne, WY C
56. Pittsburgh, PA C
55. Boston, MA C
54. Milwaukee, WI C
53. Sacramento, CA C
52. Providence, RI C
51. Madison, WI C
50. Austin, TX C
49 Wichita, KS C
48. Miami, FL C
47. Washington, DC C
46. Cincinnati, OH C
45. Minneapolis, MN C
44. Colorado Springs, CO C
43. Little Rock, AR C
42. Omaha, NE C
41. St. Louis, MO C
40. Albuquerque, NM C
39. San Antonio, TX B
38. Wilmington, DE B
37. New York, NY B
36. Philadelphia, PA B
35. Riverside, CA B
34. Spokane, WA B
33. Atlanta, GA B
32. Aurora, CO B
31. Dallas, TX B
30. Corpus Christi, TX B
29. Lexington, KY B
28. Arlington, TX B
27. Detroit, MI B
26. Buffalo, NY B
25. Richmond, VA B
24. Rochester, NY B
23. Fresno, CA B
22. Louisville, KY B
21 San Francisco, CA B
20. Des Moines, IA B
19. Jersey City, NJ B
18. Lincoln, NE B
17 St. Paul, MN B
16. Fargo, ND B
15 Anaheim, CA B
14. Modesto, CA B
13. Nashville, TN B
12. Birmingham, AL B
11. Fremont, CA A
10. Honolulu, HI A
9. Montgomery, AL A
8. St. Petersburg, FL A
7 Oakland, CA A
6. Baltimore, MD A
5. Memphis, TN A
4 Norfolk, VA A
3. Kansas City, MO A
2. Baton Rouge, LA A
1. Denver, CO A

[ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2]

So you thought that water in your Aquafina bottle came from some far-away spring bubbling deep in a glen?

Try the tap.

In other news, the Towers fell and the Diamondbacks won the World Series!!!!!!


Sin,
2001

[Dinsdale]

So how well does your municipal water supply grade among these 100 cities?

List looks like horseshit to me.

Last list I saw ranking large cities had KC at #1, Portland at #2.


Hell, back before the big beverage companies got into the bottled water business, they used to put Portland tap water into bottles and sell it next to the fancy Euro shit in NYC... which was good for a great laugh at the time. Then again, we used to take the squawfish that the Fish and Feathers folks pay people to pull out of the Creek and make Kosher dried fish patties out of them, so I guess getting over on New Yorkers isn't that great an accomplishment(they use them for fish hatchery food these days, if'n I'm not mistaken).

But muni water quality is subject to change over time, as demand increases, and at what stage in the upgrade process any given district is in, and their piping replacement schedule, and all that good stuff.

Sometimes very small districts have excellent water, sometimes they don't.


But one thing all water treatment facilities have in common(or all the ones I've seen, and I deeply hope it applies to all of them) -- there's someone checking it, usually at least twice a day, to make sure the stuff going through the city mains is safe for consumption.

[Cuda]

So how well does your municipal water supply grade among these 100 cities?

List looks like horseshit to me.

Last list I saw ranking large cities had KC at #1, Portland at #2..

That was before you pulled the dead cat out of the intake pipe

[Dinsdale]

That was before you pulled the dead cat out of the intake pipe

That was in Kenmore, Washington. Actually, all of the Greater Seattle Area is known for excellent water treatment facilities.

Larger systems are always going to have more impurities, doe to the scope of the operation. They're also going to have a higher budget, which is going to result in a higher quality of service, more often than not. A simple home filter is all it takes to get that excellent finish water back to treatment-plant quality, more often that not.

A glass of water straight out of the sink in the WTP is usually pretty grub. Just make sure to hit up the faucet that says "finish." Avoid the ones that say "raw."

[titlover]

it might start out from the tap but it's not like you're buying tapwater.

dumb.

[Dinsdale]

it might start out from the tap but it's not like you're buying tapwater.

Yeah.

They run it through a filter. Just like you do at home.

So better hurry up and run out and pay $1 a quart for tap water.

Dumb.

[Luther]

The wife buys water on occasion and I'll drink from the bottles typically if I'm driving in the car or at some event. But at home I'm tappin' the tap. I do like, however, a bottled carbonated water called, Crystal Clear. It comes in liter size and has different flavors, mixed berry, wild cherry, peach etc. The carbonation is very refreshing and I typically have a few liters in the downstairs bar.

One negative factor with carbonated flavored waters is that it sucks as a mixer for booze. I was exceptionally lazy one night and instead of going for a splash of water I just poured in some Crystal Clear. I still drank it but with whiskey it blew chunks. Someday I might try it with some rot gut cheap vodka.

Dasvidania

Rip City

[indyfrisco]

Like Luth, I only buy bottled water when on the road. At home, got the filter int he fridge. I change the filter out every other time it tells me to. It has a standard "6 month" cycle that reminds you to change it out. At $40/pop, I do it every other time as recommended by my Sears guy. He said that the filter, if not switched out every other time, can build "gunk" up and cause issues with my ice machine.

Anyhow, Ihave a Rainsoft Reverse Osmosis system I had installed at my house in Texas that I have brought with me, but have not installed yet. Not sure if I will install it in this house. Next one for sure. It provides filtered water throughout the house which is nice.