I buy bottled water because I do not like the taste of the tap water here. But we are moving to a different town and have decided to start using my filtered water container again. (I just bought a new filter.)
I also just bought some ice trays so that I do not have to buy ice by the bag. We are on a really tight budget so I am cutting back where I can.
However, if I do not like the tast of the filtered tap water( when we move) then I will go back to buying the gallons of bottled water from Wally World!!

I have no interest in adding plastic to landfills and we have good water, so I never buy water. If I need a water bottle filled with aquafina when I'm out and about, I fill up a container and hit the road.

I'm pretty much a water snob and make no apologies for it. Even bottled water isn't good enough for me. We've been distilling our drinking water for over 20-years.

It's not only the taste of water, but what's IN it. Most people aren't aware of the problem with prescription drugs found in the drinking water. Even to the point where some sensitive individuals can have drug interactions. I've know of two cases of this personally.

As a healthy 56-year old, I don't take Rx drugs, and I certainly don't need them with my drinking water. The drugs are provided by this over-medicated society from their urine entering the water treatment system (where a percentage of the drugs they are taking pass through their system), and dumping drugs and flushing them in the toilet as a method of disposal (common in most health-care establishments). The municipal water treatment is designed to take care of bacteria, but doesn't have a process to remove the drugs.

Where I live (middle of Kansas wheat and cattle country), there are a plethora of agriculture-related chemicals used on crops and applied to the ground, and drugs used on cattle that enter the waterways through run-off and water-shed. Well water as well as municipal water is affected. The only purification method to remove them is distillation - not filters.

I've always used a 1-gallon counter-top distiller. They are simple to use and clean. The price of a gallon of water will vary because of the price of a KWh in your location, but it should be less than a gallon of water from the store.

For more enlightenment on the subject, Google - drugs in your drinking water. For a nice little well-priced distiller, check the internet. I purchased my last one from Amazon.com - a Megahome brand one-gallon water distiller.

-Grainlady

I'm on the same water system as you are, but I have to pay for mine :) The most recent invoice was for $4.08/1000 gals. Even if I drank a gallon and sweated it out, I had to pay #3.77/1000 gallons for sewage, too.

It is good water. It smells good and tastes good. But I have a reverse osmosis filter at the kitchen sink, because there is still stuff in even the best water that the bodies of 200 years ago did not have to deal with on a daily basis.
The Rouge River is very high right now - you can't drive on Hines at all.

I'm into wetting and drying things big time this spring, and am thinking about the whole cycle.

I got that clothesline I mentioned in another post, and am planning water barrels, and I got a cool contraption to dry clothes that have to lay flat. I'm going to attach a garden hose to the washer drain hose, run it out the laundry room window, and water the nearby garden bed.

I buy bottled water because we live on acreage that used to be an orange grove for nearly 100 years. All the fertilizer and pesticides concern me. We have a well. I do use filtered water for coffee and tea.

A friend's brother tests water all over the USA and he would not drink bottled water it's worse than any tap water he has tested.

I drink tap water.

Bottled water?

Mostly sourced from municipal systems, with some extra filtration, etc. - but much lower levels of required testing than is required of municipal water.

Plus precious petroleum needed to make the bottles - and manufacture them.

More petroleum required to feed the trucks that haul them - prior to filing, and after filling ... then to the landfill (unless they are pitched by careless users on to the roadside).

More costs associated with operating - and expanding - the landfill sites from time to time.

If we have surplus cash looking for a home ...

... how be we send some of it to dig wells and supply pumps so that women in Africa and elsewhere don't have to carry a clay jug a couple of miles to dip dirty water from a river to serve her family? Time that they could use for more productive purposes.

