I'm sticking with bottled water. When my tap excretes water it's definantly a suspension of nasty particulate. For me the bottled water companies are winning this debate because at least their water is translucent.

I can't speak for the rest of the county but LA tap water is really shtty

I would love to get spring water at my tap like a few posters do. They are lucky.

Keep in mind that the flouride in the water could be hazardous only when mixed with some other chemical. If the public is exposed to flouride over a LONG period of time, and then the public is exposed to some other chemical that has some adverse reaction with flouride.... who knows what could happen.

i also think that we can drink tap filtered water with no problem. my big question about the bottled one is: why the majority of the bottled waters are always too acid? have you any time checked the Ph. of it's quimical analisys?! the vast majority are acid (between 4.0 to 5.9 Ph.), fewer ones are around 6.0 ph, rare ones about 7.0Ph (Neutral), and the more rare of all are the alcaline ones (above 7.0). our normal food habits are already too acid, why make people to drink acid water ? why the majority of bottled waters are acidic?! any data about this any one? i would love to know. thx

The real question should be. What is better, beer on tap, or bottled beer?

I believe that bottled and tap water are equally safe/dangerous. As far as avoiding flouride ... are we sure it's not in the bottled water? A good percentage of bottled water comes from "municipal sources" (ie tap water) and if that local source is flouridated than it would be in the bottle.

Here in my little city (40K residents, approx) we have 4 water companies (I have no idea why we cant have just one) and the district we are in does not flouridate the water ... so no concerns there. We just filter our tap water, you can taste the difference pre and post filter. We buy bottled water when we are out and about for conveinience purposes.

I know where im living now, the water is full of chlorine. if i were to take a 15 minute shower, i come out smelling like i just got out of a pool. definatly not something i want to drink.
also, i think its a big psychological thing for people to drink bottled water, they think its better than the normal crap that comes out of the sink. and it just might be. and certain waters taste different, i personaly think oxyginated water tastes WAY better than any other water out there, that doesnt mean its the only one i'll drink, but id rather drink that or a bottle than a glass of tap water that tastes like a community pool.
and there are a lot of citys that have great tasting water. it all depends on the area and the type of water system you have.
in the end, people generaly feel safer drinking bottled water, and if you're willing to pay the extra cash for a little peace of mind, go for it, your not hurting anyone, just remember to recycle

ok. its WATER. im not going to go to the store and pay for water when i already pay the water company for the same thing. i have a brita filter pitcher and that works just fine. its ridiculous to even think that we should have to go to the store and buy bottled water in the first place. just another way companies rip people off.

I drink Evian & I CAN taste the difference every time. Never touch tap & I live in UK where fluoridation is the norm. The Nazi's started fluoridation ... nuff said.

The Nazi's started alot of things, does not make them all bad...

I do have some background in environmental engineering, and can tell you, atleast in the US, tap water is comparable to most bottled waters in quality. People usually choose the taste of bottled waters because most of them do not chlorinate their water, which tends to leave an aftertaste, but ensure aboslutely biologically santiary water from the distribution center to your home. This does not mean that bottled waters aren't sanitized, but being that controls on tap water are much more stringent, I tend to trust it more, and balanced with the cost, tap water is my choice by far. For instance, waters like evian, are produced by the exact same procedures as your average city. Depending on where you live, and to what level they soften their water through ion exchange or lime/soda softening, evian's hardness and alkalinity are very similar. Waters like aquafina are distilled to the same level as your reverse osmosis system (with a few salts added for taste afterward). But that does not make it anymore sanitary; it just means that abolutely no or very very low alkalinity or harness are left. These process are not what make water safe for you to drink, they just make it taste better, depending on your opinion. The last step, disinfection, is the important part. The important question is to what level are they sanitizing your water? Is it some corporation that could be just getting by with two log (99%) disinfection (with occasional inspections by the department of health). Or is your water being disinfected to three or four log (99.9 and 99.99) percent of pathogens killed. This is determined by looking at the hardest to kill specimens (of bacteria: Ecoli; of protozoa: Giari Lamblia cysts). Typically your average municipality first uses ozone, the most effective killer of pathogens, then uses Chlorine, because it provides lasting protection for the water all the way to its consumption. Some plants also use UV radiation now. Everyone should look into their local water, the results of the municipalities constant monitering are a matter of public record.
Just to add I wouldnt recomend reusing a bottle from bottled water for water that is not chlorinated. Once Open, pathogens increase exponentially in bottles, and nonchlorinated water in them is just asking for trouble. Not that the ingestion of some pathogens is a bad thing, it strengthens the immune system. The quality of our tap water here in the US is why we cant drink the water alot of other places, like mexico, because our bodies are used to such a high level of disinfection.

Originally posted by AHCivilE
Typically your average municipality first uses ozone, the most effective killer of pathogens, then uses Chlorine, because it provides lasting protection for the water all the way to its consumption.

What has to go wrong for the ozone treatment of water to form Bromate, and I have only read it is a "suspect" carcinogen, has anybody proven it to be a carcinogen.

I havent heard anything about that problem, as this is not my field of work, enviromental was only a part of my degree. I do know ozone is considered to the safest of the two, as is forms very few biproducts since it generally oxidizes the pathogens into their smallest parts. Chlorinated water must be treated with activated carbon after they chlorinize it to be absolutely certain any byproducts that chlorine sometimes forms are romoved, some of which are harmful, though less so than the original pathogens. I am pretty certain at this point that just about everything not in the natural chemistry of our body can be linked to cancer. Though I will forward your question to one of the enviromental engineers I know and hopefully get you a real answer.

Originally posted by wondernut
once again, i will refrence one of my favorite shows , "penn and teller's bulls**t" (hope that appeases the censors as it is the NAME OF THE SHOW but i can't say it because we proudly DENY THE FIRST AMENDMENT)

Really, and how does the 1st apply to any other nation in the world but the US? Are you so arrogant, or ignorant, pick one, that makes you believe that US law applies to other countries?

This is an international site. NOT an American site. I hope that clears things up.

Back to your regularly scheduled topic.

go back and read my edit
this is an american site as the server is based in america
sorry

:edit:
when you move to a server not within the united states, then and only then, will you be right

and here i thought your motto was "deny ignorance"
i'd of thought you'd at least know how to do an ip-address lookup

[edit on 28-10-2006 by wondernut]

United States Constitution
Bill of Rights
Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

see that?
that trumps every single T&C out there
if you don't like that, then YOU can leave

the right of freedom of speach is guarenteed and CAN NOT BE TAKEN AWAY BY ANY POWER SHORT OF GOD, let alone your T&C...

OOPS! Posted mistakenly.

[edit on 28/10/06 by Keyhole]

Regarding tap water safety-

Check your local water reports, and pay attention to the times of year, that your lake source of water will "turn".

This is a situation that causes alot of disturbance in the soil at the bottom of the lake, and many contaminants that were "sealed off" will be mixed into the water column...

that makes for very bad water, and in our state, they issue a warning to boil water during those times, rather than flush the neccessary amounts of Clorine, and Flouride thru the pipes (since it would be above safe levels of PPM)

We filter ALL of the water we drink. We don't live in a bad area either. Just 20 minutes south their water is so chemicalized that I wouldn't even wash in it. Damn, it stinks of more than chlorine.