Bottled or Tap?

[pauldun170]

hmmmm.

[Sean]

Seems every girl I know comes home from the grocery every week with two cases of bottled water. WTF? There's a tap right there, and you can buy a filter system for the cost of one of those cases.

[Rider]

Tap run through a charcoal filter. Bottled water is bad for the environment. My refrigerator filter runs about $50 and lasts about 3-4 months.

Also MI is one of the few states that has a water abundance so we need to use up the tap water.

[Tmall]

Despite the fact that most bottled water is rebottled tap water, it has to be better. It costs more. Its simple logic.

[marko138]

I put my shit in a Brita pitcher. Whacha gonna do?

[pauldun170]

I put my shit in a Brita pitcher. Whacha gonna do?

Same here

[tommymac]

I put my shit in a Brita pitcher. Whacha gonna do?

Drink all your beer :lol:

Tom

[marko138]

Drink all your beer :lol:

Tom
Good luck with that buddy.

[Particle Man]

Tap water.

And beer. Lots of beer.

[goof2]

Everywhere else I have lived I either used a Britta or once I got a fridge with a filter I would drink water from that. Here though I think the tap water tastes like crap, even after a Britta or the fridge filter. I now buy bottled. When I move I will go back to filtered tap water.

[Cutty72]

at home I drink tap water. Over here, I drink bottled water. The tap water is... questionable...

[neebelung]

Tap water here, even filtered, is horrific. Just tastes like ass (and I'm not talkin clean, fresh ass either). So yeah, I drink bottled water. :shrug: At work, we've got some filtration system that's actually pretty okay, so at work I drink that.

[Dave]

why filter? Even if theres shit in it its good for you to expose youself to it in your youth

[Cutty72]

Growing up on the farm was great. Drank well water straight out of the hydrant. Sometimes we would use the rusty cup that hangs on the hydrant. It was (and still is) the best tasting water ever!

One time I put it in a glass. It was a light yellow/orange color, with things floating. After sitting for awhile, the color had cleared, but there was about 1/4" of "stuff" on the bottom of the glass :lol:

Maybe that's why I'm usually healthy, I got all my minerals as a kid :idk:

[neebelung]

why filter? Even if theres shit in it its good for you to expose youself to it in your youth

For taste, IMO. Like I said, FL water SUCKS.

[tommymac]

With all the polution and crap NYC actualy has some of the best drinking water.

Tom

[Dave]

alright, i'll buy that. The germaphobics are a pet peeve

[CrazyKell]

I put my shit in a Brita pitcher. Whacha gonna do?

Does your water look like this?
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d60/XcrazykellX/cup-of-cancer.jpg

I drink tap water.

I saw that picture posted on a forum a week or so ago.

Tap water is better for the environment which is why I drink it. I'm trying to counteract the damage my parents are doing. They come home with 5 cases of water a week. :eek:

[Homeslice]

The real issue is pharmaceuticals in the water supply (probably both tap AND bottled). Britta and the other filter companies have never certified that their filters eliminate pharmaceuticals. In other words......they probably don't.

[Cutty72]

Does your water look like this?
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d60/XcrazykellX/cup-of-cancer.jpg

I drink tap water.

I saw that picture posted on a forum a week or so ago.

Tap water is better for the environment which is why I drink it. I'm trying to counteract the damage my parents are doing. They come home with 5 cases of water a week. :eek:

Yeah, the well water wasn't quite THAT dark.

[dReWpY]

The real issue is pharmaceuticals in the water supply (probably both tap AND bottled). Britta and the other filter companies have never certified that their filters eliminate pharmaceuticals. In other words......they probably don't.

u ppl knew the shit that was in all of the water now they would be pretty freaked out, some places are acctually experianceing such drastic changes as the sex of certain fish are being altered so that every individual is male when they are hatched

[marko138]

Does your water look like this?
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d60/XcrazykellX/cup-of-cancer.jpg

I drink tap water.

I saw that picture posted on a forum a week or so ago.