Seems to me that God loves them as much as me ... and I wonder how well I'll like the questions on my final exam on my arrival at the Great Gate at the conclusion of my life here?

ole joyful

I see people buying water by the cart fulls and I think "man to be that rich I could actually care about the water I drink"

We're all getting poorer fast (except the Fat Brats that run the big banks and insurance cos.).

ole joyful

I am going back to the tap water and the Brita filter this week. I buy the GV brand of water for 83 cents a gallon but that doesn't last long in our house of five. I am also going to start using that water to make ice cubes. I have been guilty of buying ice by the bag for a long time now.

I have to stick to a budget now........ It is either buy bottled water or buy food with that money........

We recently upgraded out kitchen faucet, and then I found a great sink cheap on craigslist...so I spent the extra money on a Whirlpool under-sink water filter setup. added maybe 4 minutes to the install (the time it took me to tap holes for the mounting hardware) and splurged on the big fancy 5-stage filter that gets just about everything out of the water. it only filters cold water at the tap, but we're ok with that...and the filter seems to last us about 5 months.

We have friends with one of those fridges with the water taps...and the filter ran out. I think they don't connect the 'change filter' light, and the grevious loss of pressure, so they think it's broken...rather than buy a new filter, they got Deer Park to start dropping off big water bottles every two weeks.

I dont' get it. I really don't.

Our water turns the tub green. I have had skin problem since we moved here, so I put a filter on the show head. The sight of the used filter made me sick because it was full of heavy oil that looked like mineral oil had been poured in it. The shower is no longer working because the filter tore it up. So, that is why I buy bottled water. I am looking for a water distiller presently. Many people in our community have cancer and many blame it on the water. Instead of giving money to Wall Street, congress should clean up our land and water. The news and congress will make a lot of noise about AIG, but greedy CEOs will get to keep their money and congressmen/women who voted for legislation without reading it will be reelected ~sigh~

No, I don' buy bottled water. We have a reverse osmosis filter system at the kitchen sink and the refrigerator.

I pay a fortune for bottled water. I live in LA and the tap water just seems to taste bad. The solution is to by water filters which is what I will be doing this week.

RO system for the sink and frig.

We buy a couple of cases of bottled water a year for convenience and trips.

If you buy filtering products buy Pur products it filters out Giardi which seems to be rampant in this country.

I know tap water is perfectly safe to drink. My town tests its water daily. If I'm away from home, I might buy a bottle of Dasani water rather than drink sugary sodapop. At home, I have a Brita pitcher. I filter the water we use for drinking, coffee and tea, and ice cubes.

sspye -- I also live in the Detroit area and agree our tap water is fabulous. I never understand my neighbors who waste money on bottled water.

When we visit my parents in Florida my sister always buys bottled water. That water doesn't bother me either but it sure does need ice!!!

I live on what used to be uncle's beef farm, prior to his death and its sale.

When I stayed with him for a couple of months about 6 years ago, following the death of his wife, to be sure that, with bad back, hip and leg, he didn't fall into a snowbank and be unable to get out, while feeding his cattle, I drank the water, as had he for years, without any bad effects.

But when he died, a couple of years later, the water smelled (especially out of the hot tap) and his in-laws from first marriage suggested that I not drink it - well too close to the barnyard.

His executors found that it was bad for e Coli ... and coliforms.

A second well, feeding the barn, tested bad for coliforms.

Last summer my landlord, who'd brought water from that well into his shop, told me that he'd drunk it occasionally, without bad effects, and I told him that I had, as well, while watering the garden - no ill effects.

Since my moving there, about three years ago, I've hauled the water that I use for drinking and cooking, from the city, picking it up in gallon jugs, usually from the kitchens of churches that I attend. Except that occasionally I may use water from the tap in the electric kettle to heat up for coffee, etc.

Need I add ... that I ain't dead, yet ... at least ... I think not: let me know if you find out differently!

Too frugal (read, "cheap", if you like) to buy water in bottles (at higher price than gasoline).

Plus - I'd rather use the gas in my car than as feedstock to make unnecessary bottles to fill with water
... plus the energy used to make them, and transport them, whether unfilled or unfilled ... and, after use, to haul to the landfill.

