I will admit, I drink bottled water at home. Our water is very hard, containing a lot of iron. Our water did pass the last safety check. The problem is it does not taste like crystal clear pristine water.
The jury is out when it comes to plastic bottle safety.
Some say plastic bottles are safe when they are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET). I use PET bottles and containers for my lotion and cream products.
Some reports say PET bottles are safe to reuse (for water or food), only as long as they are washed properly, just like we would wash a cup or a glass.
Some reports say potentially harmful substances leach from bottles when the bottles become too warm (for example), or when the bottles are etched or reused. Others say plastic bottles are safe as long as they do not contain bisphenol-a (BPA).
The last couple of cases of water that I have purchased have tasted “off,” which brings me to thinking about what I (we) are drinking. I know the contents are considered safe, but it makes a person wonder…shouldn’t we simply invest in glass and stainless steel, and drink the safest water we can get our hands on? I am on a well, the water has been tested, I know it is safe.
Tap water in a city is another issue. Again, throw the hands up in the air and say, what do you do? I read headlines yesterday that said city tap water can contain undetected drugs and waste. The water cannot be tested for each and every substance, the testing process is monumental. But still, some are saying that bottled water is less safe than tap water, based on this report from the United States Government Accountability Office.
Do we just do our best? Hope for the best? Are spoiled? Should we get used to what comes from our faucets and deal with it?
Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps 
If all I had wasa little to much Iron in my well water I do believe I would buy a filter and use it..
We have absolutely Wonderful well water!! Its all good!
When we had County or city water I could barely bring myself to drink it.. It smelled so strong of chlorine. Then my twin girls have hypothyroidism Do you kno wThyroid problems have been attributed to the chlorine and flouride in our water. They are related to Iodine which helps the body regulate Thyroid hormones.. If you have Flouride or Chlorine in your body it interfers with the iodine causing Hyper or Hypo Thyroidism.. Some studies believe that is why there is a rise in thyroid problems….
Its hard to know what to do….
Interesting, Tonia. They say excess water can lower the copper levels, a very necessary nutrient to goats. It only makes sense that chlorine, or other additives, or minerals in excess, can affect human’s as well. Do they still put flouride in water? I knew of some controversy on that…but didn’t know it was related to thyroid problems!
My husband worked several years in the power plant of a paper mill. The mill also processed the area lake water to supply the surrounding towns with water. He would say this: “I wouldn’t drink that water if they paid me.” He knew the processes and also the people that worked on the different shifts, and he determined that we would only drink purchased distilled water, which is what we have drunk for years. We use well water in our home, but the pH is around 5.0 which is very acidic. Our shallow well is only about 60 feet deep. Our neighbor’s is 500-600 feet deep and produces very good water. If anyone is using well water, it’s important to know the mineral content, the pH, and the depth. Check with the county extension agent for information on how to test your well water.
Good advice. It was the county extension office that tested our water. That is how I made the statement, “it is considered safe.”
Our well is 100 feet deep, with a very low water table. We will be having a new well set, as soon as the day comes when we can afford that sort of thing.
When we lived in Missouri, our water was crystal clear, no taste, no hardness. I always wonder what areas have more minerals/hardness in their water. It affects how the soap works in the bath as well!
Having just replaced a well pump and seeing the run-off after the gunk that has run through our pipes until they finally run clear, it does make me wonder what we are not seeing that is still running through the pipes..and then what is in the bottles of water we buy. I guess this just illustrates how very much we take for granted and how much we trust in what others say is true.( pantomimists of bottled water)
I am not sure what we should do, but I do know we have a better chance of good water from almost any source here in the U.S. than most people from any other era and geographic location. So I guess we are doing O.K. in that regard, thankfully.
I so appreciate this discussion…a lot of varied insight and thoughts.
It is easy to forget that some locations, other than the U.S., have great difficulty finding safe water at all.
One of our first factories to go down several years ago was a glass factory: Ball Foster. I remember when a coke came in a bottle, and there was a cash return. That was recycling before recycling was cool. I haven’t been to a landfill lately, but I would be curious to know how much glass v. plastic is in there. Everything they recycle from plastic costs a fortune to purchase — even a simple bird feeder. When they recycled the glass, you didn’t see the cost of a jar of pickles go up.
I think there’s a time and place for water in plastic bottles, such as shipping it overseas to people who have unhealthy living conditions and during disasters.
I remember my great-grandmother’s place. There was a hand pump outside the kitchen door (the only running water on the place). A wooden bucket hung just below. It was one of my favorite things to do, to pump cold water into the bucket. An enamel dipper hung beside it, as a community “glass,” if you will. When you dipped into the bucket, took a sip of water and finished, you swished the remaining water around the dipper and tossed the water into the grass. It was common courtesy to rinse it out for the next thirsty soul. The dipper was placed back on the hook and the process continued throughout my grandmother’s life. We were never sick and never thought twice about drinking after someone.
I don’t know about you, but I’m all for the old wooden water buckets, glass pickle jars and less landfills.
I used to read a lot of fiction books, a lot of them set in the pioneer and early farming days. I would love to briefly visit those days. The simple way of life fascinates me.
Recycling of all of the plastic…another reason for me to shuck the bottled water.
Mary: “The simple way of life fascinates me.”
Me too, Mary. I was fortunate to have my great-grandparents living this way well into the 1970s: Woodburning cookstove, feather beds, coal burning heat stove, outhouses, outdoor water, no indoor running water, no indoor bathroom whatsoever. The only modern convenience was electric lights, TV and telephone. I remember it well. But I was a spoiled little brat. I had porcelain toilets in my house and viewed these elders as poor.
I have since grown to realize they were the richest of us all.
Everyone needs to take responsibility for the water their family is exposed to. It is not just drinking water you need to worry about. Your body absorbs contaminants from water through the skin and when water turns to steam (as in the shower) your body absorbs water contaminants through the lungs. It is unfortunate that our planet is so polluted that water that looks clear and fresh can still be full of contaminants that have long term health effects, but that is the state of affairs we have to deal with. Simple affordable actions can protect you. Get your action plan today.
Skin is the largest organ of a human body. It does make sense that skin absorbs the water and contanimants.
Thank you for your input. The water situation is certainly a concern!
I visited your site, interesting. I need to spend some thinking time there.
Lynnanne, “I have since grown to realize they were the richest of us all.” I love it.
I don’t like the taste of city water. And I’m afraid to ask what’s in there that makes it taste that way. I prefer well water, been drinking it all my life. I just with I could get a purifier/filter for our water.
I am thinking about a Brita type of filter. I know our water is safe, we had it tested, even though it tastes awful. But as Debbie said, sometimes the excess minerals are not healthy either.
I am with you on that, Becky.