Sure, the crisp, cool taste of a cold bottle of water can be quite refreshing. But is it an honest business? The bottled water industry is making a killing in beverage sales, where bottled water practically outsells the marketing of soft drinks. As per the NRDC, approximately 25% to 40% of bottled water comes from the faucet. With these facts, the average consumer would want to know why pay for a beverage that gets delivered at no cost directly into one’s home.
Dasani (from Coca-Cola) and Aquafina (from Pepsi-Cola) are really from municipal systems of water. Sadly, bottled water (most of the time) is really filtered, which can be accomplished at home. The middleman gets paid and consumers feel that they are healthier and environmentally aware for buying bottled water.
Money Saving Tip: Use a Water Filter
The wise consumer can actually gain with a PUR water filter on the faucet and receive clean drinking water for approximately $15 for at least three months. Bottled water consumers even become engrossed with the recycling of plastic bottles to improve the environment.
Save the Earth
Approximately 4 pounds of the chemical carbon dioxide is released into the world’s atmosphere just by the manufacturing of plastic for bottled water. It’s amazing how much petroleum is actually consumed in this process—this averages to about a quart of petroleum per consumer.
Bottled Water Cost Four Times as Much as Gasoline
Bottled water can cost at least four times as much as the already costly gasoline, with prices about $10 a gallon. Considering the soaring prices of gasoline, this is shocking news. Moreover, only approximately 12% of plastic bottles for water are recycled, as natural resources are used to bottle and clean water. Lethal gases are released into the earth’s atmosphere with the burning of plastic water bottles at your local landfill. Now may be an ideal time to realize bottled water is a rip-off.
Unfortunately, many parts of our nation do in fact have unsafe drinking water. Switching back to the dangers of unsafe tap water is certainly ill advised. It’s a good idea to check the situation with the water in your region prior to drinking water from the faucet blindly. Several water reports may deem the tap water in your area as unsafe by local officials. Either boiling water can possibly best produce delicious drinking water before placing it in the refrigerator to cool (this process may be a bit old-fashioned, but it’s still better than taking a chance with unsafe water), or the simple purchase of a PUR water filter for your kitchen faucet.
My Take on Bottled Water
Water here in Hawaii by national standards is suppose to be very good, I have no problem drinking from the tap. I do filter my water in a Brita water filter pitcher though. I also purchase bottled water (Costco) but drink it for convenience and when I’m on the go. I find it funny how water bottles put the nutritional facts on every bottle, I know it is probably required but how dumb to they think we are. Hawaii also has a beverage fee of 5 cents for every bottle sold, if you recycle your cans and bottles you get your 5 cents back. This has really increased the recycling rate and has been good for the environment as well as the state (More money to burn).
When ever I travel I tend to drink bottled water, again it is very convinient. When go to Las Vegas I usually don’t care to drink tap water, call me paranoid but I don’t care to drink water from Lake Mead (yikes). I do like the tap water in Colorado, again it might be mental but I think it tastes good and fresh.
So how is the water where you live? Please share your experiences.
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Comment by Catie on 25 July 2007:
I used to live in a rural area where we received well water rather than “city water.” The well water was okay, but every now and then, the tiniest amount of bleach had to be added to the well to kill off germs. I have no idea how this process is performed, but I do know that we were all well-aware of when the bleach had been added; our showers and drinking water smelled bleachy. It was gross, so we started filtering our drinking water with a Brita filter, and it’s actually pretty good stuff then. My only reason for purchasing bottled water is for convenience. When I’m at home, I pour myself a glass of filtered water rather than open a bottle. I know I can always refill my water bottles instead of buying new ones, but for some reason, I just never want to take the time to clean them out and do it. Yes, I know it’s lazy. I do feel guilty sometimes thinking about how much waste I’m creating by not reusing my bottles, but it doesn’t seem to stop me. It’s strange; I care about the environment and what we’re doing to it, but not enough to do something myself about it. I think I have that whole “if I’m the only one doing it, it’s not going to make a big difference” mindset. I digress.
Comment by Sue on 25 July 2007:
After reading about how Aquafina and Dasani water is from municipal systems I’d definitely not even bother buying those 2 brands if I can get the same kind of water out of a water filter at home. I’m really considering just buying a water bottle and refilling it. I think in all honesty water should be free!
Comment by Pamela on 7 August 2007:
I started buying bottle water after I read the leaflet in my utility bill. It was the annual noticed the city sends to each household. (City own Utilities)
I wonder just how many people read it. (It was the first time for me in 18 years.) It is the chemical,mineral & trace element break down of what’s in our city’s water. In small print on the bottom of the page it states if anyone suffers a immune disease or a weak immune system then they suggest not to consume the city’s water. I purchased a filter water pitcher,have a filter attached to my kitchen sink also. My body no longer produces salvia due to Radiation therapy 5 years ago. I had a very rare form of oral Cancer that I got from Herbicde’s used on our food & from the enviroment. so I consume vast amount of water daily. When I heard about these companies pulling the wool over the publics eyes I just about cried. What’s a person to do? It’s not good to re-use the plastic bottles when ones immune system’s been compromised.
Comment by Kalan on 26 March 2009:
Are you all a bunch of idiots?? Where did you think the water was coming from, a spring somewhere? I wouldn’t want to drink water from some spring where animals and who knows what else is peeing upstream. I always knew, and most intelligent people knew also, that Aquafina was water that was filtered for purification and obtained form a local source. You have told me nothing I didn’t already know. So much for your big annnouncement!
Comment by Dean on 27 March 2009:
Thanks for the comment, surprisingly a lot of people don’t realize this due to the major bottled water company’s marketing. I have to admit their marketing is excellent, their actual product not so much.
Pingback by 21 Ways To Stop Wasting Money : Mr. Cheap Stuff on 25 June 2009:
[...] Come on…do you really need this? Much bottled water is only purified tap water to begin with. And you’re already paying taxes for your own local water. If you don’t like the taste of your tap water, buy a filter to attach to your kitchen and/or bathroom faucets – or get a water-filtering pitcher. Get refillable plastic bottles and watch your savings pour in. Learn more on why Aquafina is a rip off. [...]
Comment by Jamie on 21 July 2009:
How can I reproduce at home the filtration process Aquafina uses?
Comment by Christian on 3 October 2009:
I’m a Norwegian staying in San Diego, CA for studies. I Norway we have really good water on tap almost everywhere, and I like to drink a lot of it. (Stupid enough though, I still buy bottled water when I’m out traveling etc. back home, but that’s another story. Some people say selling bottled water in Norway is like selling sand in Sahara.)
Here in San Diego, the tap water is more or less undrinkable if you ask me, it tastes far too much chlorine. We have a fridge with built-in filtered water dispenser, but I don’t really care for the water from there either, as well as most brands of bottled water. Some of them have a really bad taste of plastic, while others have some other horrible aftertaste I can’t really identify (f.x. filtered fridge water, Arrowhead, Evian and the really cheap brands.)
Nestle Pure Life, Dasani and Aquafina are all good though, with Aquafina being my favorite. To me, Aquafina is not a rip-off at all, but rather a great product. I feel kind of bad for wasting all the empty plastic bottles, though. If they actually make it from municipal sources, please tell me where I can buy a filter for making it myself!