Feeling thrifty, the thirsty reach for tap water

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC/AP

Tap water is making a comeback.

With a day's worth of bottled water — the recommended 64 ounces — costing hundreds to thousands of dollars a year depending on the brand, more people are opting to slurp water that comes straight from the sink.

The lousy economy may be accomplishing what environmentalists have been trying to do for years — wean people off the disposable plastic bottles of water that were sold as stylish, portable, healthier and safer than water from the tap.

Heather Kennedy, 33, an office administrator from Austin, Texas, said she used to drink a lot of bottled water but now tries to drink exclusively tap water.

"I feel that (bottled water) is a rip-off," she said in an e-mail. "It is not a better or healthier product than the water that comes out of my tap. It is absurd to pay so much extra for it."



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25211545/

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About time!

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. Our water is yellowish, smells like rotton eggs

and has a high arsenic level.

But, in order to save money, have been chilling and drinking it.
Chilling takes some of the smell/taste away.
Kinda doubt it helps the arsenic levels...

[Catch22Dem]

2. I'm sorry. Ours is crystal clear and tastes wonderful

Our water reports, assuming they're all on the up-and-up are crystal clear too.

I would be so pissed if our water was nasty.

[ingac70]

4. Do you filter it?

I got one of those Brita filtration pitchers. Just a precaution. My water looks, tastes and smells ok straight out of the tap, though.

[Triana]

7. I have a Pur filter on my kitchen tap and one in the fridge - no bottled water

here. And the water is great! Tap isn't bad here but it tastes much better and less like chlorine with the filter.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. They make filters that remove up to 70% inorganic arsenic

This filter method is an activated charcoal. It's very cheap and also would remove the bad smell/taste as well.

Edit: My fingers aren't working tonight. :(

[Whoa_Nelly]

17. Thanks for the info from you and all above

I'll look into a Brita. I don't have a faucet that can accommodate an inline filter.

I have one of those flat head pull out faucet heads like this one:

[deadmessengers]

6. Brita works wonders

I had some NASTY water at the last place I lived, and a Brita pitcher fixed it right up. The filters aren't cheap, but I've seen something online that shows how to repack an old filter with fresh activated charcoal, which would blunt the cost pretty well: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-refill-a-disposable-Brita-brand-water-pit/

[Whoa_Nelly]

18. Was just checking into Brita

It doesn't remove arsenic :(

[hendo]

21. I found a couple links on arsenic filters

A filter comparison chart: http://www.waterfiltercomparisons.net/WaterFilter_Comparison.cfm

Apparently the UN is developing one:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=16211&Cr=water&Cr1=

Slightly expensive arsenic filters:
http://www.advanced-water-systems.com/products/drinking_water/arsenic.html

More expensive arsenic filter:
http://www.equinox-products.com/arsenicmaster.htm

All kinds of fun filters:
http://www.purewateressentials.com/

I hope these help.

[Whoa_Nelly]

23. Now that is about the most damn sweet thing anyone's done for me in a long time!

Thank you so much! :loveya: :hi: :pals:

[hendo]

30. no problem. nt

[MissB]

28. Not much does, except for reverse-osmosis.

[RebelOne]

27. I use a Brita pitcher also.

I even filter my dogs' water because my tap water is totally gross.

[meow2u3]

14. Offer Dick Cheney a drink

in a Poland Springs bottle :evilgrin:

[Upfront]

15. Information

You can buy a distiller at Sears for around 100.00 that makes three gal. a day. We used one for years when we had salty water. Some of the best money we have spent. Keep a gal. in frig. to drink, use the rest to make coffee, tea, etc. We even took it along when we traveled. I doubt anyone with bad water would regret trying this. Hope this helps someone here.

[Catch22Dem]

3. I drink almost nothing but tap water

Ours is very clean and tastes great! I have no use for bottled water. If I'm out somewhere, I might get some, but at home I only drink from the tap.

[mdmc]

8. tap water is making a comeback!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25211545
thanks for the link

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. I filter and drink my tap water.

Always have. In a pinch I have bought bottled water and when I do I save the bottles to reuse. Which includes the big ones I had to buy after we flooded last year.

I've always done things this way. Even before I knew how bad they were for the environment. I'm just frugal. <--- Cheap.


I'm glad to hear the trend is catching on!

[eggplant]

10. Culligan and a Well

Nothing like pumping it out of the ground. It's rather sulphury, but a basic whole house Culligan system works wonders on it.

[CatholicEdHead]

11. I have always had tap water

It is always been pretty good around here. I only have used bottled water on some trips and often reuse the plastic container a few times.

[kimmylavin]

12. Tap here. :)

I buy a few bottles every few months or so, then refill and refill.
I take two smaller ones in the car - one for the drive to school and one back - and then a big one to drink from all day at school.

That way I can also get the recommended amount.

Yay, clean water!

[meow2u3]

13. My tap water tastes like it came straight out the swimming pool

I have a Pur filter in my fridge and pour water in there. No bottled water, unless you want to count water added to a bottle I bought from the store.

[fudge stripe cookays]

16. I'm so glad we moved north!

Lotsa lake water here in Milwaukee, and it tastes great!

We lived on a manmade lake in Texas, and every summer when lake levels dropped and the algae production got so high, our water (and ice) tasted like swamp.

I didn't bottled water any more after September. Yay!

[Ilsa]

19. Our latest water rating was "Superior", and I'm grateful for it. Our

water used to taste nasty when I first moved here. Tea was always cloudy. But the city has undertaken some new processing. I get irritated with hubby if he buys bottled stuff. Too expensive, too much plastic, too much waste.

[elocs]

20. We've got great water in my part of Wisconsin--tastes great.

Here in La Crosse, when Heilemans owned the Old Style Brewery here, they made their beer using water from an artesian well. Until just a few years ago there were always spigots outside the brewery where people could come and get water. You could see people there nearly any time of day filling containers.

[hendo]

22. Wonderful news. nt

[Trajan]

24. I so love Portland ....

The water here is delicious ..... straight from the tap ....

All that rain has gotta go somewhere .... right ?

[hokies4ever]

25. ALWAYS USE A BRITA FILTER

Or some other water filtration system. Trust me, I have worked in the chemical industry and you would hate to know what some companies are legally allowed to do with the water they put back into rivers.

[raccoon]

29. I always do. Our tap water is pretty good, but a few years ago, I lived in an old house with rusty

pipes, and the water came out slightly tinged with rust. I started using Brita filtered water for all my cooking and drinking water.

Now, I can smell chlorine in water a mile away! :-)

[PittPoliSci]

26. Pittsburgh water.

Crystal, and delicious.

Who would've thought?