The bottled water lie

[Davey Boy 2.0]

From Alternet.org

[timouse]

In fact, many times bottled water is tap water. Contrary to the image of water flowing from pristine mountain springs, more than a quarter of bottled water actually comes from municipal water supplies. The industry is dominated by three companies, who together control more than half the market: Coca-Cola, which produces Dasani; Pepsi, which produces Aquafina; and Nestlé, which produces several "local" brands including Poland Spring, Arrowhead, Deer Park, Ozarka and Calistoga (a fact that itself often surprises participants in the Tap Water Challenges). Both Coke and Pepsi exclusively use tap water for their source, while Nestlé uses tap water in some brands.

Of course, Coke and Pepsi tout the elaborate additional steps they take that purify the water after it comes out of the tap, with both companies filtering it multiple times to remove particulates before subjecting it to additional techniques such as "reverse osmosis" and ozone treatment. Reverse osmosis, however, is hardly state of the art -- essentially consisting of the same treatment applied through commercially available home tap water filters, while ozonation can introduce additional problems such as the formation of the chemical bromate, a suspected carcinogen. In March 2004, Coca-Cola was forced to recall nearly 500,000 bottles of Dasani water in the United Kingdom due to bromate contamination that exceeded the U.K. and U.S. limit of 10 parts per billion.

thank you for posting this.

not only are most of the bottled water products out there just filtered tap water, but there are other problems. PET bottles (think bottled water and pop) use a metal called antimony as a catalyst. antimony is a neighbour of lead on the periodic table, and has many similar neurotoxic effects. a small amount of antimony goes in to everyt PET bottle, and it leeches out over time into the water/pop in the bottle.

not to mention the millions of discarded bottles every day.

happy happy happy...

[The Chameleon]

I still think that paying $1.50 for water is retarded. It's water!

I have lomng though it was all a scam.

If you told someone is 1965 that one day people would pay as much as $2.00 or $3.50 in a club for water they'd tell you you were nuts paying for water. It should be free!

And they'd be right.

[Kanada Kev]

Hear Hear ... other than portability and convenience, the bottled water trend is a joke. The dentists love it and the bottling companies love it.

$1.50 for water and people think they are getting a deal.

$0.80 for a litre of gas and people are constantly complaining.

GO FIGURE.

The Water Tycoons will overshadow those in the Middle East at this rate. Looks like Canada could be the next big player ... until the US annexes us for our water.

Did you see that miniseries on CBC last year??? It was really good and kinda scary at the same time;

http://www.cbc.ca/h2o/

[phorbesie]

timouse...thanks...can you tell me about nalgene bottles?

this guy i know went off on me awhile back for using a nalgene...said that the plastic (#7..hard, clear plastic) had evil stuff in it that leaches into the water. dude carries his water around in glass bottles (which i would find hard to do for several reasons).

is this true?

[bradm]

phorbesie, according to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalgene

In recent years, numerous studies [2] have suggested that polycarbonate plastics such as the ones used by Nalgene may leach estrogen analogs into heated or acidic liquids, although Nalgene denies this. It is important to note that estrogen analogs are not, in fact, estrogen, as many have come to believe. Among the secreted chemicals, Bisphenol A is most responsible for the reaction with estrogen. Other research has found that fixatives in polycarbonate plastics can cause chromosomal error in cell division called aneuploidy.

An alternative is available in the polyethylene versions of these products (made out of HDPE, Nalgene's traditional material), which are free of these chemicals. They can be identified by their greater flexibility, their translucent, "milky" appearance, and by the number 2 triangular plastic recycling symbol on the bottom.

see also: Bisphenol A, phthalates

Digging into some of the references from the original wikipedia page might prove useful.

Aloha,

Brad

[timouse]

phorbesie, according to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalgene

In recent years, numerous studies [2] have suggested that polycarbonate plastics such as the ones used by Nalgene may leach estrogen analogs into heated or acidic liquids, although Nalgene denies this. It is important to note that estrogen analogs are not, in fact, estrogen, as many have come to believe. Among the secreted chemicals, Bisphenol A is most responsible for the reaction with estrogen. Other research has found that fixatives in polycarbonate plastics can cause chromosomal error in cell division called aneuploidy.

