a peek inside the fishbowl

1 | robyn

February 1st, 2007 at 9:00 pm

I’m not a regular consumer of bottled water here, but I will opt for buying bottled water or bringing my nalgene when the choices are between that and soft drinks or heavily sugared juices if I’m out. If I can, I stick mostly to sparkling water in glass bottles.

Since China last year, I’ve been a little weird about water. NO water there is safe to drink. Nada, zilch – under no circumstances should you drink the water in any part of the country if you are not from there – it *will* make you sick. Most people live off of bottled water in china – they cook with it, they brush their teeth with it, they wash their hands with it – I even bought bottles of water to wash fruit with so I could eat it. On a comparison scale, water bottle waste here is NOTHING compared to the bottle waste I saw there.

To raise a different question, though, what makes bottled water worse (or different) than a nalgene bottle in terms of the chemical effects? Those have also gotten bad press about chemicals “leaking”. You can fill them with tap water, but it’s still plastic…

2 | andrea

February 1st, 2007 at 9:35 pm

Wast is one issue, chemical leaching is the other. I just checked our Nalgene bottle. It’s #7 grade plastic. According to the Sierra Club (article about it here), the safer alternative is to use glass or lightweight stainless steel.

3 | Ryan

February 1st, 2007 at 10:08 pm

It baffles me why Canadians (well, anyone from 1st world countries) don’t drink their water. As Robyn says, (and to quote a fairly famous Canadian) you don’t know what you got till it’s gone. Having lived in a country where the water had too many hard metals in it to drink (it was considered healthy, but just barely, and the locals avoided it), I missed tap water. Now that I’m back in a city with tap water available, I drink it every chance I get.

That being said, in most poorer countries, plastic doesn’t go to waste as much as much as it does in more developed nations, as people scavenging for money from recycling go through everything with fine-tooth combs. Within minutes of finishing a bottle of water in Shanghai, one could expect a person to approach them and ask for the bottle. Not an ideal solution by a long shot, but it gets recycled rather than garbaged.

4 | andrea

February 1st, 2007 at 10:16 pm

So here’s the question: should we phase out the plastic bottles and return to glass? And get a deposit system going for all glass drink containers … like we used to have for glass pop bottles?

Then perhaps people won’t be so quick to throw their bottles in the garbage.

5 | Andrea

February 2nd, 2007 at 9:17 am

No. Glass bottles are a bad idea. They are incredibly polluting to make and weigh so much more than plastic that you have to use a lot more fuel to transport the same amount of water–plus, while they’re reusable, they need to be scrubbed and sterilized etc., which isn’t harmless either.

At least, glass bottles would be very bad if we were to continue drinking bottled water in the quantities we currently do.

The funny thing is that in first world countries, tap water is almost always of higher quality than bottled water. Here in Ontario, the standards for municipal water systems are top-notch–the amount of testing and the results to which they are held are incredibly high. Whereas bottled water is treated as a consumer product (tap water is handled under public health) and the standards for testing, for results, and for the facility are correspondingly much lower. No one shuts down a bottled water factory if there is e coli in the water. Whereas a single e coli in a single municipal water result (keep in mind that most e coli bacteria are harmless) will need to be addressed and, if the result is repeated, the municipal system is shut down.

Moreover, a lot of bottled water is bottled TAP water. Which means you are paying for something you could get for free somewhere else.

I think robyn hit on one reason for the increase–people who want to have a drink and who don’t want to buy pop or juice while they’re out. That’s the reason for almost every time I’ve bought bottled water–which is not often.

6 | andrea

February 2nd, 2007 at 9:38 am

I see your point about fuel/shipping.

And I agree, when I buy a single-use bottle of water its because I’m thirsty and I don’t like the alternatives. But that doesn’t explain the cases of water that are sold at the gas stations and grocery stores. A lot of people buy those to drink and carry around. We’re talking about habitual use, not single use.

