Bottled Water: Pure Water or Pure Hype?

What about bagging bottled water all together? Can't we advocate for that?? It's a hoax, no? 
 
In Praise of Tap Water (NY Times)

there isn\'t organic spring water yet? ha ha. 
i agree we should bag bottled water all together. we should all carry around refillable bottles and hav some sort of spring water refill station instead of shelves of spring water bottles.

Yes, I am currently a bottled water drinker cuz I can't stand the taste of the tap water. I am VERY interested in NOT purchasing the bottled so I looked into a terra cotta crock with a filter in order to purify the tap water better. I found one on the gaiam.com site but it says not for shipment to California. Can anyone help me?

The most compelling reason why I avoid bottled water is the amount of bisphenol-A that can leach from the plastic bottles themselves. I long ago switched to a stainless steel water bottle (Lexan is no better than standard water bottles--they all can leach plastics, esp. after multiple use). 
As a man, I can't afford to have more bisphenol-A in my system, as it negatively affects the prostate gland. Tap here in SF is just fine, except for the added Chloramine makes some people sensitive to skin rashes and other mild reactions.

I drink & prefer tap water. Sometimes it can smell-taste like chlorine so I will put some juice in it to mask the flavor. I am an avid swimmer so not too worried about drinking trace levels chlorine (I swallow much more during my workouts). I avoid purchasing bottled water and do so in rare instances. Otherwise the cost is prohibitive; why spend money on something that is "free" to the end user? It is amazing that so many people can't get into the habit of bringing a reusable cup or mug.

I'm willing to drink tap water, if they'll stop putting flouride in it! How can we go about doing what the rest of the world has already done & stop using nuclear byproducts to supposedly make our teeth stronger?

Here are some NRDC stats that might help you decide if you want to wean yourself from bottled water: 
 
Try to avoid bottled water in your personal life too. If NRDC's report doesn't convince you, these facts might:  
 
* NRDC's independent testing has shown that bottled water is not necessarily any purer than tap water. The bottled water industry has successfully lobbied for lax government regulations on purity so in many ways tap water is more closely monitored;  
 
*The production of the plastic for water bottles produces large amounts of toxic chemicals, as well as about 800,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year (the amount produced by 8 power plants, or 140,000 cars), and most water bottles are never recycled (only about 13% of water bottles are recycled by being made into other materials)  
 
*It takes 26 times more water to make the plastic bottle than the bottle contains  
 
* About 300 million gallons of bottled water were imported into the U.S. in 2006. California bottled water imports alone result in about 10,000 tons of unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions, and over 600 tons of smog-forming pollutants. This only counts pollution at the ports, and doesn't count domestic transport of bottled water or pollution from the ships or source  
 
* U.S. consumers use 50 billion plastic water bottles every year; globally we use about 150 billion

I live in Swampscott , Ma. and am originally from 
Lynn , Ma . both of which have excellent tap water. I personally do not buy tap water because I feel it's a big scam and a waste of money , not to mention the hundreds and hundreds of plastic bottles that litter the general area . If people are so concerned about the quality of the water they are drinking , can they not take a moment to recycle , or at least properly dispose of their empty bottles ?

I drink bottled water, and will continue until municipal water systems stop using chlorine adding floride, overhual the ailling infrastructure used to deliver the water which leaches far more contaminants into the water than plastic bottles. I hope that the water companies would take a more proactive role in the bottle recycling effort. It would only be good for their business. 
We can dislike the money they are making, but can\'t really knock the improvements they have made in processing water for palletable consumption.

Well, I'd drink tap water before drinking bottled water. Think about the environment. The plastic made for these bottles are polluting the air. Maybe even causing global warming. Besides, the people that purify the bottled water from "springs" allow at least 1'500 colonies of bacteria. And no more than 5% of coliform is allowed in tap water. However, 1 out of 10 bottles is allowed to have a specific amount of coliform. AKA "fecal matter". 
 
Think about it people, which would you rather drink??? The stuff that cleans your teeth and freshens your breath?? or the stuff that makes it smell like boo-boo?????

I love drinking clean water!

What about using a water ionnizer that will give you healthy alkaline water? I also have used an ozone machine with ultrviolet light to purify the water.

I would love to stop using bottled water. However, until my local water company stops using chloramine to disinfect the water, this will be impossible. While many people will try and tell you that chloramine is only toxic to fish, try going 2 weeks without a bowel movement and almost a year in complete pain with maybe 1 bowel movement a week. I was diagnosed with IBS and acid reflux and was put on medicine that didn't help. Guess what did? Not drinking the tap water any more. Guess when the symptoms started appearing- after I stopped drinking bottled spring water and started drinking the tap water. Who would think that tap water could be so bad for you? Right now, I use bottled water for everything, including washing fruit/veggies, cooking rice/pasta and certainly for drinking. I hate that I have to use so much plastic, but I have no choice. Unfortunately, I am not the only one. What about all the people in California and Vermont and other places that have horrible reactions to this chemical and no one is listening or is telling them it is in their head? Perhaps if they go weeks without a poop, they will start listening

I used to work for a state agency that regulates public water systems (PWS), and I appreciate and support the need for maintaining an infrastructure that provides our citizens with safe drinking water. But I abhor activists who turn bottled water into a tabloid issue with nonfactual information and sensationalized frenzies. Where do these folks shop for bottled water? Anyone can buy a case of 24 0.5 L bottles for the equivalent of $1.58 per gallon or less--one third the price of gasoline. NRDC and other groups are incorrect about FDA jurisdiction. The bottle of water is a unit, and the entire unit is regulated. So, unless the container, closure, label, and the water itself all come from the same state, it is regulated by the FDA. Regarding filtration, NYC and many other cities are not required to filter their municipal water. Bottled water uses a multi-barrier process that ensures proper filtration and disinfection. Should we talk about the bottle? OK, the bottle keeps the outside environment out of the product, protecting it from contamination and preserving the clean room conditions it was bottled in. Try ensuring a clean room quality product with any PWS distribution system, old or new. OK, next, bottle disposal. Recycling is a necessity, and it's readily available in most parts of the country. Consumers need more education. But bottled water containers constitute 0.3% of the municipal waste stream in the U.S. Have these activists looked in their refrigerators, pantries, bathrooms, and laundry rooms lately? How many food and consumer products are packaged in something other than plastic? Plastic recycling is much bigger than bottled water can ever be primarily responsible for. And finally, I'm a free citizen of this country, and I maintain a good diet by choice. And I have the freedom to choose what I will ingest into my body. Perhaps these folks would like a ride to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, or Montgomery County, Md., to fill their stainless steel canteens. Guess what they're drinking? Uh-huh, bottled water. That's right, without availability of bottled water, people in disaster areas have few or no options for clean, safe drinking water. 
 
Let's get off the bottle and move on to the real issues: an improved PWS infrastructure and consumer education about recycling that involves all consumer products manufacturers. Equally important, let's get off the idea that groups of activists can work behind the public's backs and lobby for legislation that aims to tell us what we can and cannot do with our lives. Wake up America! I'm an independent voter, but this is all enough to make me vote for McCain!