Comments on: Taste-Test Experiment: Bottled Waters vs. Filtered Tap

By: Carnival of Personal Finance #245 – “Dollar Doodles” Ed. | Budgets Are Sexy

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:04:29 +0000

[...] Len Penzo dot Com: Taste-Test Experiment: Bottled Waters vs. Filtered Tap. As someone who once spent $40 on a bottle of water (BlingH20), and currently drinks at least 1 [...]

By: Joanne

Joanne — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:51:45 +0000

What about all that garbage associated that you were mentioning. and the environmental costs, and the floating island of plastic, encouraging a throw away culture, and the irresponsibility assocaiated with water bottles?

By: Len Penzo

Len Penzo — Tue, 03 May 2011 00:34:22 +0000

I have relative on the Connecticut coast and can vouch for your assessment of the terrible-tasting water there.

During my countless business travels, I’ve tasted tap water from too many places in the US to count. I have to say, where I live in Southern California has about the best-tasting water in the US. It is clean with no aftertaste. (Which is all the more reason I can’t understand why bottle water is so successful out here. I guess we’re just so conditioned to buying it now. I know; poor excuse.)

By: badfrog

badfrog — Sun, 01 May 2011 06:35:30 +0000

Grew up in Denver and drank the perfectly excellent water there, as an adult lived also in Boulder and Golden (drinking the same water they used to make Coors with). Never even thought about using a filter, and bottled water–are you KIDDING?

Then I moved to the Connecticut coast–what a difference. The water was brackish and tasted terrible. A Brita filter and refrigeration made it palatable to me, although my wife flatly refused to drink it, living on tea, coffee, soda, and such. We used to look forward to our day trips to New York City in part because the water there was so excellent, taking a few gallon jugs and refilling them there.

Then I moved back to the Colorado mountains. Our well there has so much iron in that my teeth feel slippery. Even filters don’t work there, and I spent about USD6.00 per week on bottled water.

Also might mention the water where my mother was born and grew up, in southwest Missouri One word. Sulfur. Nothing cuts that, and everyone who can afford it, even native born, drinks bottled.

Now I live on the Sonora coast in Mexico. Mexico drinks more bottled water per capita than any other country. A combination of a long seacoast with brackish water, and iffy water systems, especially outside of big cities, drives everyone here, even those who can’t afford it, to drink reverse osmosis treated water. It is distributed free to the ejidos and small towns, we have a Seri Indian fishing village and the city drives a water truck in twice a week so they can fill their bottles. Some wealthier people have filtration systems built into their houses.

On the plus side, a 5 gallon garaphon is ten pesos (80 cents) here in Gringo country, 7 pesos in the suburbs, and if I ever really feel like saving a few pennies I can go downtown and pay 5 pesos for 5 gallons.

Anyway, sometimes bottled is the only realistic choice, but you can buy smarter than 16 ounce bottles.

By: David

David — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

Don’t forget to add to the per gallon cost of the filtered tap water the cost of the filter, divided by the number of gallons the filter can process. Fridge filters are particularly expensive–the one for our fridge costs $50.00, and says that is is good for 300 gallons. In our case, even after adding that cost, filtered water is still 8x cheaper than bottled store brand water from a warehouse club, but it’s not quite the savings one would expect just from looking at a water bill.

By: Len Penzo

Len Penzo — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

Good point, David! My filter only costs me $19.97 and it is supposed to be replaced every three months. That adds another $6.66 per month to my overall tap water bill. The end result is my per-gallon cost for filtered tap water increases by one-tenth of a cent to – six-tenths of a cent! As you mentioned – that is still a great deal!

By: Mr. Moneybags

Mr. Moneybags — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

It’s articles like these that really make me appreciate buying liquid diamond by the gallon…it’s not particularly nutritious nor thirst-quenching but at least I can! And that’s all that matters, right?

By: Bret @ Hope to Prosper

Bret @ Hope to Prosper — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

I have been filtering my own water for the past 20 years. I have my own BPA-free water bottles and I reuse them. The only time I buy bottled water is for camping.

What most people don’t realize is that bottled water often has as much chlorine as tap water. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have a very long shelf-life. So, in addition to saving money and the environment by drinking filtered water, you can cut down on the amount of chlorine, BPA and PET you ingest.
.-= Bret @ Hope to Prosper´s last blog ..Investing in a Shaky Market =-.

By: Kevin@OutOfYourRut

Kevin@OutOfYourRut — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

Sorry Len, I’m going to be the consciencious objector here. I won’t pay for a bottle of anything that I can get practically for free from my own tap!

If you have to (???) drink bottled water, I’m with Bret @ Hope to Prosper, get some bottles and re-use them. Discarded water bottles will last in landfills longer than we’ll be on the planet!
.-= Kevin@OutOfYourRut´s last blog ..New Car or Used Car – Which is the Better Deal? =-.

By: Len Penzo

Len Penzo — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

@Mr.M: Bottled or tap liquid diamond? Now I know the source of your sparkling personality!
@Bret: Great tips, Bret!
@Kevin: No worries. You’re POV actually is more sensible, both economically and ecologically. And you make a good point – I think it’s extremely tough for most people to make a credible case that they HAVE to drink bottled water.