water from a tap or water from a bottle?

Tap water.

On a similar note, when I eat out, I hate being sold water. I always ask for tap water.

In the larger context, bottled water (where it isn't necessary) is reprehensible. Much of it comes from city sources (i.e. tap water). It's a massive scam that represents the privatisation of our public resources, not to mention a huge pile of needless waste.

 

Tap. We retired our filter pitcher a few weeks ago - we never used it. The water comes out of the fridge too cold and it makes no difference in flavor.

 

I like water. I don't really care what form it comes in.

I'll buy bottled water for the bottles. Particularly those one-liter bottles from Dasani. I drink two of those a day, refilled straight from the tap.

Had well water growing up, moved into a place with 'city water' at the age of 16, so I'm conditioned to like both.

Like I say, I like water.

 

I live in Dubai. Tap water, even filtered?

Hell no.

 

Alaways tap water; here in Quebec, Canada, it is good and clean

 

Our tap water has a very chlorinated taste to it, so we have a Poland Spring dispenser in the house for drinking, but we cook with the tap.

 

having lived there 6 years, i didnt see why it wasnt drinkable.. i did drink it a few times and had no ill effects.

scam!

 

I can get a 1L bottle of Dasani up here for about $1.50, and I generally use (and wash) it for about three months before I decide it's time for a different bottle.
Also, I'm extremely prone to leaving water bottles places because I am terrible at paying attention to such things. I used to have a 1L camelback that I loved, but after losing my second one in a year I decided it was more beneficial for me to go with the more disposable option.

 

You really shouldn't reuse plastic #1 bottles more than once. You have some PETE/PET leaching. Most of the carcinogen claims have been debunked, but there's still a risk of pthalate leaking if the bottle gets too warm - they are mistaken for hormones in your body and can have an effect on your endocrine system. There's also the environmental issue of them taking over 1000 years to break down naturally in trash, and recycling them releases some pretty nasty chemicals into the environment, you need fresh water to make the bottles themselves, transportation of the bottles.... /broken record.

tl;dr: A $10 BPA free Nalegene is better for everyone involved.

I sometimes break this rule as my mom will occasionally buy a case of bottled water, no matter how many times I tell her not to. If they are in the house, I'll grab one on my way to work, even though I feel guilty even after recycling it.

For the most part, I use a Brita filtered bottle, a super fancy Oberon stickered Nalgene, and hard plastic cup with a screw on lid and straw. (I find I drink more water if there's a straw!)

I prefer filtered tap water, but as long as it's cold, I really don't care where it comes from.

 

Mine has a dinosaur driving a car. I win.

 

Oh yeah? Well mine has a bite valve, straw and belt loop and features robots riding bicycles. Best of all, it was a gift from @GeneticShift.

So clearly, I win.

 

Do you have data on this? I'm interested.

 

@Snowy covered a pretty good relatively recent article.

Basically, pthalates are used as plasticizers because they're easy and cheap. They are found in a lot of plastics (though they are being phased out due to these health risks), and people have contact with them all the time - shower curtains, pencil erasers, caulks, adhesives, as well as a lot of cosmetics. Normally they aren't too detrimental, since they are bound in the plastic. The number one way they are released to form free pthalates is through heat (like washing a water bottle to reuse it).

Some risks associated:

Breast cancer: Exposure to Phthalates and Breast Cancer Risk in Northern Mexico
Endocrine disruption (I'm linking to a google scholar query to show the sheer amount of research): phthalate endocrine disruptor - Google Scholar
A possible link to obesity/determined correlation to insulin resistance: PPAR-mediated activity of phthalates: A link to the obesity epidemic?
A possible link to ADHD (more research is needed, but a trend is definite: Elsevier

There is a lot more out there, but these are some of the biggest ones.

As I said, it's something we come in contact with in many products, but reusing plastic water bottles that aren't meant to be reused, and in washing in hot water and something as simple as leaving the bottle in your car in a hot day will greatly increase the amount of free pthalate you come in contact with. If I can minimize that, it's a no brainer.

 

GS pretty much hit it on the head.. but here's an easy to read article about the re-use of PET bottles

so far the result is pretty skewed. approximately 80 % of people prefer to drink from the tap instead of plastic bottles... i'd like to think that we're a varied bunch, but im starting to believe that we dont represent what's really happening out in the real world. If 80% of all people only drank tap water, the water companies would be out of pocket.

The only time i buy bottled water is at mcdonalds because i dont drink soft drinks and the only alternative is juice or water. but i think i'll be tossing that bottle out of the car now

 

If you are interested in the issues around bottled water, have a look at this documentary:
View: http://vimeo.com/40519585




More information is available on the film's website: | Tapped the Movie - official site |