An alternative is available in the polyethylene versions of these products (made out of HDPE, Nalgene's traditional material), which are free of these chemicals. They can be identified by their greater flexibility, their translucent, "milky" appearance, and by the number 2 triangular plastic recycling symbol on the bottom.

see also: Bisphenol A, phthalates

Digging into some of the references from the original wikipedia page might prove useful.

Aloha,

Brad

what he said...although i was under the impression that the clear coloured nalgene bottles (identified by the recycle symbol with the 7 in it) were indeed polycarbonate.

a quick googling turned this up.

[phorbesie]

so what are you saying?

that wiki entry said they are polycarbonate...i don't understand your post.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I gotta work on my moobs. Bring on the nalgene!

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

drinking water from the TAP is just as stupid as drinking bottled water.

ideally, you shell out hundred bucks for a water cooler and start being a member of a water company that supplies quality spring water.

its cheap, healthy, and creates no waste.

[djmelbatoast]

its cheap, healthy, and creates no waste.

Do you not pee pee?

[phishtaper]

... Nestlé uses tap water in some brands.

yeah, its called the Aberfoyle aquifer and its the reason why Guelph is now being forced by the Province to plan for a pipeline from Lake Erie! Nestlé is evil.

shameful.

[bradm]

Nestlé is evil.

"N-e-s-t-l-e-s...Nestle's make the very best...chawwwwwclate...Farfel."

(Pop quiz: what series and episode is that quote from?)

Aloha,

Brad

[Birdy]

drinking water from the TAP is just as stupid as drinking bottled water.

ideally, you shell out hundred bucks for a water cooler and start being a member of a water company that supplies quality spring water.

its cheap, healthy, and creates no waste.

no that water just comes in a larger plastic bottle. no difference.

drink tap water!! it stops the mass production of plastic bottles, contains necessary bacteria for our consumption and costs much, much, much less.

stop plastic bagging your furniture and strapping on that sars mask. you'll be FINE. think about what some people consume in parts of africa or south america!

[mattm]

Not sure what series it's from but it originated on a commercial featuring Jimmy Nelson and his puppet and that was their tag line. Danny O' Day is the puppet and Farfel is the dog. Danny sang the first part of the jingle (N-E-S-T-L-E-S... Nestles makes the very best...) and the dog Farfel said Chocolate.

Here's the info

Here's the commercial itself

Edited October 26, 2006 by Guest

[bradm]

Yup, the character (it was sitcom) quoted the commercial, even did the hand-puppet Farfel thing.

Aloha,

Brad

[mattm]

WKRP

To get back on topic, I read a while ago that tap water actually has much more stringent rules than those put on bottled water and was actually cleaner but I don't remember the source at all. I'll try to find it.

Edited October 26, 2006 by Guest

[timouse]

so what are you saying?

that wiki entry said they are polycarbonate...i don't understand your post.

sorry, that was a bit screwed. i think i hit post rather than edit and then lunch was over

nalgene does use polycarbonate, which according to wikipedia,

Polycarbonate may be appealing to fabricators and purchasers of food storage containers due to its clarity and toughness. Polycarbonate has been described as lightweight and highly break resistant particularly when compared to silica glass. Polycarbonate may be seen in the form of single use and refillable plastic water bottles.

