From the Bottle to the Tap

I know that the title of this blog makes it seem like I'm going to start a major discourse on how drinking beer served from a tap is better in taste than drinking from a bottle, but alas, that is a discussion that has been going on for centuries and will undoubtedly continue on well after I've left this mortal plain. No, the transition from bottle to tap that I'm talking about is the growing trend that people are facing given rising costs around the nation; that's the transition off of bottled water to... gasp!... tap water? Yes indeed it seems that tree-huggers and environmentalists are rejoicing at the fact that fuel prices continue to march upwards because it could possibly be the way to get people to finally break their reliance on non-eco-friendly items and conveniences and start doing the right thing for the environment but I don't think it's going to be quite so easy.

Why the transition from one to the other? Well part of the reason is that many people don't seem to realize that even in manufacturing, oil and fuel are required to power the machinery and if Poland Springs or Aquafina have to pay more to get their water into bottles then that cost will be passed on to us the consumer. Already we're seeing rising costs of water and it's motivation enough to start drinking more water that comes out of the taps at home. I personally don't get why we over here in the States are so paranoid about drinking water from the tap. As it is we get water that is both filtered, chlorinated and flourinated which is beneficial for us and if we are still worried about whether the water contains bacteria that isn't good for us, we can do what people around the world have been doing for centuries; boiling the water and then drinking it.

I know a lot of people would scoff at the fact that in order to ensure that the water we're consuming is pure by boiling it but if you're that paranoid about drinking something you shouldn't, then by all means, continue buying bottled water at ever increasing costs. Sure it's a convenience when you're in the middle of nowhere and need a drink but do we really need it for everything? I mean I don't know why people think that the water that we get in bottles is necessarily any better than what we'd get from the tap. After all, do you actually think that bottled 'spring water' which is 'bottled at the source' is actually filled up by a machine that dips the empty bottle into the bubbling brook somewhere deep in the pure snowy mountains prior to sealing it?

Of course not. The water is collected and then taken to factories where the water is then bottled and shipped. We're essentially then trading one tap for another and paying a lot more for it. Most places in the world, you're already paying for water in some way, shape, or form. If you are already paying for something then shouldn't you take advantage of the fact? Maybe it sounds cheap or a bit contrite but still, I'd rather have water from the tap than paying ever increasing costs to get 'extra' and seemingly 'cleaner' water. I mean most of us shower or brush our teeth in that water, isn't it enough to drink it too?