BootsnAll Travel Community

My head is spinning from all the hullabaloo about water bottles and bottled water and blah blah.

Although I recycle most of my plastic Poland Spring bottles, I've decided I need a more Earth-friendly option than buying .5liter bottles by the case.

A few teachers at my school chip in on a 5-gallon cooler. I was going to buy a Nalgene and go in on that, but then I read that bottled water has less stringent restrictions on toxin levels than tap water does. Weird. On top of that, there's the whole BPA in the bottles issue.

The water in my tap is "good" from a health standpoint, but it tastes like arse. So now I'm thinking Brita pitcher and BPA Free Nalgene bottle...? Or maybe PUR filter? Or ignore the hype and go in on the cooler?

Opinions por favor

Why don't you just get a rain water tank?
I suppose that would be difficult if your in a flat but otherwise in the long run it would be more economical and you'll be drinking fabulous tasting rain water with no added toxins. After the original fork out for the tank you'll be saving money (unless your council taxes on this. Bastards if they do). I grew up living out of town on rain water and when we first had to buy water because of the drought I couldn't believe the people in town had been living on that crap, it tasted horrid. So getting a rain water tank would be my first option. And just as a side note wouldn't something like that add value to your place/business?


Otherwise, when I was living at Uni I had a Brita Water pitcher because, as you put it, the water tasted like ass and there was Blue green algae in the dam (we were running on 9% capacity, you get that). It worked fine, no chloriny ass water anymore, and became a pretty popular thing to get. The only thing about it is that the filters are expensive, though if you currently buying crates of 500ml bottles then this could be a comparatively cheaper option.

Personally I wouldn't get the cooler for the simple reason that they are kept way to cold and make my teeth feel funny

I hope some of this has been helpful.

(Most of the 5 gallon bottles are polycarbonate on those coolers, check the number for #7)

I'm moderately close to this whole BPA situation (fiasco) and my only advice is to do very careful research and watch your sources before making decisions.

There is so much bad information out there right now.

I still use my old polycarbonate Nalgene and don't plan on stopping.

if you are concerned for a water vessel....I would probably stick with glass, hospital grade!

it seems the next best thing would be the sig bottles

I m using the HDPE Nalgen bottles (the one that have the translucent white colour)

unfortunately the only method that i think is worth while for purification is the reverse osmosis....but that's PRICEY$$$

quote:

Originally posted by markus:
I still use my old polycarbonate Nalgene and don't plan on stopping.

Ditto.

I also ditto Skimax and Markus. Considering all the other crap I put in my body the possible negative effects of my nalgene bottle are pretty marginal. When/if my Nalgene bottle dies, I may replace it with something else but I'll cross that bridge (and evaluate that data) when I come to it.

As for tap vs filter vs bottled water: if the tap water tastes good then drink that, if it tastes like crap then go for a filter. Throwing in with others at your office may be a good plan, depending on your situation with them. At work we have the big refillable water cooler bottles and I use them with a mug or bottle I keep at work. At home or while I'm out and about I fill up at various places with tap water or I use a filter at home. Portland tap water is pretty great but my building has really shitty old pipes that turn your water into super fortified mineral water (not the good kind) so I filter at home. Besides I keep a filtered pitcher in the fridge and its always cold, no running the tap and wasting water. I've found the Brita pitcher and filters to be economically doable and I'm not exactly rolling in dough.

About once a summer I buy a pack of bottled water. I then use those bottles and refill them. They are kept in the car for me and the dog. I use em ALOT. That way I'm not buying more bottled water, wasting money and plastic or buying a soda or something when I'm thirsty (taking in a bunch of sugar and crap that's not good for me). I saw some article about how reusing those bottles means that you could get bacteria growing in the bottles and thus its very bad and scary and you should buy more crap. I've been doing this since I was a kid- in fact sometimes when the power or well went out we lived off of bottled water we'd stored up for a day or two. If you wash/rinse out the bottles in between uses and generally practice good hygiene, you shouldn't have a problem. Yes, you may get a small amount of bacteria but nothing that is actually going to make you sick.

There is no reason to constantly be buying bottled water. Its a waste of your money and bad for the environment.

It's not good to re-use plastic bottles that are meant to be disposable.

Drink out of glass whenever you can. I understand you always can't -- I carry a water bottle when I do any of my runs that are over 9 miles. I use non- #7 water bottles then. I filter through a Brita. You can get one of those things on your faucet and store your h20 in a glass jar.

Good luck, and stay hydrated!

I reuse my cheap water bottle all the time. I look at it as recycling.

Now, when at home, I've always had very good results from a Brita filter. It makes better coffee for one thing.

For another thing, many cheap 'spring' water bottles just come out of a well that may or may not be safe, and are sold by the bottle. You're probably safer using chlorinated tap water, even if it has taste issues. If you use tap water and a brita filter, you can't go wrong. This way you're not BUYING plastic to be thrown out.

You COULD get an office water cooler and buy refillabl containers. So far, I hear they're fairly safe proble seems to be finding a strong hefty man to put th water bottle inot the holder!!!!

If you miss, it makes a serious mess.

I've been thinking about this, and I wonder if we used a UV outdoor pool water filter UV emitting bulb in an interior setting, it wouldn't be a very effective water cleaner for large amounts of water. I need to look into the level of UV for the filters, and the level for the Steripen, which is approved for human use, not fish use.

Here is the answer, or one of them. Used for rainwater purification systems. No cost given.

http://www.harvesth2o.com/uv.shtml

This year while traveling I bought and used a steripen for water purification- We found that the water from the tap tasted much better than the bottled water we bought in Nica!!

I was actually told years ago, before this whole BPA thing became the talk of the town, never to reuse plastic water bottles (like the small kind that you buy at the store with the water in them). I was told that the chemicals can leech into the water over multiple uses, especially if the bottle is left in the sun.

Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't, who knows these days?

quote:

Originally posted by Tracy Ann:
I was actually told years ago, before this whole BPA thing became the talk of the town, never to reuse plastic water bottles (like the small kind that you buy at the store with the water in them).

These bottles have a little #1 (PET) on the bottom. They do not contain BPA. They may leach other chems, but not BPA, which is in (some, but not all) #7 water bottles.

Until the science gets sorted out, we're all being WAY too paranoid.

If you're really worried about chemicals leeching from store bought bottled water on subsequent uses, what do you think is so different about those subsequent uses? Especially if your bottle is in sunlight or gets hot you'll have the same effect whether this is use 1 or 5. Bacteria may be a concern but if its bad enough to be a real health concern, well, maybe you need to work on your hygiene more.

I agree with Skimaxpower (can I just call you Power? or Powah! which is really how I say it in my mind). Since this is at least the second time today I've agreed with Powah! I'm just gonna let him do the talking...

quote:

Originally posted by Callilucy:
can I just call you Power? or Powah!

They should all call me "Powah!"