More than 100 studies have explored the bioactivity of bisphenol A leachates from polycarbonates. Bisphenol A appeared to be released from polycarbonate animal cages into water at room temperature and that it may have been responsible for enlargement of the reproductive organs of female mice.[1]

An analysis of the literature on bisphenol A leachate low-dose effects by vom Saal and Hughes published in August 2005 seems to have found a suggestive correlation between the source of funding and the conclusion drawn. Industry funded studies tend to find no significant effects while government funded studies tend to find significant effects.[2]

One point of agreement among those studying polycarbonate water and food storage containers may be that using sodium hypochlorite bleach and other alkali cleaners to clean polycarbonate is not recommended, as they catalyze the release of the Bisphenol-A. The tendency of polycarbonate to release bisphenol A was discovered after a lab tech used strong cleaners on polycarbonate lab containers. Endocrine disruption later observed on lab rats was traced to exposure from the cleaned containers.

the recycling 7 simply means "other," so that's not a definitive clue to what plastic nalgene actually uses.

bottom line seems to be that nalgene bottles are safer to re-use than PET single use bottles, but are also emitters of chemicals...but the chemicals are more likely to leach into water if the bottle has been cleaned with bleach.

[phorbesie]

thanks!

[timouse]

thanks!

cheers, phorbesie.

and booche, you'll have to clean your nalgene bottle with bleach if you really want moobs.

[ollie]

$1.50 for water and people think they are getting a deal.

$0.80 for a litre of gas and people are constantly complaining.

GO FIGURE.

What's worse is festivals gouging people with $3.50 and up for a bottle of water. I don't think it should be legal to sell water past a certain price point at a festival/concert. Basically anywhere you are a captive audience. It's a freaking necessity!!

[timouse]

$1.50 for water and people think they are getting a deal.

$0.80 for a litre of gas and people are constantly complaining.

GO FIGURE.

What's worse is festivals gouging people with $3.50 and up for a bottle of water. I don't think it should be legal to sell water past a certain price point at a festival/concert. Basically anywhere you are a captive audience. It's a freaking necessity!!

there has been a lot of debate about the language used to describe water and the necessary access to it.

MotherJones.com: How have international trade agreements encouraged the privatization and commercialization of the world’s water?

Maude Barlow: Water was included' date=' as a good and later as an investment, in the very first trade agreement in the world, when Canada and the U.S. signed a free-trade agreement that later morphed into NAFTA. The GATT definition of a good includes water. There’s now negotiations to put water, as a service, into the General Agreement on Trade and Services, which is a proposed international agreement on services. So the World Trade Organization and NAFTA -- and bilateral agreements, because water is also included in a lot of bilateral agreements -- are ways to enforce a corporate discipline, if you will, over governments that want to maintain public control of their water. Basically, once you privatize it, it’s very, very hard to turn back. And once you’ve started the sale of commercial water, both the receiving country -- if it’s in a trade agreement with you -- and the corporations involved have inherent rights in these agreements that don’t exist if you don’t sign them. [/quote']

by calling it a "need" rather than a human right, water becomes a commodity and is subject to market pricing...large parts of the developing world are having to "pay as you go" for drinking water, and a few very large companies are profiting.

pick up "Water Wars" by Vandana Shiva. YOu'll never look at a bottle of water the same way again

[nattyMatty]

I worked at ICE RIVER SPRINGS for a little while if you would like to ask me some questions about there water i WOULD BE GLAD to share. I have sign numerous patitions to stop the mass drainage of the aquafir. In one week alone from 1 line. The Five gallon water bottles; The filled one million of them and shipped them to the states. One problem i see with shipping all that water to the states is that when they drink it they piss it out and it goes into there water table and rains back down on them.. Then THEY send over there Dense acid RAin clouds to piss down on us. There is also a report of tanker ships that had been out on lake huron that had the capabilty of sucking an outragous amout of water in just seconds.

But for some crazy reason i like Disani<-sp) water. I think its because it is reverse osmosis. I think that coke got sewed for somthing to do with there water being tap water that had be reverse osmosis'ized.

nattyMatty

[nattyMatty]

oh yea i do think somthing is wrong when water costs more then gas. wonder what will happen to water prices if we ever get those hydrogen cars going.

[paisley]

we had a water distiller for the last 15 years that recently died and now all water short of distilled tasted not so great to me

"I will trade you 2 grams of kush hashish for 6 bottles of your untainted water."