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Totally agree. I have the same issue where certain minerals are too high in my ground water and purchasing a full house filtration system plus the materials needed monthly far exceeds the $4 for each case of 24 bottles of drinking water.
When I lived in the country we had a well. A 3 stage sentiment filter was installed for under $100 and the water tasted great. Far better than anything I have had since.
Where I live now the water taste can vary depending on the season. My kitchen has a Pur filter on it, problem solved. Way cheaper than bottled water.
Gotta hand it to the marketing folks, they got people to pay more for something they can get from a tap for free (or close to it), and pay more for it than they would for a gallon of gasoline.
For around $120 you can get a 3 stage reverse-osmosis, under-sink system. Change the filters out once a year or so depending on your water quality, and the ro membrane maybe once every 3 yrs. You can even use a faucet adapter if you live in an apartment and can't tap into the water line. Easy, cheap, and it works on even the worst water. It takes our TDS 800+ ppm to below 20 ppm, ie virtually pure. Yet people will still blow big $$$$ on bottle water.
We use filtered tap water and store them in glass bottles. No point in wasting money for bottled water in plastic bottles which the plastic defeats the purpose.
When you have well water like we do, which is untreated, bottled water for drinking is no scam. It tastes so much better. Now, we could treat our water, as many do ... but such systems are not cheap.
Most of my zip is on private well and septic. I live within the village and it's treated water from a public well. I don't care for it and buy water for drinking purposes.
If I lived in the adjacent town, just south of me I would have Lake Michigan water which is delicious.
my recollection is that some rich guy way back when mandated that the city of portland oregon provide free drinking water through fountains that he paid fir in perpetuity.
study after study over the years has shown that practicality no one can tell the difference btween even the moist expensive bottled water ad their local tap water
Depends on the source of yer local tap water.
New Orleans drinks the Mississippi River.
Further upriver is the "chemical corridor."
I pay for Abita Springs bottled water.
Reckon if I lived in Abita Springs, I'd drink tap water.
my recollection is that some rich guy way back when mandated that the city of portland oregon provide free drinking water through fountains that he paid fir in perpetuity.
study after study over the years has shown that practicality no one can tell the difference btween even the moist expensive bottled water ad their local tap water
The Benson bubblers were installed throughout downtown because Benson really hated alcohol and how many people in the city that drank alcohol. He figured the bubblers would provide a free drink for people to prevent them from drinking alcohol.
The bubblers failed at preventing people from drinking alcohol, but it has created a unique drinking fountain throughout downtown that gives people access to delicious Cascade fresh water.
Where I live now the water doesn't really taste good. I use a combo of Brita and bottled water. The last place I lived had great water.
I have this convo/debate with the guy at the recycling center every time I go in. He totally believe it's all the same stuff and that I can just fill a bottle with tap water and wouldn't know the difference. Heck, I can SMELL the difference!
The stuff coming out of your tap may very well be SAFE to drink but that doesn't mean you can't buy yourself something you actually enjoy.
There are many places with bad tasting municipal water, and many people with wells that have water with a nasty taste. For them the bottled water is a necessity, though most will have the big 5 gallon bottles and cooler. Other places, like where we live, the water tastes better than bottled yet we still buy the 12 or 16 oz. bottles at times for the convenience for road trips, hiking, and events. It's just easier than refilling more durable containers, and worth the price.
This is how we live.
Our local water comes from a private company with a 772' deep well.
We do not drink it.
I grew up on Long Island and the tap water was delicious.
The issue isn't the companies selling bottled water. It's the brain-dead consumers that will spend $2 for a bottle of water. Honestly, that's no different than someone that will wizz away $5 at Starbucks for an overpriced coffee. It's their money, they can do with it what they want. Kind of like paying 3x the price for the same product because it says "organic".
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Have you ever purchased a bottle of Coke or Pepsi when you were thirsty? Normally at convenience stores, soft drinks are priced about the same as bottled water (20 oz for example). If I'm traveling and have no liquids to drink in my car and no water fountains available, I would choose bottled water over bottled soft drinks if those were my only choices.
There is an average of 300-600% markup on soft drinks (although much lower than the markup on water).
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