Comments on: Bottled Water Under Scrutiny

By: Carol

Carol — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:08:37 +0000

Ooops – this is the link for the second spring:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=f36145f2-54ea-4a03-b05b-2fb52704272e

By: Carol

Carol — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:06:54 +0000

The Husband and I will be taking a little geocaching trip in a week or so and there are two natural springs on our list:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=7eb547b5-1ce9-4934-aa22-7f9052eef852&log=y&decrypt=

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=7eb547b5-1ce9-4934-aa22-7f9052eef852

We’re bringing the big 5 gallon water bottles in the back of the car with us!

By: max hodges

max hodges — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:48:32 +0000

so you think tap water is safe?
http://www.ewg.org/sites/tapwater/

By: JoeyJoeJoe

JoeyJoeJoe — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:25:23 +0000

I already had a sense for this before, and I actually use a re-usable stainless steel thermos to cart water around with me when I’m out and about, but what about the filtered water in the machines that refill your 5-gallon bottles? Is that no better?

And what about Fluoride? No matter what your parents might have taught you, all the science (dating back for quite a while) says that fluoride does help with your teeth, BUT only on contact with the teeth themselves. Injestion is not only unnecessary, but dangerous to other body systems. Do filters like Brita get that crap out too?

I hope the author writes a sequel to this piece answering those questions, because I’d really like to know more.

By: David Harmon

David Harmon — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:25:22 +0000

By: Onkel Bob

Onkel Bob — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:05:38 +0000

Here in Ess Eff Bay Area we have some of the best water and some of the worst. The best comes from the Hetch Hetchy, a wonderful destruction of a beautiful valley (Hey gotta break an egg or two to make an omelette) while the worst comes from the artesian wells under Santa Clara Valley. And as Hat_eater correctly notes it’s not the water – it’s the pipes it rolls through.

Me, I prefer whiskey. In the west whiskey’s for drinking, and water’s for fighting.

By: Squillo

Squillo — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:47:42 +0000

Sounds a lot like the herbal/supplement industry:

Makes claims about superiority to conventional water source;
Cannot back claims with science;
Not tested or regulated;
May not actually contain what’s advertised.

(BTW–Welcome back to the blogosphere!)

By: hat_eater

hat_eater — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:03:41 +0000

The problem with tap water in my city is that although the liqid that comes out of the purification plant is subject to rigorous testing and indeed is quite pure and tasty (I tasted it during a visit to the water works), what might come out of the tap is a different story altogether. Pipes under the city are made of iron and some of them are ancient (pre-World War II), so the level of contamination that might have its source in them is hard to judge.
I think I’ll get a sample and have it analysed. I didn’t think of it earlier because I was unaware of the potential of contamination in the bottled water. To think that I gave it to my children and drank tap water myself!
Thanks for waking up my critical thinking abilities in this respect.
(And thanks to Abel Pharmboy from Terra Sigillata blog for the heads up.)

By: FreeSpeaker

FreeSpeaker — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:42:40 +0000

Referred by Orac…

You were in NYC and bought bottled water for $3.00? Boy, did “they” see you coming……First, NYC tap water is amongst the best in the US for purity and taste.

Second…$3.00???? There are many places where bottled water is $1.00, some right in Times Square. And, it is ice cold.

Bottled water is a total rip off, and, with introducing so much plastic into our landfills, an environmental nightmare. Who cares what’s in it? Not me.

By: chezjake

chezjake — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:53:04 +0000

Thanks for this well written piece. I too avoid bottled water as much as possible.

To add to your information on sources of bottled water, I can tell you that the source for Pepsico’s Aquafina, at least for the northeastern states, is a private, driven well on the site of their bottling plant in Latham, NY (near Albany). I’m not aware of any info on assays of it.

And welcome back to the blogoshere; I’ll be looking forward to more of your good writing.