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What kind of water do you drink?

Discussion in 'Alley of Dangerous Angles' started by Taluntain, Jan 9, 2013.

?

What kind of water do you drink?

  1. Bottled water mostly

    7 vote(s)
    18.9%
  2. Tap water mostly

    25 vote(s)
    67.6%
  3. About equal amounts tap & bottled

    3 vote(s)
    8.1%
  4. I don't drink pure water, only pre-made beverages

    2 vote(s)
    5.4%
  1. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    [​IMG] All the talk recently about the seepage of chemicals from the PET water bottles into the water has got me thinking about the alternatives. Our family's had little choice but to switch to drinking bottled water since the tap water here was getting contaminated every few months/years, often with little or no warning to the population and frequently without anyone taking the blame for it.

    But given the likely harmful effects of relying on long-term drinking water from plastic bottles possibly being even worse, I've been thinking whether the better solution might just be to boil tap water for drinking - all of it, constantly. It wouldn't do anything for the heavy amounts of chlorine in it (it often comes from the tap more or less white and takes up to a minute to clear) and the taste isn't exactly good either, but at least it should be relatively safe unless some major contagion was introduced to the water.

    Of course, the ideal solution would be spring water in glass bottles, but that's very impractical (not to mention I haven't seen glass water bottles anywhere in over 10 years...), not to mention expensive.

    So I thought I'd do a little poll and see what kind of water we're all drinking for the most part - bottled or tap. I know there's a lot of possible variations here so I'm not going to list everything in the poll - please reply to the thread instead and tell us more about your poll choice.
     
  2. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Didn't actually see a poll attached to this. I drink tap water run through a built in filter in our sink. Outside of the house, I generally don't order water at a restaurant (i.e., I don't order Perrier or that stuff) and either just use their tap water or get something like iced tea.
     
  3. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Refresh, polls have to get added after thread creation in vB.

    Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that most of our pipes are still lead so I've got no idea into how much contact with it our tap water would come even if most of them are calcified on the inside. I'd have to install a new pipe right from the mains to avoid our drinking tap water going through the entire house's lead pipe system.

    And as far as various filters go, I was told that if water needs to be boiled to be safe, various filters won't cut it.
     
  4. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    If your water is chlorinated, why does it need to be boiled? What's it getting contaminated with?

    Pretty sure just about any filter you get will filter lead; that's typically number one on the list :) Most filter out various chemicals as well as biological cysts (cryptosporidium) which are resistant to chlorination.

    To get rid of chlorine, all you have to do is leave it in an open container for a while (like in the refrigerator) and it will dissipate.

    I mostly just drink from the tap, but I do have a two-phase filter under the kitchen sink and my refrigerator came with one too (for the icemaker and water dispenser).
     
  5. T2Bruno

    T2Bruno The only source of knowledge is experience Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Tap water ... just tap water.
     
  6. Rotku

    Rotku I believe I can fly Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    I've been seeing more and more glass bottles around recently, as people worry about the plastic bottles eroding.

    I generally try and drink rain water, when it's available (got a couple of water tanks around the house), however tap water is the second option. I hate paying for water in a bottle.
     
  7. Master of Nuhn

    Master of Nuhn Wear it like a crown Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Tap water.

    Dutch tap water is of very high quality and does not contain chlorine. Very few people use filters or buy bottled water (except for when travelling etc, but then, used bottles are often refilled with tap water)
     
  8. henkie

    henkie Hammertime Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Like MoN, I usually just drink tap water. It tastes just as good or sometimes better than bottled water. When I'm in the Netherlands. I go to Belgium on a regular basis, though, and I tend to drink bottled water or filter the tap water when I'm there as Belgium tap water tastes awful - lots of chlorine and lots of calcium as well.

    Germany has more chlorine in the water as well, though it was tolerable when I spent a few months there for work. That was in the Hanover area, though, it may be different elsewhere. The funny thing I remember from that is that there was a natural spring nearby, where you'd see quite some people come over with big jerry cans to take the spring water home. I tried it too, and was surprised when it tasted just like dutch tapwater - good.