Tap water is better for the environment which is why I drink it. I'm trying to counteract the damage my parents are doing. They come home with 5 cases of water a week. :eek:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4016/4blind0fy.jpg

[Rider]

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4016/4blind0fy.jpg

It's a glass of WATER that is about the same color as Sam Adams Boston Lager.

[marko138]

It's a glass of WATER that is about the same color as Sam Adams Boston Lager.
Awesome. I'll stick with the Sam though.

[CrazyKell]

Awesome. I'll stick with the Sam though.


Well you said you filter your shit. :lmao:

[fasternyou929]

No doubt, tap water is better for the environment (and your wallet). But this is one of those blanket statements that just doesn't work everywhere.

In some places tap water is either too nasty to drink enough of it to stay hydrated, or it's downright unsafe. See: China. I have a souvenir bottle of water from there. You know what's listed in the ingredients after filtering? Strontium. And it's a non-zero value. You can't boil out heavy metals either, so imported bottled water wins.

[z06boy]

Tap for me...at least around here...the water is fine and I think bottled water is overrated.

Now when out of the country that's a different story and probably even parts of this country if it's well water. Well water around here seems fine too.

[Kaneman]

Despite a news piece I just read proclaiming Fort Worth's water supply as one of the cleanest we constantly get notices from the city that the tap water is not safe to drink on a continual basis. We also live next to the most polluted lake and section of river in Texas.
Still won't buy bottled water though. We have filtered fridge water and a PUR filter on the tap.

[z06boy]

Despite a news piece I just read proclaiming Fort Worth's water supply as one of the cleanest we constantly get notices from the city that the tap water is not safe to drink on a continual basis. We also live next to the most polluted lake and section of river in Texas.
Still won't buy bottled water though. We have filtered fridge water and a PUR filter on the tap.

Dayum...that's messed up that you get notices like that. Well good that you get the notices :lol: but bad that conditions warrant it.

[Kaneman]

Dayum...that's messed up that you get notices like that. Well good that you get the notices :lol: but bad that conditions warrant it.

What I really hate about it is there is no discount on our water bill! Inferior products should command lower prices, lol.

[goof2]

What I really hate about it is there is no discount on our water bill! Inferior products should command lower prices, lol.

Don't you get billed for usage rather than a flat fee?

[Kaneman]

Don't you get billed for usage rather than a flat fee?

Yes, and our rate is the same as surrounding cities that have clean water.

[LeeNetworX]

In FL we used Britta pitchers, because the tap water tasted foul. Here, the tap water isn't as bad but it still tastes better out of the fridge filter, so I pony up the $35 every 4 months for a filter.

[Homeslice]

In some places tap water is either too nasty to drink enough of it to stay hydrated, or it's downright unsafe. See: China. I have a souvenir bottle of water from there. You know what's listed in the ingredients after filtering? Strontium. And it's a non-zero value. You can't boil out heavy metals either, so imported bottled water wins.

And how was it filtered? Just by the local utility?

You can buy portable filtration systems (for camping) that will take care of pretty much anything (except maybe pharmaceuticals, like I mentioned before). I don't know what Strontium is, but if it's just a metal, a filter should easily take care of that.

[fasternyou929]

And how was it filtered? Just by the local utility?

You can buy portable filtration systems (for camping) that will take care of pretty much anything (except maybe pharmaceuticals, like I mentioned before). I don't know what Strontium is, but if it's just a metal, a filter should easily take care of that.

It's filtered by the bottling companies. Strontium is a heavy metal (more commonly known for its radioactive isotope) that is all but impossible to filter out of water. I don't remember exactly why, but a colleague of mine did a fair amount of research on it when it showed up on our drinking water labels.

The water from the tap is filtered even less. If the smell doesn't drive you away from drinking it, the taste certainly will. Locals don't drink tap water either.

[Captain Morgan]

the only time I drink bottled water is if I'm driving somewhere and really thirsty. otherwise, it's tap.

[Homeslice]

So they actually print Strontium on the label? Why not just keep it secret, lol.

Maybe it can't be filtered because the atoms or whatever don't clump together into large grains.

