Eco friendly water bottles

[Capt Worley PE]

I'm all for the environment, but I hate these new Eco-friendly bottles with ecreased plastic. They say it is for the environment, but I KNOW it is for increased profit, since packaging is by far the biggest cost.

They took so much plastic out, the bottles can't even stand up straight. Some won't stand at all when the water level gets to a few swallow.

Today, I opened one, and the bottle actually twisted.

Mostly I find these with the house brand water, but it is pretty annoying.

 

[roadwreck]

Solution? Don't drink bottled water.

 

[willsee]

Just stick your head under the sink

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Solution? Don't drink bottled water.

I used to agree with that, but...

Around 2000 or so, my wife started to notice that there are an AWFUL lot of cancer cases in our area, and she believed it was the local water. Turns out she was right. A local metal reprocessor had been dumping chemicals and heavy metals into the creek the water plant drew from. They'd been doing it for decades. It turned out that the city had to shut down the water plant immediately and buy water from another municipality until they built a new planet.

So now we drink and cook with bottled water.

 

[willsee]

Solution? Don't drink bottled water.

I used to agree with that, but...

Around 2000 or so, my wife started to notice that there are an AWFUL lot of cancer cases in our area, and she believed it was the local water. Turns out she was right. A local metal reprocessor had been dumping chemicals and heavy metals into the creek the water plant drew from. They'd been doing it for decades. It turned out that the city had to shut down the water plant immediately and buy water from another municipality until they built a new planet.

So now we drink and cook with bottled water.

er

nevermind don't stick your head under the sink

 

[roadwreck]

Solution? Don't drink bottled water.

I used to agree with that, but...

Around 2000 or so, my wife started to notice that there are an AWFUL lot of cancer cases in our area, and she believed it was the local water. Turns out she was right. A local metal reprocessor had been dumping chemicals and heavy metals into the creek the water plant drew from. They'd been doing it for decades. It turned out that the city had to shut down the water plant immediately and buy water from another municipality until they built a new planet.

So now we drink and cook with bottled water.

Well that seems like a good enough reason not to rely on the municipal water supply. If the eco-bottles bother you that much you could buy the larger containers of water (not the individual sized 16-20oz bottles) and fill up your own water bottles. That's what we do. I am usually never to far away from a "bike" water bottle and my wife has a double walled stainless steel one that she likes b/c it keeps her water cold and doesn't sweat.

 

[MGX]

I use a Brita bottle with a charcoal filter in the cap. My greenie weenie side hates throwing away all the plastic associated with bottled water.

Wouldn't a charcoal filter catch the heavier metals in your water? That scenario sounds rather nasty. In my state we had an abandoned zinc/lead mine fill with water which flushed tons of heavy metals right into the water supply and thusly the town is now abandoned as a Superfund site.

Was the metal reprocessor shut down also? Is that an EPA violation?

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Was the metal reprocessor shut down also? Is that an EPA violation?

Yeah, they were shut down before this all happened. let me see if I can find some links because it was a while back and my memory is kinda fuzzy.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Here it is:

(Cayce) January 13, 2006 - On Friday, a state circuit court judge in Lexington awarded a judgment for the City of Cayce against Tin Products, Inc., and five related companies, in the amount of $21,395,041.
Judge Larry Patterson entered the order of judgment following a hearing to determine the damages to the City arising from the February 2000 contamination of Red Bank Creek and Congaree Creek.

Congaree Creek was the City's source of raw water until the contamination forced the closing of the City water treatment plant.

The damages hearing was part of the city's lawsuit, filed in January 2003, against Tin Products and related companies.

Tin Products and five other defendants were determined to be in default in the suit by a previous court order in July. The effect of default is a deemed admission of the allegations of liability. The purpose of Friday's court hearing was to determine the amount of the City's damages.

At the hearing, Cayce City Manager John Sharpe testified that the closing of the water plant in February 2000 required the City to purchase, on an emergency basis, treated water from other government water systems for two years.

West Columbia, Columbia, and the Lexington County Joint Water and Sewer Commission sold water to Cayce for its customers during that period. These purchases totaled more than $4,000,000. To connect to the Columbia system, Cayce had to spend more than $500,000 to construct piping under the Blossom Street Bridge, which spans the Congaree River between the two cities.

Because of concerns over the use in the future of the Congaree Creek as a water source, the Cayce City Council, in May 2000, began construction of a new water intake facility on the Congaree River. That facility, which began operations in March 2002, takes raw water out of the Congaree River.