7 | megan

February 2nd, 2007 at 9:39 am

I buy water and I drink tap water. When I buy water it is usually when it is on some major sale and then I keep it in the garage to grab on our way out. I use a brita at home only because our water sometimes has a weird taste. I do not buy water because I am worried about the safety of our local water, I am sure that it is perfectly fine. I do worry about the amount of empty water bottles in the world and after reading that article will make more of effort not to add to the pile.

8 | Jay

February 2nd, 2007 at 10:19 am

I drink both. I do not have a problem at all with our tap water here. And despite my hubby’s protests, I make sure my kids drink it too. I grew up drinking it (from the hose no less!), and am just fine.

I also buy bottled water (from Costco, not the really expensive kind), purely for portability and ease. I also refill the bottle from the tap. And we always recycle them after a couple of uses.

9 | Myra

February 2nd, 2007 at 11:34 am

Andrea, you’re right on the money. There are far fewer regulations/standards governing the testing of bottled water. Besides, I like the tap water in Ottawa.

That being said, there are times I do buy bottled water and the reasons are portability and convenience.

We are primarily water-drinkers at our place. If we are having a party, the bottled water hits the cooler along with the other refreshments. Likewise if we’re taking a road trip or a day excusion with the kids. I’d rather tote a few bottles so everyone can have their own (and keep their germs to themselves), stay hydrated and we don’t have to cough up the king’s ransom they charge for 500ml bottles these days.

We use the Nalgenes too but particularly when it’s cold and flu season, I’d rather have separate bottles that we can throw into the recycling when we’re done.

10 | nancy

February 2nd, 2007 at 1:00 pm

Great topic….I drink mostly tap water, but it comes through our fridge which is filtered. I often fill up my Nalgene (when I remember) but like some of the others, when I am out & about, thirsty, I do opt to buy water over juice or pop.

11 | zhenia

February 2nd, 2007 at 2:24 pm

I drink tap water. When I need to bring water with me, i.e. when I’m spending all day in my carrel, I fill up a nalgene.

I think marketing and the progress myth are huge influences on the bottled water boom. Charlie Trotter, for the love of the disco ball, is shilling for water from Fiji. And as for progress, there’s some class mixed up in it too, I think. Since the middle class has paid taxes to ensure that tap water is drinkable, it now has to distinguish itself from the lower classes by drinking schmancy water. Tap water is so plebian. And there has to be something better out there anyway.

I’m with those who don’t understand why some first-worlders won’t drink the tap water (well, except for my relatives in rural Canada, where the tap water is undrinkable). The month I spent in Moscow did a number on my GI tract. I was brushing my teeth with bottled water, which I didn’t even do in St. Petersburg with its famous parasite problem.

12 | Chantal

February 2nd, 2007 at 4:02 pm

Our well water here tastes perfect. It’s so clean and fresh! I love it. We test it twice a year, but it’s always come back perfect.

That said, we do have a water softener and I cannot stand how the softened water tastes. I know you’re not supposed to taste the salt, but I swear I do. So we had a bypass put it at our sink and the drinking water comes straight from the well rather than through the softener.

When I go to soccer or the gym, I use my Nalgene bottles, but I do admit to being a habitual bottled water user too. For some reason, it’s more tangeable for me to set a goal to drink 3 of those a day and stick with it, especially since I prefer water tepid and our well water comes out freezing cold. I wish I could explain that better!

13 | Chantal

February 2nd, 2007 at 4:06 pm

Forgot to add …

When we lived in the city of Ottawa (Stittsville), I insisted the kids and everyone drink tap water for the sake of fluoride. We don’t do fluoride at the dentist or use fluoride toothpaste (well, we do now, but did not then). Our dentist said the amount of fluoride in tap water is enough to ensure healthy teeth. Now that we are on well water, we use fluoride toothpaste and he said it’s enough to make up for what the city water did – and we can still skip the fluoride treatments at our checkups.

14 | Robert

February 2nd, 2007 at 10:56 pm

Andrea,

You’ve become quite an activist and environmentalist. Good for you! Is this recent, concerned mom, development pressures?