[fasternyou929]

So they actually print Strontium on the label? Why not just keep it secret, lol.

Maybe it can't be filtered because the atoms or whatever don't clump together into large grains.

I wish they had. :lol:

I think you might be right. And because it's heavy, it also can't be boiled off. The health affects are pretty serious, too.

It made for a nice scavenger hunt while we were there... "find the non-radioactive water!"

[Adeptus_Minor]

I put my shit in a Brita pitcher. Whacha gonna do?

Amen. :dthumb:
I'll buy a bottle of water if I'm out & about and need some water, but not for home consumption.

[Hydrant]

I wonder how many of you still have lead pipe water mains and pipes in your house?

There are some older neighborhoods that have lead water mains, and lead pipes inside their home.

At home I drink tap water, but when I take my lunch for work, I'll usually take a couple bottles of water if its not hot out. If it's hot I'll just bring a gallon cooler with tap water and ice.

[G-Rex]

This whole thread is full of people who have NO idea how drinking water is actually made.

Pharmaceuticals? Really? You realize that the processes we put raw water through in treatment eliminates that, right? I read sample reports taken from finished water going out to distribution on a regular basis, and these things aren't in there. Are they there in trace amounts that are so minute that they don't register in samplings tests? Sure, but guess what, arsenic, zinc, and uranium are in your water too, also in quantities so minute that are unmeasurable.

People already complain about the fluoride in water. Government makes us put it in there. People complain about the chlorine smell in some water. Guess what, chlorine is still a pretty damn good disinfectant in the treatment process.

Kaneman, the reason you get those notices are because the water plant was unable to meet the removal limit for a given part of the process one day out of three months more than likely. By the time you got that notice, the plant has produced good water for many weeks. Many things lead to those notices. Rainfall stirs up the silt and gunk in lakes and rivers, where raw water is taken from. The filters in the plant could be ready for replacement of their media. The way they know that needs done is when the water quality begins to go downhill. Hell, if the normal operator took a week off work and the guy running the plant in his absence wasn't as experienced with the plant itself, or liked to feed more lime, or chlorine, or take your pick of the chemicals we use in the water treatment process, then that will cause a bump in the numbers to cause you to get that notice.

If you took the limit level that the EPA requires we remove arsenic to, multiply that times 1000, you still would *maybe* have enough in your system to even quantify over a lifetime.

You don't really want to get me started on the EPA.

Chicken little, the sky isn't falling.

[Hydrant]

Agreed with G-rex. After being around water treatment plants and the technology / processes that go into treatment its amazing what can be done.

Here is some info from the city of Cincinnati

Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) uses the latest treatment techniques in its state-of-the-art facilities to remove harmful contaminants. Cincinnati has been recognized nationally for its excellent drinking water. GCWW has always met or exceeded all state and federal health standards for drinking water.

Most GCWW customers receive water from the Miller Plant on the Ohio River (diagram below). Granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment at Miller gives GCWW an edge in water quality management. GAC allows us to use substantially less chlorine in the treatment process. GCWW pioneered the use of GAC treatment and has one of the largest GAC facilities in the US.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v127/Hydrant/water_img3280.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v127/Hydrant/water_img3281.gif

GCWW also uses source water from its Bolton Wellfield on the Great Miami Aquifer (an aquifer is buried sand and gravel filled with water). It is located in the portion of the aquifer served by the Hamilton to New Baltimore Consortium, which has developed an award-winning source water protection program to protect the aquifer.

[tommymac]

Agreed with G-rex. After being around water treatment plants and the technology / processes that go into treatment its amazing what can be done.

Here is some info from the city of Cincinnati

Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) uses the latest treatment techniques in its state-of-the-art facilities to remove harmful contaminants. Cincinnati has been recognized nationally for its excellent drinking water. GCWW has always met or exceeded all state and federal health standards for drinking water.

