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Bottled water a pointless waste of money

Bottled water, it's just another pointless way to throw your money away.  The public has been duped into buying this stuff, which often is manufactured in industrial estates despite pictures of idyllic vales appearing on the labels.

Also, the bottled water collected from its natural source picks up all sorts of minerals, which are beneficial, but potentially contaminants too.  There just are not the rigid checks that tap water has to undergo, and consequently many bottled waters have high bacteria content and questionable 'purity'.

Some companies actually sell bottled tap water which they re-filter.  How do they get away with this?  Ok, good luck to the enterprising individuals but I think it verges on scandalous.

Bottled water, the healthy alternative?

Tap water has in the past had a bad press, whereas bottled water has been hailed as the healthy alternative.  Research shows this to be wayward thinking.  Besides, it's nonsense to pay such exorbitant prices for water - especially in garage forecourts.  Are people really so gullible?  Apparently they are.

Bottled water is pointless anyway. Here are two tips (and no, I don't work for any water authority or company):

First of all never re-use plastic water bottles for drinking as studies have proven that plasticisers and other constituent plastics leech into the water as the bottle slowly degrades.  This may be accelerated by the use of fruit juices.

Secondly, store your own water from the tap in glass bottles in the fridge and in a cool bag in the car.  If you're fussy, then buy a water jug filter to run it through first.

I see people in supermarkets all the time laden with big packs of water.  Ok, they think they're doing right by their families.  Not so - the motivation is good but the facts do not unanimously support bottled water as the healthy alternative.

By: H2O

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Well maybe, but maybe not. I read somewhere that in the U.S. a quarter of all bottled water came from the tap anyway. Don't know about the UK. Have also heard that there are different regulations they have to meet for tap water that are stricter, don't imagine there's much truth in that though. I'd say that tap water is at least as safe and clean as bottled water though.

-84

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AOD - 22-Feb-11 18:50 

What about Peckham Spring? I was always told that Scotch was Scotch because of the bairns water, until I was in a Bottling plant. I watched a guy pouring filtered tap water into a vat of scotch to alter the specific gravity pre bond.

-49

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Cynical Boblet - 22-Feb-11 14:18 

In the London area ,what comes out of your tap is actualy treated sewage.
Many people find this "distastefull" & so opt to by bottled spring water.
At least we know this has come from the heavens & not from somebody's kidneys!

-75

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Itneverusedtobelikethis. - 22-Feb-11 12:37 

You say that bottled water has a lot of contaminants and does not go through such a rigid procedure as tap water?

Firstly, tap water is mostly recycled water and has to go through a rigid process. Can you imagine what recycled water must be like! Added to it is chlorine. When I drink water from the tap, the taste and smell of chlorine is so strong and taste awful.

No one is arguing how safe water is either bottled or tap. The fact is, I prefer Mineral water because it does not have a chlorine taste and is not heavily recycled. I do not drink bottled water all the time but take one to work regularly.

+8

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Chlorina - 7-Nov-10 09:51 

While I understand where you are coming from, people seem to forget that bottled water is also an alternative to fizzy drinks. If i'm in town and want a drink I am no more going to run home to pour myself a drink from a family sized bottle of pop than I am from the tap. I do agree that we are being over-charged for it though.

+103

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Hal - 7-Nov-10 09:02 

bottled water is a pointless waste of money because it is a sciantific fact that tap water is actually better for you. this is because it has a very small dose of added fluride to combat tooth decay.

-40

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mardi gras the candyman can - 6-Oct-10 21:37 

I love bottled water, I buy it for 20p and sell it for over £1, if you're daft enough to buy it that's your problem. I am amused by the people I see in the UK walking around with their bottles like they will die of thirst if they don't have a personal supply with them as it maybe another 50 yards before they can get a drink.

+58

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artuk - 10-Sep-10 01:47 

Don't be fooled by this recycling hype.Enjoy your bottled water & dump the plastic in the river for the swans..

+86

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Mike Pee - 2-Jul-10 19:55 

Agree with you totally, and not to mention the environmental cost of transporting all this nonsense.