The raw water is then piped for a distance of three miles to the City water treatment plant off U. S. Highway 321 near the Moss Creek subdivision. The new facility and the three miles of water mains cost the City more than $5,000,000.

The City also was required to revise and upgrade the water plant at a cost of more than $11,000,000.

"We are very pleased at the court's recognition of the huge financial impact this situation had on the City and its citizens and customers," said Cayce Mayor Avery B. Wilkerson.

http://www.wistv.com/global/Story.asp?s=4360205

 

[Supe]

Can't say I blame you. Down in Pineville, we constantly get letters in the mail from the utility company saying "we promise our water is safe to drink!" Never mind the fact that the water reeks of sulfur half the time, and I've practically had to buy stock in CLR to keep the faucets clean. I use the refrigerator filter for anything I drink in the house, and am going to start pricing what it would cost to install a water softening system in the house.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I agree that much of this is to cheapen the packaging, then spin it in a positive light. The packaging on yogurt has similarly gotten flimsier over time.

It's funny, I'm a licensed envl engineer, so most people expect me to be tree-humping BANANA (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything), when in reality I think most of this green **** is concocted as a marketing ploy.

I think things like turning off the light when leaving the room, or not letting the water run while you brush your teeth are better strategies everyone can do rather than flimsy bottle night.

And if recycling is supposed to save so much money, why is it so expensive?

I really liked the system they had in the parts of Canada I visited last summer. They'd have 3 'garbage' cans. One for recycleables like cans and bottles, one for composting which was just about anything organic, and one for real trash. The only thing I really threw out was dog waste, and I set aside my propane tanks for camping for refilling. Nice and simple without all the greenwashing.

 

[Master slacker]

Thank God my area has some of the cleanest, non-smelly, CLEAR, straight from the spring, yada yada water in the country.

No, I don't recycle. We don't buy aluminum can Cokes. We don't buy plastic bottled water. However, we do reuse shopping bags as trash bags and I conserve water by peeing outside sometimes and not flushing the toilet.

 

[goodal]

I conserve water by peeing outside sometimes and not flushing the toilet.

Who knew! I'm a conservationist too!!!

 

[Freon]

I live my the words of W.C. Fields - "Don't drink water because fish make love in it"

 

[Master slacker]

I live my the words of W.C. Fields - "Don't drink water because fish make love in it"

Maybe the females. I've heard the male fish f**k in it.

 

[Road Guy]

not totally related....but...

my 11 year old son did a science fair project on bacteria that grows by re-using plastic water bottles, you know lots of peopel drink out of them, fill them up, put them back in the fridge, well anyways, it was pretty nasty seeing all the germs form after around the 2nd use. we used some type of kit that made the bacteria stand out. it was pretty cool... won 2nd place in our County (900,000 people)

so if you do re-use them, run them through the dishwasher, wait, um that waste water......

 

[Exception Collection]

I live my the words of W.C. Fields - "Don't drink water because fish make love in it"

Maybe the females. I've heard the male fish f**k in it.

That's ... beautiful. Just brings a tear to my eye.

As for water bottles, I drink Aquafina or Nestle's Purelife or whatever they call it. The water near my house is so bad that it takes only a few weeks for a new tub to develop rust stains. It's made my cats sick (we use a filtered jug for them), and it's just plain nasty tasting to boot. So we buy the 24-packs of 16 oz bottles and use those (since we're generally too busy to refill a half-gallon jug 3-4 times a day).

 

[Exception Collection]

not totally related....but...
my 11 year old son did a science fair project on bacteria that grows by re-using plastic water bottles, you know lots of peopel drink out of them, fill them up, put them back in the fridge, well anyways, it was pretty nasty seeing all the germs form after around the 2nd use. we used some type of kit that made the bacteria stand out. it was pretty cool... won 2nd place in our County (900,000 people)

so if you do re-use them, run them through the dishwasher, wait, um that waste water......

We pretty much never reuse ours.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

The one I take to work I refill during the day. Bring a new one every day.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Solution? Don't drink bottled water.

I used to agree with that, but...

Around 2000 or so, my wife started to notice that there are an AWFUL lot of cancer cases in our area, and she believed it was the local water. Turns out she was right. A local metal reprocessor had been dumping chemicals and heavy metals into the creek the water plant drew from. They'd been doing it for decades. It turned out that the city had to shut down the water plant immediately and buy water from another municipality until they built a new planet.

So now we drink and cook with bottled water.

How's the construction coming on the new planet? Was the city able to get the permits?

oking:

Whatever you do, DO NOT leave a thermal exhaust port unprotected or some douchey guy in an X-wing will blow up your planet before it's done.