When millions of people in over a hundred countries have no choice but to use rotten water ... if they can find any.

How can I pray to God for His(Her?) permission to use some of my/our/His(Her?) money for such a wasteful (and environmentally unfriendly) thing as buying bottled water??

Enjoy what's left of this lovely spring week, everyone.

ole joyful

Joyful, you must have very cheap gas if it's cheaper than water! Let's see, that would make it 79¢-99¢/gal. C'mon now, share! :)

One of my splurges is some bottled water to carry with me when I'm out and about. I was at Walgreens picking up a couple cases along with a couple other things a few weeks back and another guy in line looked at me and sneeringly said You don't like TAP WATER?, to which I smiled and replied, I don't have a 30 mile hose for when I'm on the opposite end of town and want a drink. And I'll be d@mned if I'll pay $5 for a cup of coffee to satisfy my thirst as I nodded at his megabucks cup in his hand. I added nor will I pay $1.29 for a bottle of pop, when a 12¢ bottle of water will quench my thirst without the unneeded sugar. Somehow he was insulted. Sadly he got checked out and scurried out the door before I could comment on his contract cell phone and I didn't get to see what he was driving either. (sigh) Yes, I've been called a lot of things.

I do however, refuse to pay $1.29 for a pint bottle of water too, but the convenience of having something to drink with me, costing 12¢ and sometimes less, is something I'll splurge on. And every time I feel the need to hit a drive-thru or something and drink water instead of $2 for fountain pop, I chuckle.

At home I often drink filtered tap water unless I'm outside and want the reseal offered on a bottle.

However I drank water long before it became fashionable. Then again, I drove a pickup before it became fashionable. And I've never touched quiche.

I don't drink bottled water when I'm home, but I will buy a bottle of water if I'm out and about and thirsty. When I get home, the bottles with come in with me and I'll refill them and use them around the house for awhile.

But honestly, I don't think I'd judge anyone for using bottled water instead of tap water. When I was a child, our water was deemed too contaminated to drink or cook with, so we had to bring in water. We were lucky enough to own property in another location and used that as our water source, but our neighbors weren't that lucky and were forced to buy their water from the store. I don't think any of us were being snobs and this was before bottled water was trendy.

The water in our wells here have iron in them and people who live have a very good filtering system or they can't drink it. All of the well water around is contaminated with fertilizers and animal waste. There is nothing snobbish about drinking bottled water. Maybe a little foolish if your city water is good.

Hi cynic ... I didn't say that water was cheaper than gas: didn't intend to, anyway.

It's not up to me to lord it over people who choose bottled water over local water if it is, for whatever reason, unsatisfactory. Or anyone, for that matter - how each person lives his/her life is his/her business. I value my freedom, and must respect that of others, as well.

But, as I said, the water here on the farm is contaminated with e Coli and coliforms from the too-close barnyard. But rather than buy bottled water, I haul water in gallon jugs from taps in the city: church or kitchen sinks or bathtubs, mainly - restaurant sinks lack space.

Processing and filtering the municipal water, the major source of bottled water, is costly, as is the hauling, in terms of all three problematic areas of energy use, global warming and pollution.

I'd rather have my petroleum used to fuel my car rather than fabricate water bottles - and power the fabricating machine ... plus trucks for hauling.

Once used, many of them litter the roads ... and get hauled to the dump (which you can call a "landfill" if it suits your fancy).

I have one of those "landfills" within a couple of miles of my house ... whose licence was expanded from 9 million to 17 million tons about three years ago ... then sold to the City of Toronto ... for $220,000,000.

Maybe they'll build a ski-hill on it, when the mountain is finished.

WE ... ARE ... SO ... WASTEFUL!

If we have surplus money - let's build some wells in parts of Africa where water is scarce, and much of it unsatisfactory for drinking ... but the people are forced to ... plus walk long distances to get to it ... then carry it home in pots.

ole joyful

I have a Pur water pitcher and use that for my drinking water, also for tea and coffee. I keep it chilled in the fridge. It tastes wonderful.

