1. Jeff "I Don't Need The Truth I'm A Blogger" Hoard can't even tell the truth about this story, a story that doesn't even need him to lie to be a story. It's as if every blogger on AOL is a compulsive liar, they simply can't help themselves. Aquafina isn't "simply tap water" as Hoard asserts, it's purified tap water which only a moron wouldn't understand is a big difference. It isn't the same as water coming out of the tap it's the same as water coming out of the tap and through a filtration system such as PUR. You're a clown, Hoard.

Robert Byngham at 10:48PM on Jul 27th 2007

2. You were on this like flies on sh*t!
Dinesh is a capitalist pig, so I'm sure he and Martha Stewart dumped that stock just as he posted.
But when is 20/20 or 60 minutes gonna suck you up!? Your clips are amazing!

Mike at 11:47PM on Jul 27th 2007

3. to my dear,dear friend robert byrnham.
there is no need to make your argument by callin my boy jeff a clown.
no no.
because there is no argument here,
i have me one of them fancy "brita" thing-a-majigs and i would be most happy to sell you water from it.
not for the 1000% mark up pepsi,coke or any other bottle water company who uses a "municipal source"(thats city water for you challenged folk),but for only 500% mark up!
now aint that a deal?
or you can continue to pay for water that has been found to have higher levels of ;
arsenic
bromide
lead
chlorides
sulfates
the list goes on.
the fact is,our taxes pay for excellent potable(thats fancy talk for "drinking water") water while these companies are selling you the very same water you ALREADY paid for!!
they also are not regulated,or supervised.
only two people in the entire U.S inspect these bottled water companies,while hundreds inspect water treatment plants.
pepsi and coke filter the water,its done for ALL the beverages they manufacture,but not all bottled water companies do this.
so..you can continue to purchase the water you already paid for at 1000% mark up,or go spend 20$ on a brita.
your choice..
but you should really lay off calling people names to support your argument.
it does two things.
1.weakens your argument.
2.makes you look like a retard.
i would love to discuss other "truths" you may take issue with robert,for instance..oh..i dont know,
here's one!
the federal reserve is not a government bank but an international cartel of banks who loan our government money.on every bill,and every cent of every income tax paid..all interest.
but..if i did that,your head would probably explode.
when i grow up i want to be a blogger just like jeff../bats eyes

enoch at 12:35AM on Jul 28th 2007

4. The ideas behind bottled water are:
a) it's consistant throughout the country, and
b) it's more convenient than buying water bottles and filling them.

My wife's family has, shall we say, delicate digestive systems. Any change in water, and they get sick for several days. We aren't talking going to Mexico. We're talking going from Chicago to Las Vegas or New York to Dallas. Their solution is to drink bottled water, when out of town.

Today, our son had a t-ball game. Now, I supposed I could have found 3 travle bottles, filled them, and then wash out the bottles when we arrived home. But, putting three bottles of store brand water in the fridge and putting the empty bottles in the recycling bin at the park was more convenient, considering that I had to lug 2 folding chairs, my camera bag, and my son's equipment.

For people who fly and get dry throats, dry eyes, etc., it's easier to buy a bottle of water at the airport than to fill a travel bottle at a drinking fountain or wait for the flight attendant to give you 1 little cup of water.

And let's face it, some municipal water is bad. One town in the Chicago suburbs used to have well water that had a terrible aftertaste similar to diet soda with saccharin.

I worked in an office building where the tap water came out pale brown. So, the office manager bought bottled water.

Of course, I used to think it was funny that LaCroix bottled water used to be bottled in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. It was owned by G. Heilemann Brewing Co. It was the water used in the beer.

Kent at 1:36AM on Jul 28th 2007

5. Robert Byngham

Another dumb ass sanctimonious pig. You must be one of the jackass morons who thinks it is fashionable to dangle the Aquafina water bottle because it is oh so pure just because it passed thru a filtration system !!!! Guess, the old adage is still true today. A sucker is born every minute and Pepsi is laughing all the way to the bank.

Hope at 8:49AM on Jul 28th 2007

6. Since Perrier Water first hit the stores, I always thought buying expensive bottled water was stupid, when you get water from the tap in your home. Now, bottled water is not as expensive, but I still found it to be stupid. But when the Twin Towers went down, my husband started buying bottled water for us to have..."just in case"....Like someone else commented, it does come in handy when you just want to lug some ice cold water with you somewhere. Since my grandson was born, and I've noticed with most new mothers, they only mix their baby's formula with bottled water...based on the fact that it is supposed to be purer...that apparently isn't necessary? I noticed my sister in law used a quart of distilled water to do that a couple of years ago and it is not as expensive as bottled. So, with this news, should distilled water be checked to see if it is bogus? My husband bought his mother a Brita water filter, but not one for our home...and she doesn't use it, had taken it off because it "got in the way." Recently put it back on when I told her he would notice and insist she put it back on. Oh, well. Another saga and bogus product exposed. The point is, bottled water has been advertised as purer and fresher (does this include "Spring Water?") That would appear to be unfair trade practices. A lot of people bought in to this and bought these products when they probably wouldn't have. We just started incase we were to be attacked again or our water supply was poisoned some day, so that we would have water on hand if needed. Maybe we should wonder that if bottled water is just tap water and our water supply is messed with by terrorists, that we would be buying tainted terrorist water and wasting our money on top of that.

