I would ALWAYS drink Bottled water that is Fluoride free! government all around the world ADD FLOURIDE TO OUR WATER AND FLUORIDE IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU so yeah I will only buy BOTTLED fluoride free water

I was curious, after reading this article and reading the video, is all the effort that we put into “recycling” bottled water in vain? Since they are still put into some sort of “landfill” supposedly in India and undergoes a “downcycle” process? Confused.

I am trying to find the real cost of a glass of water.

If drinking water was a product left entirely up to the private sector what would an 8 oz glass cost? I am talking about water no longer as a public good but as a private commercial product– from beginning to consumption.

The problem is when entire communities (such as mine, Franklin, NJ) have unpalatable, and probably only marginally safe, drinking water. Our water is HIGHLY chlorinated, and very high in limescale. In the apt. building where I live, in order to protect the plumbing fixtures, management highly SALTS the water. Now, I use a water filter to remove the chlorine, cryptosporidia, most of the bacteria (we STILL have to boil our water in summertime!) but the Fluoride and SALT are NOT removed by any but the most expensive and most wasteful filtering processes. Even using “Pur” or “Britta” (not expensive) – the water tastes LOUSY. No other word for it. So WE drive 18 miles to a natural spring every 2 weeks to get decent, (so far) free water. But guess what? NOW they are telling us that the plastic bottles we’re using to transport the water is unsafe — that we need to buy EXPENSIVE STAINLESS STEEL water bottles (since almost NOTHING comes in GLASS BOTTLES anymore !)

What are we to do? I WON’T BUY WATER. But how do I transport spring water safely?
Carol S.

Adding water softeners that contain high concentrations of salt is an issue many of our customers struggle with. Perhaps trying a water conditioner first would be a good first step, as they will often be significantly cheaper than a water softener, and more environmentally friendly, since they use little to no water and energy in its process. Water conditioners come with a low purchase and installation cost (easy DIY install), in addition to a low running cost.

In softened water the calcium and magnesium content is replaced with sodium, increasing the sodium content of the water, potentially making it unsuitable for drinking. In conditioned water, the calcium ions remain suspended in the water as small particles, but their propensity to form limescale is reduced. Additionally, conditioned water has the added benefit of the calcium remaining in the water, which is a good dietary mineral. Water conditioners help protect Reverse Osmosis units, eliminate harmful effects of hard water scale, improve plant growth, and makes soaps and detergents go further. All good news for the maintenance of your home and ultimately your wallet!

In choosing to live in or near the countryside it is possible to obtain clean drinking water from local springs. This can easily be done with glass bottles (100%recylable) and cork stoppers.
It’s a pity that tap water is so praised in this documentary, because that is almost as bad as the bottled water! There is no mention in “The Story of Bottled Water” documentary of the chemicals in tap water, that the public IS NOT INFORMED ABOUT. Chlorine is well known about, but is the presence of Estrogen common knowledge? And the build-up of metals from under-maintained pipe systems?
Don’t forget also that tap water is extremely wasteful due to the over-use and the limitless supply theory which makes tap water seem inexhaustible.
Also, toxic-wise, tap water depends on thousands of toxic out-dated rusty metal or PLASTIC pipes, so it is unlikely to be healthier than bottled water. It’s not healthier, just slightly less damaging to the environment.
Plastic is definitely a big problem and the only way to solve it is to downsize our dependancy on any factory goods.

Is it possible to share more information about the dumping place in India ? Possibly what is the company name that is involved in importing this ? I am from India and i am from Tamilnadu !! Possibly you can send that info to my emial id.

One aspect not touched on… I live in Florida where our population is outgrowing our precious fragile aquifer. We live with watering restrictions and use many conservation strategies, yet consumptive use permits are still being granted to bottling companies to pump millions of gallons to bottle and ship around the world removing it from the watershed entirely. Our precious natural resource, that is an essential human need is being literally given away for profit. I say let the corporations desalinate their own water, rather than accelerate our need to.

informational website. I was shocked after learning about the Indian landfill as well as bottled water itself. Our tap water comes from a well and not only is it pure and clean, it tastes better than bottled water too. A lot of people reuse their plastic bottles for their water – don’t do that, the plastic contains chemicals that can leak in the water, especially if it used over and over again. I suggest using a stainless steel bottle to keep your water in – it stays fresh and remains clean.

Benefits to installing a water treatment system for home or commercial applications include removing disagreeable tastes and odors, including objectionable chlorine, many chemicals and gases, and in some cases it can be effective against microorganisms. In particular, reverse osmosis is highly effective in removing up to 99% of contaminants in water. It removes several impurities from water such as total dissolved solids, turbidity, asbestos, lead and other toxic heavy metals, radium, and many dissolved organics. The process will also remove chlorinated pesticides and most heavier-weight VOCs.

Years ago I read a study that showed people who live in hard water areas have a lot less atherosclerosis than people in soft water areas. The connection seemed to be the minerals besides calcium in the water, magnesium in particular if my memory serves me. This study was done long before bottled water was even thought of so both groups got their drinking water from the tap.

David Beede touches on a major problem that the bottling industry is causing in many parts of the world. They’ve caused springs in parts of New England to go dry by pumping out so much ground water, and then they object to having to pay the communities affected for the water that they’ve pumped!! Next to the plastic bottle from petroleum problem, essentially stealing public water is the main reason that some communities are fighting the bottlers.

Bottled water is nice. I don’t drink anything else.

use some of your ideas!!

I think that this article is absolutely ridiculous. After all this toxic and poison stuff in our world we can’t drink just a bottle of water! In my opinion, nothing can be better than a bottle of water after a hard day of work. Only Americans buy more than 500 million bottles of water every week. Did something happen to them? The government wants us to stop drinking water, then they will ask us to stop drinking milk, and maybe they will ask us to stop drinking at all! It’s not in my hands to decide for you to drink water in bottles or not, but I highly recommend you not to believe that water in bottles can be hurtful.

Many other developed countries have plastic bottled water. Children and adults carry plastic bottled water for comfort. After playing basketball, soccer and all kinds of sports, people drink bottled water naturally. However, the most serious thing is we reuse that plastic bottled water more than once. While we are refilling the water into the used bottle, the bacteria are transferred into the bottle, which the people will drink from. Washing the used bottle can help you to get rid of bacteria. The important thing is that you must wash the neck of the bottle as well as the inside part carefully.
So when we utilize the used bottle, we must wash the whole thing, both in and out. The best thing that you can do to escape from bacteria is never utilize used bottle.