I live in the country with a well, but we can't drink the water. It is extremely acidic and high in copper. All of our neighbors have expensive water systems on their houses and STILL don't drink the water.

We bought our house last summer and don't have any sort of filtration system (historic house). We are currently saving up to buy one (to the tune of $3-5K). Every 3 weeks, my hair is so blue-green from the water that I have to have it stripped from my hair. Our porcelin tub and sink all have hard blue-green mineral deposits. And the taste? Tin foil. When we do drink the water, and leave it in a cup overnight, by the morning a thin layer of blue-green crystals are floating at the top. Although we have to bath and cook with the water (for now), we don't drink it.

I buy a case of water about once every two years or so. Mainly to have on-hand for visitors. I reuse the same water bottle, filled with our filtered tap water, over and over again before it goes into the recycle bin.

For those with wells and questionable water sources, I understand the need for bottled water. For those with good water sources, I shake my head in wonder over the waste of money and natural resources. Especially those that buy bottled water whose source is from tap water such as Aquafina and Dasani.

Dasani tasted salty & ickier than my tap water. Don't know how that made to #1 bottled water ... it must be the Coca-Cola promotion. I dislike Jello due to the artificial colors, and the Bing-Cosby commercials. I find that the heavily promoted products are the worst ones for your health, and cost $$$, that's why they pay money to advertise.

Didja ever notice how often they have a sale on bottled water?
Good mark-up on bottled water!
ole joyful

You are not suppose to reuse water bottles and I would never drink any that was stored for a long time. I read that is not good to do. I had a bad experience with plastic cereal boxes and don't use plastic anymore.

You are not suppose to reuse water bottles and I would never drink any that was stored for a long time.

How is reusing a water bottle, say, every day for a month any different than the original water sitting in the bottle for the same period of time? I think most bottled water has a "use by" date at least a year out.

I don't have any idea, but why would they warn us, it doesn't benefit them to lie, no money gained.

I don't know who recommended not reusing water bottles. Certainly the bottled water producers have a financial incentive to recommend not reusing a bottle; they get to sell more water.

I'm also talking about filling the bottle with more [plain] water. I have no idea how often would be ideal, but a reused bottle needs to be cleaned and sanitized. I shoot for 3-4 reuses between cleanings, although I have to admit that sometimes the old bottle just goes in the recycling bin and I just move on to the next one.

The idea of not reusing plastic water bottles is that over time chemicals in the plastic will enter the water. You have probably seen the warnings about BPA etc. If reused often the smooth lining can pit each pit is now in the water.

With all the junk in our water, I use a Clearly Filtered Pitcher. Check out the website and see for your self. www.ClearlyFiltered.com

i always used tap water with a Brita filter until I moved to Camarillo, CA. The water was horrible, so I bought bottled water for the five years that I lived there. After moving to Newbury Park, I went back to tap water.

I'm on a well and I grew up on them so we always drink our own water. You will not find bottled water in our home. Our fridge has a dispenser and since it has a filter, we usually use that for water. And because it comes out really cold. The only time we buy water is for camping and things like that. A water softener will take care of the sulphur smells. We had a slight smell but also hard water and the softener took care of all of that. Our basement is unfinished but we have a bathroom roughed in and laundry hooked up. When we got the softener in you should have seen the nastiness clearing from the lines. Yuck!

If I want water while driving and things like that, I fill up a reusable bottle. I'm not a fan of the water at work (city water) but I still drink it. If I really don't want to, I bring my own from home.

