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But those square Fiji water bottles are so chic! We don't care about any of that other stuff. We come here to read about design. The people who live in Fiji can buy the bottled water just like the people in Beverly Hills do.

Wow, McGreen. I hope you weren't being serious there.

I do come here to read about design! It is a welcome diversion. Most of my day is spent analyzing water quality data. I only drink tap water. NYC tap water is great. I was just in Europe and I really missed our water (but not our public transportation system).

gmculp,

how much of an effect on the quality of the drinking water do the pipes have? in my old apartment I had really old pipes that were flaking rust on the inside so the answer is obvious for that one. But now I live in a new condo with all new piping but I get a chemical taste in the water. The same at my restaurant where even after 4 years I still get a chemical taste. For the record they are not the same chemical taste. Could it be from cement used to join the pipes? I know that fumes can actually be converted into flavors. I remember that from my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and potato chips in grade school that tasted like epoxy after my dad built a sink for our darkroom. Chicago is supposed to have one of the highest quality water purification systems in the world but is it safe to trust the channels it has to go through before it gets to my glass?

Hey, it might not be Paris, but at least the subway's open past 1 am. :)

Art- My division concentrates on lead and copper in drinking water. Older buildings sometimes have either lead service lines or copper service lines joined by lead solder. There was a lead ban instituted in 1987 so newer service lines should not have any lead (although some do if the plumbing is not on the up-and-up). Your faucet can also contribute to contaminants in your drinking water. High end fixtures often contain lead. If you are concerned, please call 311 for a free testing kit. We (NYC-DEP) will send you a two bottle kit. The first bottle tests for lead and copper in the faucet and the second, for lead and copper in the service line.

nycflats- You're right, it is nice to be able to stay out past 1 and not have to spend money on a cab.

i try my darndest to not buy bottled water. i own several camelbak water bottles (with the built in straw - yay!) and use those as much as i can.

we have a water cooler at the office, and now all my coworkers have the camelbak bottles too, so we use & refill all day long.

at home we have the giant brita thing, keep it in the fridge and my husband & i use the camlebaks there too. (bonus: no accidentally spilling the bedside water glass in the middle of the night)

i think that you can still drink good water, just use your own bottle!!!

and a question: do you think the giant water cooler bottles at the office are ok to use? the sompanies clean & reuse them right?

Well, I live in Rome (Rome, Italy, not Rome, Texas, btw.) and I do drink tap water, too. And it happens to be one of the things I miss most when I travel abroad...

Christinanyc- My boss often complains about water coolers. She says they harbor bacteria. I am not sure where she got this information. I will ask her when she comes in on Monday and post my findings on AT tips.

i do not buy water bottles - save for one specific time - when i'm INCREDIBLY dehydrated (and i mean so dehydrated i get a migraine and am vomiting mucous - tmi i'll bet) i buy smart water with electrolytes in it. *i am open to information that will change my love for smart water, i hate buying bottled water* However, i do reuse the 1L bottles because it makes it much easier for me to drink 3 liters a day (64 oz. everyday, plus 1 oz. per degree above 64 degrees - which it is often close to 100 - also because i've started runing a mile every mon, wed, and fri and need the hydration!!). the question i have about it is based on the 60 minutes that came out a couple years ago talking about reusing plastic bottles - about how much bacteria it has. i remember it said that no amount of washing it will decrease in the amount of germs. also, is this along the lines of people using antibacterial gel - which is making super germs resistant to everything? is this a whole bunch of bs? i'd like to know!

gmculp, if art calls 311, he ain't gonna get a free water testing kit 'cause he lives in Chicago!

St. Louis was just judged to have the best tap water in the country (U.S. Conference of Mayors). Yay!

I suspect 98% of the tap water in the US is safe. Just test your water - it's cheap or even free!

Watercoolers do harbor bacteria, as do plastic bottles if you reuse them too much. Also, while NYC water is highly rated, there are big differences building to building. In my current building, I would NEVER drink the tap water. Too many times, I've seen it come out of the tap brown or black.

I'll stick to Poland Spring, thank you.

Shoot. Sorry, Art! My little sister works for the EPA in Chicago (in the water division... guess it's in the genes!). I'll forward your question to her.

elizabeth in AL, washing does indeed decrease the number of micro-organisms. Antibacterial gel is alcohol in a starch matrix, and does NOT create super-germs. It is the overuse of antibiotics and soaps with things like triclosan creates resistant germs.

If you are going to re-use water bottles (which is GREEN!), wash them with hot soapy water and let them air-dry completely. Occasionally, filling them up to the rim with water and a couple of *drops* of bleach and leaving them out overnight would really wipe out almost any organism almost completely.

MrGreen also reuses waterbottles, which he does not purchase. He gets them free when he flies or attends a conference. MrGreen will not drink un-bottled water on airplanes because he cannot be sure that the container was cleaned properly.

so, how long would you say i should keep a reused bottle around? (washing it with hot water everyday, of course, because i do that)

oh and a side note - i meant by using them TOO MUCH, not none at all. i just have seen babies where their mothers would pick up a dropped pacifier, put it in her mouth and then give it back to the kid and the kid to this day never gets sick, and the other way, the kid getting sick all the time. that's why i was wondering.

MrGreen keeps his waterbottles until they get lost or look a little nasty.

A newborn's immune system is not fully developed. There is a good deal of current research on this: http://tinyurl.com/2z3ocf

Babies benefit from the antibodies in the mother's breastmilk. Trying to protect babies from all germs is impossible but sharing the pacifier is probably how that baby got oral herpes which he will have the rest of his life. Yuk.

The routine use of persistent antibacterial agents like triclosan is not recommended by infection control experts. The use of alcohol gels is not problematic unless overuse is drying or otherwise damaging your epithelium.

