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Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

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Re: Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

#101

Post by swift »

tbabb wrote: post #83
Practicality wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok. While I am not going to give out my city, their water report says that their average chlorine level is 0.5 mg/L. The bottled water I drink has a full water report that simply says "not detected" for chlorine. Perhaps I am just "sensitive" but something in the tap water gives me headaches.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocebo

Possible, but it's worth noting that some people are sensitive to chlorine. Public swimming pools often give me a headache and make my nose run, while the people around me don't seem to have a problem. In fairness I haven't isolated chlorine as the cause, but I've never had issues with natural bodies of water.

Re: Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

#102

Post by ufmace »

mrob wrote: post #69
hannob wrote: post #9

Good news. Now they should switch to tap water and it'll also be a win for the environment. (To anticipate answers: Yes, I know, in the US water often contains large amounts of chlorine and doesn't taste that good. And in poorer countries tap water is often undrinkable. But there's no good reason to buy bottled water if your water supply is reasonable, which is true for large parts of europe at least.)

There's another good reason to buy bottled water: water is heavy. If you're walking or cycling somewhere you might not want to carry water when you can buy some at your destination. If you remove this option you might do more environmental harm than good by encouraging use of motor vehicles.

Indeed water is heavy. So get it to your home in the most efficient way - through pipes. I'm happy to do it just to avoid having to carry home everything I drink.

Re: Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

#103

Post by Grazester »

WalterBright wrote: post #96
wnevets wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the beverage industry has done a great job marketing the idea that the US water supply isnt clean, at a 1000% markup of course.

I'm always bemused that bottled water costs more than gasoline.

I never did understand this especially for distilled water

Re: Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

#104

Post by swift »

rootusrootus wrote: post #57
hannob wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe true. May also be a nocebo issue. Heard many people claiming that "tap water in XY is terrible" while every study shows that it's not true. Often tap water quality is better than bottled water.

My wife is a good example. She absolutely refuses to drink water from the tap -- and we live in Portland, Oregon, which arguably has some of the purest water in the USA.

The point has been made several times in this thread, but some of this may be a matter of what you expect water to taste like. I grew up in a small town where the water had a kind of "mineral-y" flavor to it, and tap water in most places tastes a little off to me by comparison. I know that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it, though.

Re: Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

#105

Post by amalag »

maxxxxx wrote: post #88
usaphp wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently moved to San Diego from New York, the tap water here is unbearable to drink, it tasted horrible, like you are drinking mold, filters don't help that much, still tastes horrible. I won't drink that, never mind giving it to my kids

In LA the water often tastes bad. I use a Brita filter which makes thing a little better but it still isn't great. I miss the water in Munich...

Just get a high quality filter. I bought an RO and love it but there are other high quality filters out there.

Re: Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

#106

Post by cozzyd »

nilkn wrote: post #50
semi-extrinsic wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apart from signalling that you have too much money and don't give a crap about the environment, why would anyone drinking just water buy bottled water every day instead of a Camelbak or Nalgene or Bobble bottle once a decade, and then drink tap water? Or even a Bkr if you're very fashion conscious? Is US water quality really that bad? Edit: and if you need sparkling water, why not get a Sodastream or equivalent?

La Croix is sparkling water with very subtle natural flavoring. As for Sodastream, I've seen lots of folks say that they did the math and found that it wasn't any cheaper in the long run -- or was just barely so -- once you take the cost of the CO2 into account. There are still environmental reasons to get a Sodastream, of course. But if it's not any cheaper and requires learning to use a new contraption and making s…

It's much more convenient though. Hauling liquids isn't fun, even though I live just a block from a grocery store.

Re: Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

#107

Post by amalag »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #21
Practicality wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"there's no good reason to buy bottled water if your water supply is reasonable" You pretty much explained why many of us drink bottled water, since our supply is not reasonable. :)

Could always filter it yourself.

This is the best answer. Even in a place like Flint, it would be so much cheaper to put a top of the line whole house filter in each house rather than some of the crazy things they were doing like bringing in bottled water.

Re: Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

#108

Post by ufmace »

nathanaldensr wrote: post #94
tbabb wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If "funny tasting water" upsets you, then sugary drinks-- which kill thousands of people through obesity-- should scare the daylights out of you.

Why the scare quotes? Tap water in many places does taste funny. I don't drink it for the same reasons; instead, I get Ozarka (Nestle) water delivery. Also, you present a false dichotomy; I don't have to choose between sugary drinks and funny-tasting water. I can, and do, avoid both .

I have a feeling that "funny tasting" is all what you're used to. I'd bet that if you drink it exclusively for a month anyways, it will taste normal again.

Re: Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

#109

Post by amalag »

AlexandrB wrote: post #12
TylerE wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, in many places, it's pretty bad.

I love that the American solution is not to try to bring the municipal water up to standard but to spend 10x-100x on bottled water.

Makes a whole lot more sense to maintain separate filters for drinking water. How can we expect our toilet and shower water to be the same quality as drinking water. A filter for drinking water makes a lot more sense.

Re: Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

#110

Post by notyourloops »

CarVac wrote: post #59
AlexandrB wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You pretty much explained why many of us drink bottled water, since our supply is not reasonable. :) Citation needed. Some choice quotes from Wikipedia[1]: 'The Environmental Protection Agency regulations for tap water are "actually stricter than the Food and Drug Administration regulations for bottled water."' 'A study of drinking water in Cincinnati, Ohio, discovered that bacterial counts in bottled water were of…

People buy bottled water for the taste, not for the cleanliness. If you have bad tap water, it's not like you can just shop around for another provider. But bottled water does actually compete on taste; I do prefer some brands over others when given the choice. But I've gotten lucky with fine-tasting tap water, anyway.

My tap water does not taste good. I drink it most of the time but there's no fooling my taste buds; the bottled water tastes better.
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