Gina Fowler at 9:33AM on Jul 28th 2007

7. I buy bottled water strictly for the convenience of having it in a bottle that I can easily take with me in the car, to the beach, to my kids' games, etc. Strictly convenience, what my 10th grade economics teacher would have called "form utility."

I laugh when people talk about the vast differences in different waters. I honestly can't taste any difference. I just buy whatever's on sale.

I had a great laugh one night, when I was hosting the weekly poker game. I had water bottled by Nestle. One of the guys eyed the bottle suspiciously and asked if Nestle water tasted any good. Puhleeze!

And about baby formula ....

My wife is a pediatrician. From Day One with both our kids, we never used anything but tap water for mixing with powdered formula. Her partners did the same. Don;t a lot of ads for various products boast that their product is what doctors use for their own families? Well, my real Dr. Mom is cool with tap water.

T.J. at 10:02AM on Jul 28th 2007

8. Never touch the stuff myself, but what about fluoride in the community water supplies? If the children all drink bottled water, will tooth decay become more of a problem? I personally think most bottled water drinkers are in love with constantly screwing and unscrewing the bottle cap and swigging the stuff then squeezing the plastic bottle so that it makes that crunching noise. I've seen people who can hardly move, much less do any serious exercise, drag themselves and their water bottles into the gym and proceed to stand in near proximity to a piece of excercise equipment while sipping their bottled water with a flourish and wiping their brows. The country is obsessed with bottled water. It's become the poor man's status symbol, a prop for our activities and the rampant use of it has been brought on by peer pressure.

Lulu at 10:26AM on Jul 28th 2007

9. Enoch,
Bottled water is regulated by the FDA, see 21 CFR part 129 and 21 CFR § 165.110. You can also find a wealth of information at www.nsf.org Additionally the label on Aquafina has always said "purified drinking water" if you truly believe that that has no cost then you are truly foolish. Then again you chose fabrication over facts.

As for Jeff Hoard's assumption that "major corporations are profiting from public water systems". The "major corporations" are not getting tap water for free. Spouting pompous faux outrage is simply ignorant.

jdkchem at 11:14AM on Jul 28th 2007

10. The tap water at my house tastes like swimming pool water, so we use a Brita filter. But when we go on trips, we take bottled water. It's portable, we don't have to worry about soap residue, plastic taste, or mold in our drinking water bottles and we don't have to put up with foul-tasting hotel water. If the water tastes good where we are, I will refill a bottled water bottle with local water for myself. I think the concerns about that are bogus, meant to sell more bottled water. I wasn't surprised at all at the Aquafina story, they never claimed a particular source. The real rip-off is those public locations that don't bother to put in a drinking fountain where you can find it, just so they can sell you a $3.50 bottle of water instead.

K.D. at 1:56PM on Jul 28th 2007

11. It is amazing to me as a nurse to know that people do not know how serious chlorine is... I am quite sure if they knew then what they know now they would never have used chlorine... my son was checking the chlorine content of our tap water and found it to be too high for his pool! In November 2006 the local water company here "accidently" put too much choride in the water.. basically poisoning us!! How did they notify the public? With a notice in with the bill several months later... and just who reads it??? The general public thinks drinking bottled water solves all problems... but.. what about when you shower or bathe... to be completely safe you must have a filtration system for your house.. just check the chlorine level in YOUR tap water.....

Suzanne at 2:14PM on Jul 28th 2007

12. Why so surprised that Aquifina bottled water turns out to be tap water? What did people think it was...water carted by elves on horsedrawn wagons from a secret mountain forest spring? Bottled water took off because it's more convenient to carry water in a screwtop plastic bottle and better for you than soda pop. That's why people became willing to pay for it. What's more, who doesn't take a bottle of Aquifina home and fill er up again with water from their own tap without batting an eye. In my household we buy and use gallons of bottled water because our well water tastes so awful that filters and conditioners...we tried them all...do nothing to improve it.

J Lea at 2:20PM on Jul 28th 2007

13. Bottled water is a convenience when I'm away from a public drinking fountain. I drive a lot. I know it's healthful for me to drink water a lot. So I pay for it. Profiting is the American way.

Ray Hannon at 4:45PM on Jul 28th 2007

14. WOW! So glad i know that...oh wait...every body knows that.

Mike at 5:18PM on Jul 28th 2007

15. In reply to enoch saying that "the major corporations aren't getting the tap water for free" - OH YES THEY ARE! I live in a beautiful little town where Nestle (Poland Spring, Perrier) is taking millions of gallons of water from us and they don't pay a single cent for it. They bought a small piece of farm land and sunk 3 wells into it. They are pumping water from under my house as I write this. When the town dared to ask for maybe a scholarship fund to be set-up for our children with some of Nestle's profits from our water, we were told that there wasn't enough profit in bottled water-they couldn't afford it! These water companies are immoral!

AMY at 5:21PM on Jul 28th 2007