![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Bottled Water Brouhaha
Sep. 5th, 2007 12:37 pmSo here in the Chicago area lately, bottled water is getting a bad rap. Actually, I guess it's becoming a countrywide phenomenon, but I'm only concerned with this area right now. Public water sources (PWS) are safer than the bottled water sources, and in fact, may be the same thing, according to different news stories. My response is - so what?
I'm not saying there aren't any valid points in the claims that bottled water isn't necessarily better than tap water. And the amount of unrecycled bottles clogging up landfills is a disgrace as well. But to say that you shouldn't drink bottled water, or that you should refill with tap water, ignores a lot of different factors. Here in Chicagoland (which isn't as homogeneous as one might think), not every municipality gets their water from Lake Michigan. I know my village certainly doesn't. I'm made aware of that fact every time we have an extended period without rain, because the water tables in the area get low and the water starts to smell and taste bad.
When we first moved here over six years ago, spring and fall were marked by white foam and leftover white scum when boiling something, or in the dishwasher. The water would taste bad for a while and then the water tables finished turning over and it was gone for a while. That fact alone is responsible for my husband and I choosing to sign up for bottled water service. Every month (today in fact), we put out our empty bottles (the blue 5 gallon ones) on the porch and we get filled ones in return from Hinkley Springs. Works like a charm. We keep bottles in the house, fill them up and keep in the fridge so they're extra cold when we want them. After a while, the bottles start to get a bit funky and they are given to the dog for a few moments of play before getting thrown in the recycle bin. When we're running around we occasionally buy a bottle of water, but then that bottle ends up being reused in the house. Works like a charm.
I guess my biggest bitch about the whole bottled water brouhaha is that it's not necessarily better to drink tap. These news people make it seem as if living in a larger urban area automatically means your municipal water supply is fine and dandy when that's not always the case. I'm not about to give up my bottled water service just because someone says the water in my village should be fine. It's not, judging by the smell it gives off more often than not lately. So until I'm forced otherwise, I'm sticking to bottled water.
I'm not saying there aren't any valid points in the claims that bottled water isn't necessarily better than tap water. And the amount of unrecycled bottles clogging up landfills is a disgrace as well. But to say that you shouldn't drink bottled water, or that you should refill with tap water, ignores a lot of different factors. Here in Chicagoland (which isn't as homogeneous as one might think), not every municipality gets their water from Lake Michigan. I know my village certainly doesn't. I'm made aware of that fact every time we have an extended period without rain, because the water tables in the area get low and the water starts to smell and taste bad.
When we first moved here over six years ago, spring and fall were marked by white foam and leftover white scum when boiling something, or in the dishwasher. The water would taste bad for a while and then the water tables finished turning over and it was gone for a while. That fact alone is responsible for my husband and I choosing to sign up for bottled water service. Every month (today in fact), we put out our empty bottles (the blue 5 gallon ones) on the porch and we get filled ones in return from Hinkley Springs. Works like a charm. We keep bottles in the house, fill them up and keep in the fridge so they're extra cold when we want them. After a while, the bottles start to get a bit funky and they are given to the dog for a few moments of play before getting thrown in the recycle bin. When we're running around we occasionally buy a bottle of water, but then that bottle ends up being reused in the house. Works like a charm.
I guess my biggest bitch about the whole bottled water brouhaha is that it's not necessarily better to drink tap. These news people make it seem as if living in a larger urban area automatically means your municipal water supply is fine and dandy when that's not always the case. I'm not about to give up my bottled water service just because someone says the water in my village should be fine. It's not, judging by the smell it gives off more often than not lately. So until I'm forced otherwise, I'm sticking to bottled water.