+100

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Angi - 6-Jan-10 22:33 

The idea of drinking treated sewage may be repellent but if properly treated it is 100% pure and safe. Nature recycles, and so should we.

+54

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MikeP - 23-Oct-09 16:39 

I know someone who works at the water board and it is water from the mountains not treated sewage and if he thinks the water is good (and he drinks it ) it is good enough for me .

+40

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Gix - 23-Oct-09 11:39 

For me personally, bottled water tastes better than tap water.

Also when travelling in foreign countries I don't trust the tap water and would always drink bottled.

-18

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Water Fan - 7-Oct-09 09:38 

im doing a 9th grade report and im bored already give some interesting facts please before for I go zzzzz!

+41

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azulchica - 6-Oct-09 22:05 

There is no evidence whatsoever that RE-USING plastic bottles and containers presents any hazard of chemical leaching. Using bottled water stored in a cupboard for a number of years would be a different issue but the formulation of PET bottles was changed to reduce the minimal levels of leaching. We are very fortunate to have a high standard of tap water in the UK and restaurants should be legally forced to supply tap water with a nominal service charge.

+105

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BargainHunter - 13-Sep-09 11:34 

I prefer to reuse the bottles from bottled water, then refill them with tap water and put in the freezer. After a few hours the water is deliciously icy cold and doesn't taste like crap tap water, and if you leave it long enough to get a few ice chunks forming its even nicer. Then jsut drink that. I have a few bottles on rotation when I'm in the house so there's always ice cold water.

-73

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jay - 15-Jul-08 00:26 

Bottled water is a huge scam, costly to the environment in many ways and costly to our own pockets.

We should boycott it, and we should also boycott restaurants and establishments which refuse to serve tap water on request, on of these being Sherwoods Indian Restaurant in Hall Green, Birmingham, where the manager did not even have the spine to speak to me about the policy he forces his staff to implement.

+50

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MikeP - 4-Jul-08 08:41 

Since the introduction of the new security arrangements at airports it is not possible to pre-buy your in-flight drinking water and take it with you through security. They will confiscate it. So you are inside the security zone and you look for a supplier of this necessity [if you don't drink water when in the air you risk all kinds of nasties]. You find one, only one. There is no competition: there is only one supplier, and they know it. So they place a huge mark up on this essential product. This is a classick rip-off!

So you decide not to buy [that is your only option], and wait until you are on the plane. Surprise - Surprise they charge for water there too, at an even higher price.

Welcome to Britain the country of penniless paupers!

+96

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Underdog - 29-Mar-08 08:11 

Thames Water? Do you honestly trust that institution? They have doubled my water rates in 2 years flat. I now have to drink rain water. I am not properly metered regarding my consumption. TW couldn't give a damn. They just want to make money, like everyone else is this Kafkaesque existence.

-70

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H2O view - 16-Mar-08 22:22 

It is a triumph of modern marketing that people in the United Kingdom, with universal access to cheap, clean water in the home, choose to consume an average of 37 litres of bottled water per person per year.

Unfortunately, a litre of bottled mineral water generates 600 times more carbon dioxide than a litre of tap water, and the polythene terephthalate bottles tend to sit around in landfills for a long time. Which is why Thames Water and Friends of the Earth have launched a campaign in the UK to rehabilitate tap water in restaurants and bars.

+106

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MikeP - 16-Mar-08 09:29 

Tim O makes the most vaild points, the appalling harm that bottled water does to the environment. I have been offered Evian and Perrier (French) water on the other side of the world. It may be cost effective and a nice little profit earner for the French and for the restaurateurs who offer it but the enivronmental costs are enormous.

In India I would buy bottled water, sealed, but in most of Europe, the US, and other developed countries, no way. For those who are concerned about additives and contaminants, a microfilter will remove just about everything which could be harmful.

Bottled water, along with the EU, formal religion, and the Labour government, is one of the greatest scams of our time.

-101

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MikeP - 23-Feb-08 18:06 

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