    When I was in Australia, the tapwater was more or less tolerable in Sydney, but when I traveled up the coast, I eventually switched to bottled water when the chlorine levels just became too high for me to tolerate anymore.

    In Russia tapwater is not really drinkable, at least where my in-laws live and by my sensibilities, but there's a natural spring nearby and we usually drink that when we come to visit - after boiling the water first. Normal tapwater is also boiled first, actually.
     
    Master of Nuhn likes this.
  9. Rawgrim Gems: 21/31
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    Firewater.
     
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  10. pplr Gems: 18/31
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    Tap I know city water is tested.
     
  11. Barmy Army

    Barmy Army Simple mind, simple pleasures... Adored Veteran

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    Having worked a job where I've seen the inside of domestic water pipes, I will only drink bottled water if I am drinking just water on its own. You would not believe what crap gets caught in your water pipes, because they never get cleaned... There's collections of dead spiders/flies other small creatures, dirt and grime other crap, and build ups of god knows what that your water has to pass through. I'll only have tap water in my tea/coffee when it's being boiled in the kettle first.
     
  12. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    It doesn't need to be boiled, "officially". I'd do it to be extra safe given that we've had numerous cases where "just" chlorination obviously wasn't enough to prevent us all from getting sick. I know chlorine dissipates, but like you said, it needs to be given time and most people when they're thirsty and drink straight from the tap don't want to wait for all the chlorine to evaporate before drinking their water.
     
  13. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    Ummm... Most bottled water comes from a public water source - even if it's called "spring water" or something like that. In fact, there were court cases in the US claiming false advertising for one company, but they said "Spring Water" was the name of the company - not what was in the bottle. So now, in the US companies are required to say it right on the bottle you drink. They use the acronym PWS, and it's the same water that goes to everyone else in the area. And it's not like the bottling company is situated within the water treatment plant. The water that goes in that bottle goes through the same pipes in the city that everyone else's does.

    I tend to drink mostly tap water, although I do run it through a filtration system first. Now, to Tal's point, if I lived in a house with lead pipes, I wouldn't drink the tap water either. Yeah, my filter says it filters lead, but how would I know if it stopped working? But my house was built in 1984, long after they stopped using lead for pipes.

    That said, I'm not too worried about PET in plastic bottles. I never was a huge bottled water drinker to begin with, but I did it because of the expense. Why pay $1.50 for a bottle of water, when the equivalent amount of water from my tap costs a fraction of a cent on my water bill. So the only time I drink bottled water is when I have to.

    Today will be one such day. Typically I bring my lunch from home, and a thermos filled with water along with it. For some reason, on days where I don't bring my lunch and decide to purchase it, I don't bring the water thermos either. It doesn't really make any sense, because the place I almost always go to eat is the sandwich shop down the street, and I always get it to go. So I could still bring the thermos, and save myself the money purchasing the water - just get the sub.
     
  14. Harbourboy

    Harbourboy Take thy form from off my door! Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Pretty much always filtered tap water from the either the dispenser on my fridge, or the filtered drinking water taps at work.
     
  15. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I read about that, but to my knowledge the European standards regarding bottled water are much higher. Here bottled spring water really is spring water.
     
  16. Barmy Army

    Barmy Army Simple mind, simple pleasures... Adored Veteran

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    The bottled water I get is a small local company and I know exactly which spring it comes from. The rules about how you can name something are pretty tight around here.
     
  17. Splunge

    Splunge Bhaal’s financial advisor Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Filtered tap water at work and home, regular tap water in restaurants.
     
  18. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Sure. But for those that are bothered by chlorine, they can just put a jug in the fridge to drink, and it'll not only taste better, but it'll be cold :)
     
  19. Barmy Army

    Barmy Army Simple mind, simple pleasures... Adored Veteran

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    I know a few folk who have a filter jug in the fridge with a few slices of lemon in and swear by it. I just buy bottled spring though. Drink that when I just need a drink, otherwise it's fresh orange juice of a coffee/tea. I've been well put off tap water though.
     
  20. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    The water that Dave Matthews is talking about in "Don't Drink the Water."

    I make Purple Drank with that.
     
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