Bottled Water vs Cheaper Filters

If you heat ANIMAL BONES to 900 degrees F (500 C) and hold them there for 2-3 hours until they turn GREY ...white is too long, black not long enough.... you can use that "bone char" to filter out fluoride.

Sri Oracle

Being a current worker at a bottling plant, I can tell all of you that think that "bottled water is a scam" need to get your facts straight before spouting nonsense. You'd be suprised at the junk that your government allows to "slide" through in your city water. How do I know this? Because I get calls from enough people that say that their water "smells like rotten eggs" "has sulphur" (Yes, SULPHUR!) in florida, water is ridiculously over-chlorinated in some areas, which is NOT good for you, if you're not aware of this, chlorine is a carcinogen (cancer causing agent) and while the govt. may say "well there's a minimal level that is allowed" they don't always follow through.

I think many people here who think of bottled water as a scam aren't thinking of areas like Katrina or Iowa that right now don't have viable drinking water, or don't think of areas like texas or florida, or don't think of the instances in which water supplies have had been cut or stopped due to a disease spreading through the water supply, which happened recently at a particular college, where they were left without public water supply for 2 weeks! then the govt. said, ok, you can use the water now, but make sure you boil the heck out of it first, I think it was a month after that they said that the water was completely "safe" to drink.

If that doesn't make you question the quality of your public water, by all means check out the report that your public water supplier provides annually, compare it with one by a bottled water company, then ask yourself, why is it that your government thinks there's an "OK" percentage of insect/rat/feces etc. level allowed, or, depending in your area, an "OK" level of arsenic? shouldn't it be 0%?

If you want to continue drinking public water, by all means do so, heck, there are some states that actually have GREAT public water systems and shouldn't really have to worry about buying bottled water (New York and Illinois for example, that's why the company I work for, doesn't do business in these states, there's no point since there's no need, the water is actually comparable to bottled water.) But not ALL states have that benefit. So please, don't start making accusations without first getting some facts straight, especially if you can't tell the difference between tap water, purified water (i.e. reverse osmosis), distilled, artesian or spring. Believe me, they do more than just "run the public water through a brita filter" (at least the more reputable and honest companies)

By all means, if you need further information, contact the IBWA (international bottled water association) or the ABA (American Beverage Association) and they'll be able to corroborate what I'm talking about (these are just some of the groups that make sure the water quality is up to FDA and EPA standards and sometimes even more stringent)

Are there sheister companies out there? of course, that doesn't mean they all are. Do I agree that we need better water supplies so that at some point we won't ever have to look towards bottled water? of course I do! But until the corrupt politicians decide to DO something about it other than doing some stupid tax to the companies which, in the end WE will end up paying anyway, this "problem" isn't going away.

reply to post by lakituif you are concerened with the quality of drinking water you have go to home depot, lowes or what ever you have in your area and get a reverse osmosis filter system, the ro water is actualy as good as bottled water from an unknown source, besides most bottled water comes from municipal sources anyway.

The water in my town (lubbock, tx) is rated as just above the minimum it can be before it is considered "unsafe and undrinkable".

Me and my roommates will only drink bottled water and whenever we do actually get desperate and drink the faucet water (or even water from the refrigerator thing) we always feel sick afterward.

So... in our case bottled water is the best solution or using the big gallon jugs and the office type water coolers.

If you're going to switch back to bottled water, may I suggest the biodegradable plastic (PLA or PHB and a few others). It's not like they're any different. They're just made more naturally from processed glucose and cornstarch and stuff, and they decompose years quicker than regular bottles.

reply to post by toasted


You read way too much into stuff. Ease up.

reply to post by Question


I agree with you on some parts. In disaster struck areas, or where water is low quality, bottled water is a blessing. Thank heavens for it.I am not saying the water itself is horrible. There is just huge environmental ramifications with it. But there are legitimate needs for it.

Secondly, I think chlorine is awful awful awful. It can burn the skin off you. So imagine what it is doing to your insides.

As for the sulpher smell,I don't know what is going on in fl.Most likely the smell of decaying swamp matter is coming through there pipes. But 99% of the time, it is from bacteria growing a nice little colony in the hot water heater.

