Bottled water vs tap

[HalMd]

Penn & Teller did a great episode (on their HBO show BS) on bottled water. Technically it is no safer or better than tap.

I still buy an occasional bottle because it is convenient and I like to refill the plastic bottle with tap water.

[wannabefree]

We buy a couple of cases for our emergency supply but other than that I agree it is a huge scam. I love the 20/20 where John Stossel does a blind taste test and NY city water beats evian and another expensive brand

[zakity]

We have a well and a reverse osmosis filter. The ROF has paid for itself repeatedly. We have Rubbermaid water bottles that we fill up before we go anywhere. The kids don't whine for us to stop for soda pop.

[PrincessPerky]

I buy for trips..no way does tap taste right after 3 days sitting in the car..but I always feel guilty drinking it..might make perfect sense but..well no one who sees me knows it was only for this special occasion..I am advertising buying bottled water! I hate that.

Normally I drink filtered water..

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

I buy for trips..no way does tap taste right after 3 days sitting in the car.

Why would you keep tap water in the car for 3 days? Are you going camping where there is no water source? Otherwise, you could just get water wherever you happen to be.

[PrincessPerky]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Why would you keep tap water in the car for 3 days? Are you going camping where there is no water source? Otherwise, you could just get water wherever you happen to be.

only if you want to pay DC prices for it....

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

only if you want to pay DC prices for it....

I didn't mean to buy water when you got there - I meant to drink tap water when you got there.

[PrincessPerky]

ah hotel tap water..eh..I suppose I could have packed a filter....but I will admit to being to spoiled to drink straight tap water form the zoo, and museum in general....

[zakity]

We keep bottles around in the garage in case of an emergency (that 3 day emergency supply thing). We keep an eye on the dates and when one starts getting close to expiring, we use that up and buy more when I find a coupon.

We keep the bottles and use them several times before we throw them in the recycling bin. I throw them in the dishwasher.

Also, we use fingernail polish (bought at the $ store) to mark whose bottle is whose. The fingernail polish doesn't wash or rub off at quickly as permanent markers. We also use a dot system so we don't have to paint a whole letter on the bottle.

[tgavin71]

We drink filtered tapwater. I freeze it in bottles and have little sips through out the day.

[kealina]

i think it depends on preference and also situation... luckily, DH and both prefer tap water but we've also both been lucky enough to grow up and now live in areas that have pretty decent tap water... i would probably not drink if i saw murky water... bleh!...
there are areas of the island where the water just doesn't taste as good and most of those people tend to filter or buy bottled but luckily we don't have to ... we do however have a filter and keep both filtered and bottled water on hand since we have family members who don't drink tap...

[LuckyRobin]

We had a reverse osmosis tank for several years and it worked great. I don't like the taste of chlorine and it got rid of that. But...after the third time our local water district reported e.coli bacteria in the water supply, which reverse osmosis does not take out, we signed up with Crystal Springs to get the 5 gallon water bottles delivered. They cost $7 a bottle and taste great. Our tap water is okay, the stuff in the city is better. If I buy bottled water I prefer Aquafina, Earth 2 O and Tahoma. I will drink Dasani if its all that is available but I notice the taste difference.

I used distilled water to mix formula when my kids were young. We don't have flouride in our water and I wouldn't want it. Many of the communities that do fluoridate their water do so with the wrong kind of fluoride because it is cheaper to buy (because it is a waste byproduct of certain industries). My kids take fluoride tablets perscribed by our dentist in the proper dosage for their age and weights and get regular check ups and fluoride treatments. And for kids who can't afford it our community provides a dental van twice during the school year that comes to the school to take care of their teeth and hands out flouride tablets to parents. Quite frankly I'm more convinced that daily flossing does 80% more than flouride any day, and the other 20% can be made up in proper brushing technique (3 minutes!) and avoiding sugar. Of course, not all parents are patient enough to teach this to their kids, or themselves for that matter. But yes, my toothpaste does have fluoride. I use it, I just don't drink it.

At hotels I pack a pitcher and fill it with ice and we drink the ice melt, it is always filtered and tastes better than the tap.

[tabbycat31]

I drink tap water at home. I have NYC Water, and it's fine to me.

That being said, at work I drink bottled water. The company provides a Poland Spring water cooler, and I just drink from there. ANd I always leave work with a full bottle so I have it for the car.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by tabbycat31

That being said, at work I drink bottled water. The company provides a Poland Spring water cooler, and I just drink from there.

Same here. We have a cooler at the office. I have a refillable sport water bottle that I just refill throughout the day from the cooler. I could drink tap water, but it wouldn't be cold, and I'm not paying for the bottled stuff.

[Ima saver]

At our last house we have a well and we had wonderful tasting water. What I make myself is pretty good and I always keep about 12 big jugs on hand.

[Thrifty Ray]

Our tap (well water) has high levels of boron in it...so bottled is a must. I do cook with our tap, and make coffee with the tap and we bathe & wash clothes/dishes with it. But for drinking water...we drink bottled.

[aurielle]

We drink city tap water, filtered. DH got a filtering unit that's mounted under the sink for practically free. Our tap water tastes bad especially in the summertime if its not filtered. We also drink bottled water in the summer for the convenience factor and will re-use the bottles by filling them up with our filtered tap water at least once. I prefer Crystal Geyser and Arrowhead bottled water. At work we have an Alhambra water cooler.

[Ima saver]

My girlfriend has spring water only and it is so good. When I lived closer, I use to go there to fill my jugs up.

[Mabuisakura]

Tap water! It's free!

[frugalmomof1]

My tap water tastes like chlorine, so I drink bottled if i am drinking plain water. The town that I used to live in (One town away from where I live now) had great tap water so I always drank it.
I do use tap water for ice, to cook, make coffee, iced tea, etc.