Consumers urged to stop buying bottled water

[eenybeeny]

here

we buy sainsbury's own brand bottled water because our tap water tastes awful and me and DS drink a lot of water. The area we live in has very hard water and it is not nice to drink. Do you buy water? What do you think about this?

quite right too. Tap water is free, safe and available, why waste the planet's scarce resources on bottling?

Eeny, buy a water filter if you don't like the taste of tap.

I buy fizzy water because I'm addicted to it, but happily drink tap water/refill half-litre water bottles from the tap. Maybe I've been lucky to live in areas where the water has always tasted fine.

Have you tried filling a bottle/jug with tap water and letting it stand in the fridge for a couple of hours before drinking? Makes it quite palatable IME.

I am in Scotland so our water isn't as harsh as some I have tasted down south. We have an ice and water filter through our fridge freezer anyway.

Well, it's not free as such edam although considerably cheaper to pay for the priveledge of having it piped into your house for your convenience that to pay to have it stuck in a bottle that you have to go out and buy in the shops

Bottled water isnt sterile either.

If it doesnt 'taste' right, invest in a Britta water filter or something.

My tap water has so much limescale it practically comes out in lumps. I use it in coffee etc, but use bottled water if I am going to drink it straight.

Have people forgotten the little 'accidents' some water companies have had which contaminated supplies? sewage, bacteria, some little worm things (forget the name) and so on.

I think anyone in authority who wants to encourage us to drink it without boiling it should be willing to sign a bit of paper saying that they will be personally responsible for any contamination.

Ah, but the marginal cost of each glass is zero, compared to bottled - you can't duck out of paying your water bill by saying 'I only drink bottled'.

I will stop buying bottled water the day the tap water is drinkable.

Our water is vile and we all become dehydrated the moment we run out of bottled. Bottled water is a pain - it has to be ordered, delivered, stored, paid for and the bottles have to go to recycling. But it keeps my family properly hydrated - which tap water doesn't.

yes I use tap to make tea & coffee as well. But I was advised by my GP or HV (cant remember which one now it was ages ago) not to give DS tap water as the sodium levels are so high.

limescale is positively good for you, it's calcium! You'll be grateful for it when you are old and not bent double with osteoporosis.

The decline and fall of the Roman empire was signalled by decadence such as this, mark my words

ooh we have lovely tap water here, straight from the Lake District, nice and soft - a bit chloriney (sic?) at times but stick it through a filter and it's lovely.

I'm on a mission to get rid of the bottled water machine at school - the staff room has a mains filter.

Anna8888 so Manchester has the edge over Paris in something then?

We have undrinkable water here from a private supply - lots of e-coli and even cryptosporidium plus the acidity is too high so bottled water is a must.
I made some of these greenhouses from the bottles.

At our fete this weekend we offered free tap water to all, alongside the usual pay bar, and didnt sell any bottled water, for eco reasons. Lots of people still wanted to buy bottled water though. Will be interesting to see how quickly tap water becomes reverts to the norm.

Lucycat - oh the water here is vile - both to drink and to bathe in. I buy far more shower gels and body lotions here, as well as bottled water, than I do when I am at my parents' house in Kent where the water is delicious and far less drying on the skin.

I love the flavor of the tap water in our house. Drink it in preference to the brita filter water Dh drinks.
However the water at MiL's in north London tastes horrid.. I am sure I would get used to the flavor but it tastes horrid and makes the tea taste awful as well.. (too chemically)
I buy bottled water on random occasions when we are out and about and have forgotten to take a drink for the boys.

Our water is well 'ard, but tastes just fine. You just need to get used to it, or buy a filter as others have suggested.
It has the same hydrating properties as bottled water, too, afaik!

We have lead pipes and so bottled water is an essential on our shopping list. Bizarre but true, I actually prefer tap water and drink loads when I visit othera!

I have an american style fridge with filtered water and ice. But I love sparkling water. I do ensure all the empties go intoo recycling though.

I ran a taste test of bottled v. tap once, back in pre-ds days when I had a Proper Job. Funny how many people moan about London water because it came joint top in our test when people didn't know what they were drinking! (Joint with a supermarket own brand bottled water, as it happens.)

I also prefer tap water although I do filter it because we have lead pipes too although the water is hard so very unlikely to pick up any lead. I was very please with myself for finding a sode siphon in Fenwicks which can provide litres of very nice fizzy tap water as well!