Bottled water works like this: if it does not say filtered spring water on your bottle, then it is filtered tap water.


That being said:

As for public water, it really depends on where you live. it really does.And how proactive your city is in the quality.
In Baltimore, they have a lab on premises that runs tests every five minutes. So if something gets through, the occupants know almost immediately.
But I doubt that all companies take such stoic precautions. They also do routine samples throughout the suburbs it serves.

Most public water is small individual plants run by small companies.This is why you can't have a mass terrorist poisoning on water supplies, they couldn't get more then one big city tops.

The effort
In my hometown and and in Baltimore, they are known for having the best water in the country, so much so they bottle it! (chlorine still, yuck!)
Other then the chlorine smell, it is pretty good.

Now I have lived in the southwest, where it looks like someone scooped it out of a pothole on a rainy day, after being driven though by rush hour traffic.
It is so bad, that there are water stores and machines everywhere. I lived in an apt and took my jugs to fill from the water machine every night.

A simple and cheap chlorine test from kmart will tell you how chlorine is in your water. If you have concerns, you can report them to the water companies.

There are many many ways to get drinking water, from large or small companies, from private or community wells, (community wells are like a neighborhoods own company) and from having water trucked in.

There is no way anyone can say it is all bad, or all good.

You really have to check your own supply and find out for yourself.

The tap filters do work, they are just tiny versions of the large ones you would put on your house, they work on the same premise. As for a lot of the stuff it says it filters out, it is highly unlikely you are gonna get it anyways. A lot of it is pretty rare.

Doing an environmental site estimation on your property can predict or eliminate a lot of problems.

AGAIN,

let me remind you that the "government" doesn't run most water supplies. Most water supplies are run by your local municipalities.

BAscially it is up to your very local government to decide the quality of your water supply..


The only hand government has in it is that the EPA sets the contamination standards, or MCL, which stands for maximum contamination level. You go over, you got a problem.

And the EPA goes way on the conservative side.

Then it is up to the local municipalities to meet these standards, or even more stringent ones.

My state is anal. You have to be a certified tester that has gone through training. For well construction, has to be monitored every step of the way, and the homeowners have to pass tests before moving into the home. (some of this is to make sure the well is built right)

Then you have states like AZ that didn't even bother having people permit wells till about 5 years ago.

So again, if you have concerns about your own supply, go check out the local plant. Many will give tours.

But other then setting the acceptable levels, the government has little involvement till it turns into a big problem like a superfund site.









[edit on 4-7-2008 by nixie_nox]

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


The reverse osmosis system is an excellent water treatment system.

It removes most things.
There are two things to remember when getting one.

1. they do have to be maintained. Make sure you follow the maintenance schedule.

2. They are not "certified" to filter bacteria. Certified being the key word here. They can't come and say an RO system filters bacteria, but they pretty much do.

Originally posted by Blueracer
reply to post by toasted

 

You read way too much into stuff. Ease up.

That's because, like many other things in this world,

there is usually way more to things than folks know or even thought of.

being casual, like you, has its' upsides, and downsides... ...[ been there, done that ]

since my awakening on how serious this water issue is and the different levels involved, my passion comes out,

to help those who appear to be at a point where I used to be, information wise.


Our typical water out of the faucet, is DEAD! It has no life energy in it, not to mention the crappy taste and the chlorine and fluoride etc

the only thing I can say about the tap water is, that it won't kill you immediately and the ph is just right, but other than that, the water is dead!

Our bodies need that water to have energy in it, in order to fully hyrate the cells properly, othwerwise, our water is barely doing what it is supposed to.

hence the need for moisturizers and lip balm etc, not to mention how impaired the cells are from doing their job of tossing out the crap in our system, [ keeping us healthy ] because they can't get to all the nooks and crannies to do proper house cleaning.

and if it gets it [ energy ] from, ionizing it, from a variety of different ionizers or the living water machine, it don't seem to matter

[ the body loves it, and hydrates the cells that couldn't get what they needed before ]

at least no tests have been done to show the significance of one over the other, other than the living water machine removes the disease markers


sorry for the rant, but there is a lot to it

have a nice day...

reply to post by toasted


I have well water so I'm not too worried about flouride being added to it. Just what's naturally there, if any.