Is Bottled Water Bull Crap?

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8 Answers

james caison Profile
james caison answered
Most of it is , it is just tap water from some towns water supply.
Wesley Profile
Wesley answered
Pretty much, most bottled water is from the tab anyways, but most people dont know that .
thanked the writer.
Brock Samson
Brock Samson commented
You may want to do some research before assuming all purified bottled water is simple repackaged tap water. There are some major differences (see my answer).
Wesley
Wesley commented
Well look at my answer. I did my research . I sayed most not all .
Brock Samson
Brock Samson commented
Yea, I did. You obviously failed to either read my answer below and/or understand the point. The fact that you dont know the difference between the terms "purified water" and "bottled water" is proof enough of this.

Purified water (bottled water taken from a public source as per the FDA definition) is MUCH more than repackaged tap water. Again, do your research first then reply. Hint: I did the research for you, if you would bother to read my answer.
Brock Samson Profile
Brock Samson answered
That depends on what you mean.

Will both types of water hydrate you, and are both safe to drink (in the US)? Yes, of course. So if your definition ends there, then you could say that bottles water is BS.

Then again, if you are looking into taste, mouth feel, consistency, convenience, shelf life, and the lack of chemical additives (i.e. Chlorine), then no bottled water is decidedly NOT "bull crap". Of course this doesnt take into account places such as Mexico where tap water can actually be harmful due to contaminants, chemicals, and parasites present in the public water system.

There are a lot of different types of bottles water: Spring, artesian, mineral, sparkling, and purified. Since most major brands are of the purified variety (those pulled from municipal water sources) I will concentrate on that.

Yes, "purified" bottled water (as defined by the FDA) is water taken from the public water system. This is a great starting point, given the fact that basically all public drinking water in the US meets some very high standards in terms of quality and drinkability.

From there, this municipal water is exposed to UV light as a first step purification process. UV light disinfects without affecting pH, aroma, color, or stability of the water while never creating a residue or byproduct unlike some other forms of disinfection used in municipal water systems.

After this, the water moves onto the filtration process. This removes basically all particulates, chemicals (like the chlorine used in the public water from which it was taken), and microorganisms. These filters run in a linear series, going from ~5 microns to 0.2 microns. This is typically looped a few times over as well in order to get to 99.9% filtration effectiveness.

Then, after the filtration process the filtered water is treated with an ozonation disinfection process. In this process they use ozone gas (a form of oxygen) to fully disinfect the water even further. Again, as with the reverse osmosis process, this step does not change the pH, or add aroma, color, or taste to the water.

After these steps are completed, you are basically left with pure H20. The problem with this is that "pure" H20 doesnt have ANY taste and feels "rough" across the tongue (theres that mouth feel thing). This is why companies typically add minerals to the water at this stage. These minerals would naturally be found in water, but were removed by the refinement process mentioned above. For the mineral injection process, companies add minerals such as calcium and magnesium in order to produce more healthful benefits as well as adding to the taste and mouth feel of their water. Of course each company adds different amounts of each mineral to custom tailor the taste and feel of their water, which is which you notice some bottles waters taste and/or "feel" different from one another.

After all of this, the bottles water is put into it's... Well... Bottles, under strict sanitary conditions fully regulated by the FDA. It is because of this process, combined with the above mentioned filtration/disinfection steps, that bottled water can be stored indefinitely as long as it is kept at or below room temperature and out of direct sunlight. Again, this is something you can NOT do with tap water in and of it self.

Now, I'm not even delving into the controversy about things such as the presence of estrogen and other medications in public drinking water systems or the potential tampering with public water works systems by terrorists and what not. I do not have time or motivation to get into that whole can of worms. Needless to say, though, that neither of these issues are relevant when discussing bottled water.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
No it isnt and it also depends on weather it is an original one gotten from the spring.
Alma Holmes Profile
Alma Holmes answered
Yes i know this because i have put tap water in a bottle of empty bottle and put in the refrigerator and they thought it was a bottle they put away in the fridge and drank it
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Brock Samson
Brock Samson commented
Just because I fill a bottle up from the toilet and someone drinks it doesn't mean that "bottled water" is some sort of a scam or "bull crap". Also, if water is cold (read: Someone put it in the fridge) the taste is reduced, meaning that it would be much harder to tell the difference between tap and bottled water by taste alone... Especially if you have the mindset that it is bottled water to begin with. You may also want to address the people who drink from bottles with broken safety seals.
Alma Holmes
Alma Holmes commented
First and far most i wouldnt give anyone toliet water my point was water is good out of the tap even if most dont think so i have a daughter who can tell the difference and will only drink bottle water truth be told u shouldnt refill emptty water bottles me on the other hand drink water bottle and tap and i also know in certain places water from the tap taste bad thank god not here because i am on a fix income and cant afford to buy water all the time so i am blessed that my tap water is good GB
Austin  70 Profile
Austin 70 answered
Say you get some bottled water that says fresh from natural spring. More likely some somewhere a guy who is filling the bottles is laughing while filling them with a hose.
Monica Smith Profile
Monica Smith answered
I only drink bottled water. I think that it has a weird taste compared to tap water, but out here in BFE we have well water and that crap is nasty. The best bottled water is Fiji Water, that water is very tasty and thirst quenching. All in all though, I think bottle water is a waste of money.
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Brock Samson
Brock Samson commented
I agree, Fiji Water is the jizz! It's much too expensive though.

Now, while I typically drink only bottled water, there are places in the US where I wouldn't balk at drinking from the tap. I grew up in Hawaii and they have the BEST tap water ever. It doesn't have to travel hundreds (or thousands) of miles to get to you, and is naturally filtered and mineralized through layers and layers of lava rock where it is then drawn from protected aquifers. This is what makes Fiji Water so good.
Brock Samson
Brock Samson commented
I agree that Fiji water is the shiz, but its too expensive. Now, I only drink bottled water mainly because the water in San Diego comes all the way from the Colorado River and is the super suck by the time it arrives. Of course I would drink the tap water back in Hawaii 100% of the time. That water is pure rain water, filtered down through layers of lava rock and taken from protected aquifers. This is the same reason why Fiji Water is so damn good... But in Hawaii its FREE!
Brock Samson
Brock Samson commented
Indeed, Fiji Water is awesome, but too expensive. Now, I only drink bottled water mainly because our tap water travels hundreds of miles from the Colorado River to get here and it is the super suck by the time it arrives. Of course there are places where I would drink tap water. When I lived in Hawaii I would only drink tap water. The water there is pure rain water, filtered through layers of lava rock and taken from protected aquifers. This is the same reason why Fijian water is so good.

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