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BadNick · 06-30-2008, 05:49 AM

One of the aspects of the bottled water industry that pisses me off is giving rights to the bottled water company to pump large amounts of water out of natural aquafirs, which I consider to be a publically owned resource in most cases...even if the pumping is on private property, to me it's like a river flowing through your property that you usually don't have right to stop, use up, etc.

In the U.S. I noticed the bottled water industry growing rapidly after stories about pathogens and harmful chemicals being in the water supply became more of a publically discussed issue. In other parts of the world, the utility water supply is so bad that the water is not even safe to drink, so logically bottled water and filtering systems were more in demand in those areas even before the more recent growth of the bottled water industry.

I have no doubt that the utility water supply in a lot of areas of the world can at least have a very bad taste, and at worst chemicals or pathogens. Where I live the tap water is quite good, tastes smooth due to low mineral content, so I often drink it right from the tap; we also have an appropriate filter on the water feeding our refrigerator ice maker and water dispenser. I'm sure some mineral content can be good for you, but most high mineral waters taste horrible to me. Like where I work the water tastes horrible due to very high mineral content...I don't know if it's harmful but it tastes really bad, so we have filtered water going to water coolers and ice makers.

In most municipalities it seems that there is already a charge for tap water in one of the taxes we pay. Where I live it is specifically charged by the utility water company; other places it's included in some other kind of tax. But it costs a lot of money to maintain the infrastructure to deliver clean water, as well as to treat and/or get rid of wastewater/sewage, and that has to be paid for one way or another.

In my family we buy some bottled water on a regular basis. When we're in the car and stop at a convenience store and the kids are thirsty, and we didn't plan ahead to carry water with us, they often buy bottled water. One of my boys thinks Fuji water tastes the best so I let him buy it, though I haven't noted much difference in my casual sampling.

06-30-2008, 05:49 AM	#4 (permalink)
BadNick Riding the Ocean Spray Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa	One of the aspects of the bottled water industry that pisses me off is giving rights to the bottled water company to pump large amounts of water out of natural aquafirs, which I consider to be a publically owned resource in most cases...even if the pumping is on private property, to me it's like a river flowing through your property that you usually don't have right to stop, use up, etc. In the U.S. I noticed the bottled water industry growing rapidly after stories about pathogens and harmful chemicals being in the water supply became more of a publically discussed issue. In other parts of the world, the utility water supply is so bad that the water is not even safe to drink, so logically bottled water and filtering systems were more in demand in those areas even before the more recent growth of the bottled water industry. I have no doubt that the utility water supply in a lot of areas of the world can at least have a very bad taste, and at worst chemicals or pathogens. Where I live the tap water is quite good, tastes smooth due to low mineral content, so I often drink it right from the tap; we also have an appropriate filter on the water feeding our refrigerator ice maker and water dispenser. I'm sure some mineral content can be good for you, but most high mineral waters taste horrible to me. Like where I work the water tastes horrible due to very high mineral content...I don't know if it's harmful but it tastes really bad, so we have filtered water going to water coolers and ice makers. In most municipalities it seems that there is already a charge for tap water in one of the taxes we pay. Where I live it is specifically charged by the utility water company; other places it's included in some other kind of tax. But it costs a lot of money to maintain the infrastructure to deliver clean water, as well as to treat and/or get rid of wastewater/sewage, and that has to be paid for one way or another. In my family we buy some bottled water on a regular basis. When we're in the car and stop at a convenience store and the kids are thirsty, and we didn't plan ahead to carry water with us, they often buy bottled water. One of my boys thinks Fuji water tastes the best so I let him buy it, though I haven't noted much difference in my casual sampling.