Tap water or bottled water

[Lara96]

I need to try drinking more water but obviously bottled water everyday is expensive so does everyone drink tap water.

Why would the tap water deteriorate in a bottle when it doesn’t deteriorate while it’s sitting in the pipe waiting for you to turn the tap on?
most likely reason is that it’s picking up something from the bottle you’re using.

also it’s “reduce, reuse, recycle” with recycle being the least favourite of those options.

We drink bottled water exclusively, only because our tap water tastes foul & I don’t really trust water companies these days.
Have done so for as long as I can remember tbh, it does mean a ridiculous amount of recycling as we use it for hot drinks also and currently between us all get through a minimum of 8-10 litres a day…
Cannot imagine drinking tap water now, it’s been so long.

Please don't assume the rest of the UK has the same water. I agree that London water isn't great, but our water fresh from the Pennines is lovely.

Reduce, reuse. Only if you cannot do the first two then you recycle.

Nobody needs to buy bottled water in the UK.

Heavens above!
What do you think happens to all that plastic?
How can it be good to drink water that has been festering in plastic bottles? The only reason they have use by dates is because of the toxic effects of the plastic.
Where do you think the water in the bottles comes from?

We are not living in the outback. UK tap water is drinkable. Please drink it and help save our planet.

@Mischance“all that plastic” gets recycled, every week, same as everybody else?
In our circle I don’t know anybody else who drinks tap water either- it’s really not a shocking thing here.

In our area, tap water is undrinksble, it tastes awful, I think I can be the judge of that. It’s also cloudy at some points through the day which is gross too to me.
I wouldn’t drink tap water here or give it to DC if you paid me.

The plastic all gets recycled it’s no big deal.

North Yorkshire here, with water so hard it practically comes out of the tap in lumps. But perfectly drinkable nonetheless.

I drink tap water. I have a 2l bottle I keep in the fridge which I keep topping up then use an insulated cup so I’ve always got cool water. I drink loads of water though so it’d cost me a fortune to keep buying bottled!

Err. Chlorine is definitely desirable. Cryptosporidium and Giardiasis definitely aren’t.

Chlorine gasses off easily. Pour tap water into a jug. Allow to sit for half an hour. Drink chlorine free water,

This is barely credible!

8-10 litres a day!!!!

Honestly do you never think about what happens before and after that bottled water lands up in your house? ...

• millions of unnecessary plastic bottles being manufactured with the power usage and environmental impacts of this
• transport costs and impact of getting this heavy commodity to the shops
• millions of plastic bottles needing to be picked up for recycling
• environmental impact of recycling collection and processes
• landfill for many bottles

Do people just let all this wash by them?

And why pay for something that you have already paid the water companies to provide.

Bottled water has a use by date on it because of the toxic effects of the degenerating plastic bottles.

If you don't like the taste of it then filter it - although bear in mind that filtering harbours bacteria too.

In any event a great deal of bottled water is simply filtered tap water.

We are so lucky in this country to have safe water supplies. Why not drink the stuff?

Yes, in Yorkshire as well as Scotland I believe, we have a reputation for being careful with our money, so surely paying money for something that comes out of the tap for very little money per litre is against our nature?

OP I find the phrasing in your question so odd. You say you need to drink more water and you appear to be unsure as to whether people drink tap water? Isn't it more odd if people in the UK don't drink tap water. When we go to Costco and I see people pushing trolley full of great slabs of water bottles, I just think WTF and want to ask them what they're going to do with it (it's usually the Costco branded packs so they're unlikely to be selling it in restaurants or convenience stores).

I always drink tap water.
Bottled water is expensive and bad for the environment.

Tap water.👍

We live in a hard water area so water is filtered (for tea, coffee etc) and drinking water is then put in the fridge. The difference in taste between water straight from the tap and that which has been filtered/refrigerated is significant.
Even just chilling tap water for a couple of hours make a great difference.

Chateau Thames all the way. I can’t believe how many people on this thread are buying their water in plastic bottles. No wonder the planet is in such a state.

I have only ever bought bottled water abroad, even then rarely.

Having said that, it’s not often I drink water in its virgin state so the need doesn’t arise.

I'm in Edinburgh. I keep a jug if cold water in the fridge. It's lovely. My dad is in Newcastle his water is awful.

The average price for a cubic metre (1000 litres) of tap water is about £5.

The average price for 1 litre of bottled water is £1.50. So scale that up and you're looking at £1500 for the same volume.

That's another reason why I drink tap water- the cost.

Why wouldn't you drink tap water!? buying bottled water (unless e.g. out and no other option / in a country with poor water hygiene) is madness!

And even more expensive in restaurants. I'm not paying £3+ for a small bottle of water, especially still. Tap water all the way.

Tap water all the way. Bottled water is full of microplastics so I only drink it if necessary eg countries without safe tap water.

The Water Companies unscrupulously get around the regulations by...running the tap on full flow for 5 minutes. Those are very long and expensive 5 minutes if you're on a water meter. Doing so, dropped the lead content in my tap water from 3x the norm to just under it. Theoretically then, the water is compliant as long as I flush the taps every time.
I made a fuss and so my water bill was reduced significantly.

Unfiltered tap water with a slice of lime (or other fruit) everywhere I have lived around the UK. I use the same slice for 24 hours - I think just having the aroma makes all the difference. Obviously not for hot drinks, which are just unfiltered tap water.

The tap water where I live is lovely and soft. Limescale etc just isn't a thing, I'm always sad when I travel somewhere else and the water is scummy.

I do keep a stock of bottled water though, just for the zombie apocalypse emergencies, but it doesn't taste as nice as what comes out of the tap.

I’m in Scotland. Tap water. Best water on the planet.

If I lived in SE England, things would be different.

Our London tap water isn't very nice, but I do drink it. My parents' tap water (in Derbyshire) is delicious in comparison.

We were in Norway and Finland recently, theirs was fabulous!