Most GCWW customers receive water from the Miller Plant on the Ohio River (diagram below). Granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment at Miller gives GCWW an edge in water quality management. GAC allows us to use substantially less chlorine in the treatment process. GCWW pioneered the use of GAC treatment and has one of the largest GAC facilities in the US.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v127/Hydrant/water_img3280.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v127/Hydrant/water_img3281.gif

GCWW also uses source water from its Bolton Wellfield on the Great Miami Aquifer (an aquifer is buried sand and gravel filled with water). It is located in the portion of the aquifer served by the Hamilton to New Baltimore Consortium, which has developed an award-winning source water protection program to protect the aquifer.

For NYC theyre going to be using a UV plant soon too, I am at the site where its being built as I type this :) theyre also building a new filtration plant down in the bronx. Both will be up and running in about 2 yrs.

Then I need to find another do nothing side job LOL

Tom

[Kaneman]

Kaneman, the reason you get those notices are because the water plant was unable to meet the removal limit for a given part of the process one day out of three months more than likely. By the time you got that notice, the plant has produced good water for many weeks. Many things lead to those notices. Rainfall stirs up the silt and gunk in lakes and rivers, where raw water is taken from. The filters in the plant could be ready for replacement of their media. The way they know that needs done is when the water quality begins to go downhill. Hell, if the normal operator took a week off work and the guy running the plant in his absence wasn't as experienced with the plant itself, or liked to feed more lime, or chlorine, or take your pick of the chemicals we use in the water treatment process, then that will cause a bump in the numbers to cause you to get that notice.




In my specific case it is because I live next to Lake Worth (Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, aka Carswell borders it) which is one of two bodies of water in Texas so polluted you can't eat any species of fish in any amount you catch there.

We've been getting these notices here for 7-8 years.

[askmrjesus]

This whole thread is full of people who have NO idea how drinking water is actually made.

Damn straight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46lSslZe6Pk&feature=related

JC

[Rangerscott]

I prefer tap over bottle. Bottled water just taste bad. It has no taste but it does.

[101lifts2]

Tap = No
Bottle = No
Water Store = Yes

We have Water stores in California that filter out the tap water, but seem to use better processes than a Brita filter. The water store I fill up my 2, 5 gallons jugs for the week has the best tasting water I have ever tasted. It kicks any bottled water (Evian, Aqua etc.) for taste at only 25 cents a gallon.

When you drink a gallon a day, the water has to taste good.

[Homeslice]

This whole thread is full of people who have NO idea how drinking water is actually made.

Pharmaceuticals? Really? You realize that the processes we put raw water through in treatment eliminates that, right?

Do you work for a utility? OK, cool, but are you a biochemist?

You say they "eliminate" pharmaceuticals? Uh, no.......This has been in the mainstream media for a long time......Are they miniscule trace amounts, yes....... but they're still present, proving that you guys didn't eliminate them. Hell, most utility companies don't even bother testing for them, because the Feds don't require them to and don't set any limits/standards.

Like I said, the amounts are miniscule, but until someone does some long-term research proving that there are no negative health effects over a person's lifespan, the jury is still out. People live for an average of 80 years.......That's a lot of water. And everything they EAT used water in its manufacturing, too.

[Homeslice]

We have Water stores in California that filter out the tap water, but seem to use better processes than a Brita filter. The water store I fill up my 2, 5 gallons jugs for the week has the best tasting water I have ever tasted. It kicks any bottled water (Evian, Aqua etc.) for taste at only 25 cents a gallon.

When you drink a gallon a day, the water has to taste good.
Is this the thing where it's blue jugs that you put upside down into a dispenser? Do you go pick it up, or get it delivered?

