Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Consumers are switching to water as they avoid sugary beverages

blogs.wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 143 posts

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

#121

Post by RodericDay »

squeaky-clean wrote: post #116
RodericDay wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that GP is in the black while this post is downvoted is puzzling to me. Several people must have read GP "yuck @ tap water" and nodded along, and then down-voted this comment. However, if you think the USA can provide drinkable water, you'd have downvoted the "yuck" comment, because it is incorrect, and then this one as well. Or, If you agree with the "yuck" comment, then this poster is correct, and you shou…

> However, if you think the USA can provide drinkable water, you'd have downvoted the "yuck" comment, because it is incorrect, and then this one as well. Brussels sprouts are "Yuck". However, they're also perfectly edible and healthy for you. If the US started a national food program that delivered incredibly cheap and healthy food straight to your kitchen, but San Diego was stuck with brussels sprouts as their food…

> but San Diego was stuck with brussels sprouts as their food option, I would not find that "really and truly sad"

why not? wouldn't you feel bad for the people in San Diego?

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

#122

Post by [deleted] »

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #6
joezydeco wrote: post #2

Low margin? My wife switched to La Croix which seems to be the new popular water drink around here. It's easily 3x the price of Coke.

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?

[deleted]

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

#124

Post by woodman »

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.

If you find a bottle of water to be that great an encumbrance, then you were never really going to walk or cycle anywhere. There are plenty of good reasons to drive somewhere, but cupholders isn't one of them.

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

#125

Post by ethanbond »

ufmace wrote: post #108
nathanaldensr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You've obviously never drank Phoenix tap water.

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

#126

Post by Grishnakh »

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.)

Tap water is crap. It tastes bad, it has chlorine in it, and sometimes the treatment plant screws up and it becomes contaminated. Anyone in Flint, MI will tell you that advocating tap water is a terrible idea.

Reverse-osmosis treated water is almost dirt cheap. I get mine from the local Walmart, in heavy-duty refillable 3 or 5-gallon jugs. It costs me $0.37 per gallon to refill one of my jugs. At that price, there's no reason to suffer with tap water, for either drinking or cooking. I recommend the 3-gallon jugs though; it's easier to carry them and to pour them into smaller 1-gallon jugs or water bottles at home.

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

#127

Post by Grishnakh »

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.

It's about convenience and also distribution costs. It simply isn't very efficient putting water into a bunch of tiny bottles and selling them individually.

If you want cheap "bottled" water, find a place that has a reverse-osmosis vending machine. Basically, you bring your own bottles (it's better if you get the big 3 or 5-gallon jugs), put them in, put in some money, press a button, and it refills the bottle using the RO equipment in the machine. The cost is generally pretty cheap: $0.25-50 per gallon (I pay $0.37 locally). It's not as cheap as tap obviously, but it's a lot cheaper than gasoline, or pre-packaged bottled water, and a whole lot cheaper than overpriced fancy brands like Evian.

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

#128

Post by djloche »

amalag wrote: post #111
djloche wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason is that you can buy a case of clean bottled water for ~$1-2, providing you clean, good tasting drinking water for a month. This is something even people at or below poverty level income can afford and dramatically increases quality of life. The individual has little to no control over the water or pipes that runs the water to their home. It is a take it or leave it situation. If you own your home, then you…

$1 for enough bottled water for a month? Where did you get that number from? We were living away from our home (and water filter) for a few months and bought the cheapest bottled water we could. It was $1 per gallon. Where is this magical bottled water plant that 60 gallons of water for $1.

I'm going to concede on the particulars of how low the price was because it must have been just a killer loss leader in-store sale at walmart - the cheapest I can find now online is ~$7 for the same flat of 35 17oz bottles.

I am, however, going to disagree with how much water. 2 gallons of water for a single person each day seems to be more than just excessive for drinking water. Even if I was drinking 17oz each primary meal and another upon waking and upon going to sleep, that still leaves 171 oz remaining to reach 2 gallons.

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

#129

Post by toomuchtodo »

usaphp wrote: post #92
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.

I am free to chose not to drink sugary drinks, but I can't change my current tap water, except for paying for bottled water

You could get water delivered to your home in large 5 gallon jugs. Its not quite as bad as the small bottles.

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

#130

Post by toomuchtodo »

ufmace wrote: post #102
mrob wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

As soon as distributed rooftop solar takes off, I see a large industry in condensing drinking water directly out of the air with surplus energy.

https://github.com/openawg/openawg/tree/master/blueice

Post reply on HN