You realize that most people should not drink softened water. Having lived in the country I know that there are several different types of wells. Do you have one of the older ones that need cleaning? If you do it might be time.

maifleur01 Are you stalking every post I write on? No, I do not have an old well. It's brand new and 300ft deep. (You'd think that since I was writing about having just finished a build on my other posts, you would have figured that out.) And everyone in my neck of the woods has softeners because of how hard our water is. So it's not like I'm the only person on the block doing it. I also particularly noted in my initial response that we usually drink all of our water from our fridge dispenser which is filtered.

No softener = damaged plumbing lines, damaged appliances and damaged plumbing fixtures. It's a fact of life out here. And now for some literature because hey, I'm never one to make claims and not back them up with facts.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/water-softeners-sodium/faq-20058469

"Hard water contains large amounts of calcium and magnesium. Some water-softening systems replace calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions. The higher the concentration of calcium and magnesium, the more sodium needed to soften the water. Even so, the added sodium shouldn't be an issue for most healthy adults.

Levels of sodium in drinking water are very low in most water systems. In an Environmental Protection Agency survey, the majority of water systems tested had less than 50 milligrams (mg) of sodium per liter. Based on this data, a fourth of a liter (about an 8-ounce glass) of water would contain less than 12.5 mg of sodium, which falls within the Food and Drug Administration's definition of "very low sodium."

http://www.waterboss.com/watersoftenermyths.shtml

"MYTH: YOU CAN'T DRINK WATER FROM A WATER SOFTENER.

Although many people believe that water from a water softener contains too much sodium for consumption, most do not realize how little sodium is in soft water. The average amount of sodium in a quart of water from a properly working water softener is 75 to 100mg as opposed to 120 mg in a slice of white bread."

Equally as many articles advising against it but I generally trust information from the website of the #1 hospital in the U.S.

(OP, I sincerely apologize for hi-jacking your post!)

Since I have been posting since it was Gardenweb and not Houzz no I am not stalking you. I post where I want to and in this and most cases pay no attention to who the commentator is. As far as your last comment some cardiologists do not want their patients to drink softened water so my comment still stands.

Doesn't the City of Detroit charge you for their water? I know my city friends pay water bills. We have a private well and don't pay for water or sewage. THe septic is required by the township to be pumped every three years. I just had this done this week at a cost of $275. Our lake cottage has no rule on pumping and we only use it six months per year. I believe it's been pumped three times in the last 30 years. My cousin visited from Orange County, CA and couldn't believe how lush the lawn and gardens are on my 5 acre property. I don't have to water often, but it's free when I do. :)

The reason not to reuse your disposable water bottles isn't because of chemicals leaching into the water. It's because the shape of the water bottles, their narrow necks and indentations made to make it attractive, easy to hold, and sturdier, are good places for bacteria to cling and grow. and no really good way to swab those areas clean. That's the theory, anyway. On a practical level, I can't imagine hanging on to one bottle so long that happens Here, there are deposits on bottles, so there is incentive to bring them back rather than keep them around. I had city water for the first 27 years of my life, well water after that. The drought has hit this area hard, and hand-dug, shallow wells are going dry. Lots of people are buying water that never expected to.

A friend lived in an are where the water was full of sulfur. It wasn't so much drinking the water at his house (the Brita pitcher worked fine) but washing the dishes or taking a shower was nauseating, and he couldn't afford the upkeep of the filtration system.

Water from private wells seems to be "free", but digging and maintaining them is costly.

We had a hand pump on the dug well in our farmyard, with a pail of water and a dipper sitting in the pantry when I was a kid in the early '30s. Dad said it needed cleaning but loose bricks and stones in the wall made him afraid to do it.

He had a well drilled beside our house and ran pipes to three barns in 1936, the time of the Great Depression. A pump and pressure tank added to the cost and operated for many years, I guess, but we moved a couple of thousand miles away just over 10 years later.

Some pumps can be powered by a windmill, but usually just to flow water into a trough: I doubt that they can push water into a pressurized tank. Most wells are powered by electric motors which don't operate long if the power bills aren't paid.

The water from individual water wells seems almost "free", but it"s less so than it appears.

ole joyful