The Council of Canadians (as much as some people might cringe when this group is mentioned) has done a lot of work on bulk water exports. They make some very good arguments.

The Policy Research Initiative (goc) has a couple brief SD notes on water commodification.
http://policyresearch.gc.ca/page.asp?pagenm=root&langcd=E

One of my greatest concerns about bottled water is the commodification aspect. What’s next? Air? Beyond that, there’s the supply and demand issue. We built roads to accommodate cars, now look where it’s gotten us. Will the availability of bottled water lead to the second classing of social (municipal) water distribution and treatment? Will bottled water create an unequal division between those able to afford basics (water) and those unable to? Will bottled water shift attention away from the pollution we create that contaminates water – another technological ‘fix’?

Note carefully the issues about plastics and health in the cbc Suzuki article. I suspect this will be the next really big health issue. (http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/jan/science/kc_antimony.html) and (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/01/23/EDGC7N75IE1.DTL)

CBC Marketplace ran an interesting segment the other night on antibacterial products and triclosan. See links under “The Dirt on Clean” http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2007/01/triclosan.html#video
I went right to the toothpaste to check. Triclosan wasn’t there, but sodium lauryl sulphate was, including a number of other questionable ingredients. (http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/archives.jsp?tn=1title,lede,description,text,subject,publishername,coverage,reporter&tv=sodium+lauryl+sulphate&ss=1) Toothpaste, meet trash can.

oh, and bottled water – when we drink it, its from a refillable glass (bottle!) (from the activated carbon filtered tap water to reduce the risk of THMs) One glass bottle usually lasts far far longer than plastic, can be cleaned better and easier, and simply avoids many of the risks associated with plastic. When it’s done with, it can be recycled.

15 | Sharon

February 5th, 2007 at 10:46 am

I don’t buy bottled water Unless I go out and forget my bottle of water. Which is very seldom.

16 | Sophia

February 6th, 2007 at 12:09 am

Hi, just surfing, reading blogs that catch my attention…

I live in Barcelona, Spain, and the water tastes foul. I guess it passes health standards, but both the rivers around Barcelona are in a woeful condition and have been for years. It’s a dry country. The local water company (privatised? don’t know) has recently increased household water prices to include a tax to revive and maintain the water catchments and supply. Of course, the people write letters to the newspapers, complaining.
It is very sad, but I buy bulk bottled water, and cannot bring myself to drink the tap water.

It is a similar situation in my hometown of Adelaide, South Australia. Adelaide is one of the few commercial ports in the world where cruise ships will not take on water when they dock.

Suzuki is right. We should be demanding answers to this.

17 | Jennifer

February 10th, 2007 at 9:12 pm

Hi Andrea — sorry, just now catching up on your blog! Regarding tap v. bottled I would note that tap water is usually fluoridated. (Did I spell that right?) My little US town doesn’t have fluoridated water & it’s pretty controversial, dentists are always saying that our kids’ teeth suffer for it.

I wonder how much tap water a kid needs to get the dental benefit. Is just the amount from brushing teeth enough? Anyway. Someting to consider.

18 | Kris

February 11th, 2007 at 4:17 pm

I just don’t like the taste of the tap water where I am. We’re pretty close (20 miles) to Boston. It’s pretty gross. We installed an under the sink filter, and it works great. The company that makes it claims it takes out the chlorine, byproducts, most other yucky stuff and leaves the fluoride. My water tastes great!

19 | liss76

February 11th, 2007 at 7:22 pm

I do the reverse of Chantal. I have flourosis and my previous dentist told me that people prone to developing this condition are very susceptible to ingested flouride.

So we use flouride toothpaste and the treatments at the dentist, but filter our water. In the spring, I find our filter can’t quite get out the swampy flavour, though, and I revert to bottled water.

I grew up on well water, so city water is very hard for me to drink. No matter how much filtering has gone on, it always tastes rather disgusting to me.