[Homeslice]

Hmm, no drugs in the water huh..... You guys can read the article if you want, this is one of many: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/10/health/main3920454.shtml

[Adeptus_Minor]

Hell, I just use the filter pitcher because our tap water tastes lakey most of the time. :nee:

[goof2]

Hmm, no drugs in the water huh..... You guys can read the article if you want, this is one of many: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/10/health/main3920454.shtml

As G-rex said "Are they there in trace amounts that are so minute that they don't register in samplings tests? Sure". Your article talks about concentrations of pharmaceuticals in the parts per billion or even trillion. Look at the list I have linked to below from the EPA. They make it completely legal to have higher concentrations of Benzene, Ethylbenzene, Styrene, Toluene, and a bunch of other shit I haven't even heard of that will fuck you up. This is what you should be worried about, not minute concentrations of drugs that have been designed for human consumption.:shrug:

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html

[Homeslice]

As G-rex said "Are they there in trace amounts that are so minute that they don't register in samplings tests? Sure". Your article talks about concentrations of pharmaceuticals in the parts per billion or even trillion. Look at the list I have linked to below from the EPA. They make it completely legal to have higher concentrations of Benzene, Ethylbenzene, Styrene, Toluene, and a bunch of other shit I haven't even heard of that will fuck you up. This is what you should be worried about, not minute concentrations of drugs that have been designed for human consumption.:shrug:

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html

Except they DID register in samplings tests, did you read the article? And as for whether they are worth worrying about, the verdict isn't in yet, but many scientists are concerned..... I think I'll listen to them rather than a motorcycle board or a utility company.

[Kaneman]

I think I'll listen to them rather than a motorcycle board or a utility company.

I hear ya, you couldn't PAY me to drink our tap water on a regular basis. Gross.

[101lifts2]

Is this the thing where it's blue jugs that you put upside down into a dispenser? Do you go pick it up, or get it delivered?

Yes the jug is blue and they do put it upside down to rinse it out, but I go there and fill it up myself.

[goof2]

Except they DID register in samplings tests, did you read the article? And as for whether they are worth worrying about, the verdict isn't in yet, but many scientists are concerned..... I think I'll listen to them rather than a motorcycle board or a utility company.

I read the article and it also said that the concentrations they detected were in the parts per billion and parts per trillion. Maybe they are a hazard and maybe they aren't. Either way, greater allowable concentrations of arsenic, cyanide, and lead in addition to the other chemicals I listed will do more damage. This is like worrying about the tire pressure on your car when all the lug nuts are loose, but go ahead and worry away.:tremble:

[Homeslice]

I read the article and it also said that the concentrations they detected were in the parts per billion and parts per trillion. Maybe they are a hazard and maybe they aren't. Either way, greater allowable concentrations of arsenic, cyanide, and lead in addition to the other chemicals I listed will do more damage. This is like worrying about the tire pressure on your car when all the lug nuts are loose, but go ahead and worry away.:tremble:

Neither of us is qualified to know whether those other chemicals/metals will do more damage than pharamacueticals in ALL cases. Maybe in general, but not necessarily for everyone. There may be cases where some people are very sensitive to certain pharamaceuticals, like maybe they have a health condition that they are taking one kind of medicine for, and along comes this other medicine in their tapwater that counteracts it. In the short term that person isn't going to notice anything, but over several years? Nobody has done a study. Also the fact that the government doesn't even require anyone to test for pharmaceuticals is concerning IMO. How do we know there aren't water systems somewhere where the levels are really high?

[goof2]

Neither of us is qualified to know whether those other chemicals/metals will do more damage than pharamacueticals in ALL cases. Maybe in general, but not necessarily for everyone. There may be cases where some people are very sensitive to certain pharamaceuticals, like maybe they have a health condition that they are taking one kind of medicine for, and along comes this other medicine in their tapwater that counteracts it. In the short term that person isn't going to notice anything, but over several years? Nobody has done a study. Also the fact that the government doesn't even require anyone to test for pharmaceuticals is concerning IMO. How do we know there aren't water systems somewhere where the levels are really high?

I'm not sure anyone is qualified in ALL cases. Testing of pharmaceuticals (which people are regularly ingesting in relatively massive quantities anyway) is not done to the part per billion or trillion level over a long term that I am aware of. If someone is extremely hyper-susceptable to a chemical or compound it may be an issue over the course of their lifetime. The same could be said about anything, yet I choose not to be afraid of the sun, the air, or the water as these things are currently among the least likely to kill me.:shrug: