People will buy anything! Set up a stand near Central Park in New York and offer people bags of "fresh air from the Alps" and you are sure to find suckers willing to pay you a few bucks for it.
Somehow in the last few years our family has joined the national trend of people purchasing water. Last year sales of bottled water were in excess of 2.6 billion cases costing around $15 billion. I'm sure my parents would laugh at the idea, and future generations will probably also guffaw at the stupidity of it. But today we all seem convinced that bottled water is somehow better than tap water. Evian. Perrier. Pellegrino. How ravishing it seems to be drinking water not from the good old faucet but from some Elysian spring in the French mountains or the Italian countryside, untouched by technology and grubby human hands. Of course we never think of what happens to that water as it gets bottled and stored and transported over thousands of miles. We don't think of botled water as water that someone got from some unidentified rivulet several weeks ago.
Now Aquafina has exposed our illusion that bottled water comes from a more elevated source than tap water by revealing that its bottled water is, in fact, drawn from tap water. A spokesman for the company says Aquafina botles will in future "clarify" this fact for discerning bottle readers. Yet industry observers say that the new revelation shouldn't make much of a difference. "Consumers have an affection for bottled water," writers John Sicher of Beverage Digest. "It's not an issue of taste or health, it's about convenience." I find this to be a ridiculous statement. Why on earth would people buy bottled water at the airport, for example, when there are water fountains outside every restroom? I suspect that if people know they were getting pretty much the same thing in the bottle, they would start to feel very foolish.
As for me, no more Aquafina. I'm going back to Chardonnay.
Reader Comments ( Page 4 of 4)
46. I would like to challange the author to drink tap water in Orange County, CA, or anywhere in the Southwest for that matter. It sucks!!!! In fact, it is barely drinkable. I agree, however, that tap water in much of the United States is fine. But, we always stock bottled water at home because we simply won't tolerate the tap water.
gabe bowne at 12:49PM on Jul 29th 2007
47. Want to afford all the bottled water you can drink? Make money in Real Estate! Click here: http://GreatIdeaMan.armandomontelongo.com/
Chris at 2:01AM on Jul 29th 2007
48. Anothr so-called protection for the country's illiterati,
Read the label donkeys - there are no surpises to be found. By the way, Sam's Choice Drinking Water is a better product anyway and much less experience.
The sheeple fell for another marketing campaign. Fancy Name - it must be good.
Good thing our government is protecting us from the important instead of more minimal ones like - Why is food chain becoming increasingly poisoned and how does our inspection allow cans expolding with live botulinum?
Have a nice day.
MobblySnook at 11:47AM on Jul 29th 2007
49. It doesn't matter the source - it matters what is done to the water. Spring water that is not filtered, etc. can be more polluted than any Tap source. Aquafina is the only one I use. i don't care if it comes from tap - its ozonated and filtered 7 time click on how we purify http://www.aquafina.com/
poland spring and other 'spring water' can come from anywhere.
NRDC's study included testing of more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of bottled water. While most of the tested waters were found to be of high quality, some brands were contaminated: about one-third of the waters tested contained levels of contamination -- including synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic -- in at least one sample that exceeded allowable limits under either state or bottled water industry standards or guidelines.
"Spring Water" (with a picture of a lake surrounded by mountains on the label) -- Was actually from an industrial parking lot next to a hazardous waste site.
Alasika™ -- "Alaska Premium Glacier Drinking Water: Pure Glacier Water From the Last Unpolluted Frontier, Bacteria Free" -- Apparently came from a public water supply. This label has since been changed after FDA intervention.
Bob at 3:09PM on Jul 29th 2007
50. What a fascinating conversation. I really enjoy reading all the reasons for and against drinking bottled water. Individuals, of course, can choose to drink whatever kind of water they want. Their personal preference aside, I trust that people on both sides of this issue are now making a more informed decision as a result of this revelation from Aquafina.
Troy at 9:55AM on Jul 31st 2007
51. I live in the DC area and unfortunately our water does not taste like New York City's. We definitely need a purifier or to buy bottles to have water that tastes delicious. I would love it to be able to turn on my kitchen tap and get a fresh and tasty glass of water. Until then I will have to buy bottles and continue using my Brita. I do recycle and I have been trying to cut back on my plastic use, but bottled water is just very convenient. I think it's great that Aquafina is changing their label and making it more clearly stated to consumers. And we are all educated enough to make our own decisions to drink bottled or tap or filtered or spring.
SarahJ at 9:15AM on Sep 25th 2007
52. I'm honest-to-god proud of you, Dinesh. You wrote a good article that was interesting to read, that was the truth, and you didn't make a fool of yourself even once.
It's because this had nothing to do with religion!
Maybe you can learn from this experience, and possibly repeat it indefinitely.
Anonymous at 11:27PM on Aug 10th 2007
53. Did it ever say on an Auafina bottle that it was spring water? Alls I cared about that it was reverse osmosis water. Reverse osmosis water could come from a puddle of mud for all I care. As long as it is filter it tastes great. What do they do down in florida for water? Don't they use reverse osmosis to desalinate the water there so they have drinking water?
George at 2:34PM on Aug 18th 2007
54. You people are effin morons every bottle water comes from tap, the lake ect ect.....its how they filter it which makes certain bottle water better then others..and aquafina is one of the better bottle waters, do the research morons
mike minneci at 11:43PM on Oct 21st 2007