Water

Buying water in bottles is a zany practice. That water was pulled from the ground, packed in plastic bottles, labeled, boxed, shipped a couple of times, unboxed, retailed,  and finally transported to your house, which has running water.

And guess what: Much of it is filtered municipal water.

Bottled water is touted as cleaner or more healthful, but that's just myth or marketing for most U.S. locations, especially cities. With regard to health, municipal water is just fine.

Taste can be another story.Some cities, such as New York and San Francisco, have especially good supplies and their water tastes as good or better than any bottled waters.

Bottled water is very wasteful. Consider some alternatives:

Don't overlook tap water. If your tap water tastes good, then use it.

If your tap water doesn't taste good, a carbon filter is the simplest alternative. You can install a cartridge filter (large under-sink filters cost least in the long run) or use a carafe or above-the-sink filter. Consumer Reports is an excellent source for reviews of the filtering products.

If filtering still leaves a bad taste, or if your water source is tested to contain problems, go RO! "Reverse osmosis" is the same process they use to produce many bottled waters. An RO filter is $200-300 (the one they sell at Costco is very good) and you will save a fortune over bottled water. But note that RO flushes water down the drain as part of the process (3-4 gallons per gallon you drink). It requires installation and takes up room under the sink. You can rent an RO system. The cost is higher but installation and maintenance are covered.

Lemonize: A bit of lemon or lime is an easy enhancement. To make it more convenient, keep a squeeze bottle of juice in the fridge and squeeze a shot into your glass. Or, store slices of lemon in the freezer.

The only thing more insane than bottled water is soda. A 12-oz. soda contains 8-12 teaspoons of sugar! Build yourself a water habit and you trim enough calories that you can have a treat now and then. And really, wouldn't you rather have a cookie than a soda?

Comments

[Mike W.]

I really do need to do my own reverse osmosis thing, rather than paying someone else to do it (into reusable containers, at least).

Apparently Chicago just added a tax on bottled water to encourage people to stop this practice. See http://sustainablog.org/2008/01/08/groundbreaking-bottled-water-tax-raises-dustup-in-chicago/

And remember that not all soda is sugared, not that Nutrasweet or even Splenda are all that great for you either.

[aikanae]

R.O. and distilling are the only methods that will reduce arsenic and the standards for arsenic have been relaxed. There's a lot of areas where the arsenic levels are much higher than they should be (no arsenic is safest). It's actually a serious problem.

One of the ironies of buying bottled water is that not only could it be the same water that your not drinking from your tap, but they also have less water-quality reporting standards than municipal water does.

Bottled water was definitely some marketing genius' idea of a get-rich-quick success scheme. I'm waiting for the info-mercial so I can do it at home too.