If you are switching to reusable bottles (like Nalgenes) there is some concern about drinking liquids from Lexan containers. Perhaps the risks are overstated; I haven't looked into it enough to make my mind up yet...

elizabeth in AL:

You can get powdered electrolytes that you add to your own water (e.g. endurolytes, gastrolyte). However, the powdered stuff probably won't taste as good because it will taste salty from sodium, which smartwater doesn't have.

Thanks gmculp. But I would like to know if it's some of the stuff that they don't typically test for that I'm tasting. Chlorine is a common chemical taste in water but I'm tasting other things, like dirty solvent type things. Ecolab has in line filters down to the most miniscule micron I wonder if this, combined with charcoal could take most of this flavor out?

Why not buy a Brita or PUR water filter and just use the tap water in that? We have one and never buy bottled water for home. I am looking for a glass dispenser I can fill up from the Brita and keep in the fridge though - any ideas?

I have water filters installed and drink the tap water. I also use a chlorine filter in my shower. NY water might be the best overall, but think about the aged a corroded pipes it goes through to get to us. I only drink bottled water when I travel or in a restaurant where they automatically put lemon in it. While I love lemon water, it's been my experience that restuarants do that to cover the poor taste of the water.

I thought this article on water was amazing! Excellent research. I'm involved in a start up non-profit that will be drilling water holes in Honduras, amongst other things, and we've done extensive research on water, but the was of particular value.

Thanks!

wait mr green who said anything about herpes? these kids i know don't have herpes.

k2 - shows how much i know - i'm going to get some of those. i can get over taste. but i can't get over buying water bottles that often

Matilda,

Try something like the Airtight Jug from Crate&Barrel. I've got something similar for the same purpose (storing and cooling filtered water) and it's fantastic.

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=370&f=13775&q=pitcher&fromLocation=Search&DIMID=400001&SearchPage=1

I've read about leeching that can happen when you wash Nalgeen bottles in the dishwasher (because of the heat), and I used to love to clean mine in the dishwasher before I knew that because that's when I felt like it was cleanest...so, I've now switched to an aluminum SIGG bottle, and love it. It's also easily recyclable when I'm done with it, except for the small top.

I used to drink the water from my office water cooler until one day, the bottle was empty and I went to get another one. When I removed the empty bottle, I was horrified to see what looked like furry green algae growing inside the cooler. That was the last time I ever drank out of a water cooler.

I do not care for the chemicals in Nalgene bottles. I like Sigg bottles for my toddler son because they come with a sippie cup attachment, but I prefer the stainless steel Klean Kanteen myself. It's more durable (but heavier). My DH uses a Sigg as well, but mine kept getting dented to high heaven. Guess I'm pretty rough on my water bottle! They all get washed in the dishwasher every night.

We have to filter our water here in the South because it tastes awful, but I love the tap water in NYC. It tastes good, and it comes out COLD! You guys are so lucky!

What a great article, thanks for sharing.

art, the water in chicago while supposedly safe is famously awful tasting. I lived there for 7 years as a graduate student and even though I was poor as heck I could not acquire a taste for the water. My friends & I spent long nights discussing this. We tried various filters & even had the water analyzed (it is safe to drink) but every single one of us ended up spending the little money we had on buying good tasting water. Coffee, tea, rice, stew, anything made with water had to be made with bottled water to taste decent. Some of my friends even bathed & washed their hair in spring water because of the chemical smell & taste of chicago water. Most of us were in hyde park but we had friends who lived in various parts of the city & they too had horrid tasting water. I'm afraid if you live in chicago, you'll just have to buy bottled water. On the plus side, it's a wonderful city if a tad cold in the winter ;)

I'll second the SIGG (official site) suggestion if you're worried about Nalgenes leaching chemicals. Not only do they come in sizes up to a liter, but they have a bunch of nice designs you can choose from. Way better looking than a Nalgene. I think you can get them at sports stores too, although when I tried to get one at REI they were sold out.

Also, if you want a cheap reusable water bottle that's not plastic, go to fancy restaurant and see if you can get some of their empty table water bottles. I have a VOSS bottle that makes a great water bottle, and since it's glass it doesn't leech or pick up flavors.

People who are worried about Nalgene leaching chemicals should be positively paranoid about drinking water out of an aluminum bottle.

When I was a kid, my Gran had a Soda Stream, for turning tap water into carbonated sodas in reusable glass bottles. Good kid fun!

I was reminded of this by an article about Alice Waters refusing to import water for her restaurant. I was just commenting to my husband that we must find one, and save having to bring home and then recycle so many glass and plastic bottles.

Re: ""It's unfair to say bottled water is causing extra plastic in landfills, and it's using energy transporting it," — Whole Foods' John Mackey

Um, last time I checked, my Diet Coke wasn't being shipping in from the Pacific Rim. Soda producers (the major ones) have regional bottling plants.

The misinformation in this thread is hysterical. A would condescendingly laugh again.

So, SomeSteff, enlighten us on what we're getting wrong.

mr. green the sigg bottles have a lining in them that apparently is unbreakable and resistant to juices, hot stuff, etc.

I just got bottled water to drink while in the office because I realized I wasn't drinking water--the tap water in DC is some of the worst I've tasted.

I posted this in another thread, but many bottled waters have bacteria that do not exist in local tap water. This is because local water is regulated, but bottled water is not. For this reason, experts (at Harvard; I've interviewed some for a story I'm writing) who otherwise recommend that moms not boil tap water before adding to formula (a waste of time; very little bacteria there) DO boil bottled water, in case there's bacteria lurking. Bottled does not always equal better.