Message in a Bottle

Americans spent more money last year on bottled water than on ipods or movie tickets: $15 Billion. A journey into the economics--and psychology--of an unlikely business boom. And what it says about our culture of indulgence.

We've come to pay good money--two or three or four times the cost of gasoline--for a product we have always gotten, and can still get, for free, from taps in our homes.

I don't get the water that comes out of my tap for free. It's cheaper, sure, but not free.

In my case it says a lot about the water quality here. Recent alert - they've warned people in DC and, I think, Virginia that if their water smells nasty it's OK. The Potomac's low and there's a lot of algae, which causes the smell. They've put another step in the water purification process - it should start smelling OK in two or three days.

The water at my grandparents is horrible. It's all soft and smells like sulfur. I can't even stand to have iced tea or lemonade or even ice cubes made from it.

We either buy one of those huge gallon water things or cases of bottled. That still doesn't solve the shower issue though.

shudder

We've come to pay good money--two or three or four times the cost of gasoline--for a product we have always gotten, and can still get, for free, from taps in our homes.

Free water in my tap at home doesn't do me much good in the car, or on an airplane, or out for a run. It's not usually cold enough, and depending on where you are, the taste can be a crap shoot.

Oh, my god, there are people with a JACKHAMMER outside of my house. I'm going to go insane.

I drink tap water everywhere. Well, ok, I didn't in Africa. I probably don't buy a bottle of water if there is a tap and and bottle handy.

I don't like metally flavored water much, and I was surprised at how soda-y my parents' water is (it'd been a while since I'd had aquifer water) but I get used to it. Unless the taste is iron. I prefer Baltimore water to NC, which was heavily chlorinated.

My aunt and uncle have that sulfur issue with their well water. Dad and my uncle did something that fixed it briefly, but it came back.

My aunt and uncle have that sulfur issue with their well water. Dad and my uncle did something that fixed it briefly, but it came back.

Yeah, theirs is well. Borita across the street fixed theirs, but I don't remember how.

It's not even the taste I mind - it's the fact that the water may not be safe. Several years ago we had a cryptosporidium scare - they were telling us to boil the water for ten minutes (if I remember correctly) before drinking it. bleah. That was the year I had a series of UTIs that stopped when I switched over to bottled water.

It's sad when you live in the capital of the country and you have to tell people not to drink the water.

I try to only pay for sparkling water (you will pry my weekly seltzer delivery from my cold dead hands), but I'm also lucky to live in a party of the country with really good tap water. The Brita filter in my fridge is more about keeping the water cold than making it tasty.

(And yeah, tap water isn't actually FREE. Water for the building is a big part of my monthly maintenance fee. If I owned my own detached home, I'd be paying the utility directly. Granted, the majority of that isn't drinking water, but still.)