Don't Drink Bottled Water...

[red]

The tap water where I live is absolutely disgustiing and tastes like bleach. I reluctantly boil it and use it for bathing, but I am not drinking it. There are loads of added chemicals in it that I do not want to put in my body.

you ar right - Torbay water does have a swimming pool flavour. if i am ever over there for a meal in a restaurant, I do buy bottled water.( i figure they would be funny about me bringing my own!!)

but.. the filter jug. I have relatives in that area and so know it does work.

as for other chemicals.. be careful with bottled water that you are not just getting them from another (expensive) source.

[QuakerBear]

I've heard that mineral water and bottled water isn't safe for babies. Is this true?

[red]

thats what they say - too many minerals.

[Annpan]

I've heard that mineral water and bottled water isn't safe for babies. Is this true?

It is just mineral water that isn't safe... regular bottled water is fine, but still must be boiled.

[marshlander]

Found this article most illuminating;
http://www.uk-water-filters.co.uk/bottled_water.html

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I've heard that mineral water and bottled water isn't safe for babies. Is this true?

It is just mineral water that isn't safe... regular bottled water is fine, but still must be boiled.

I have heard that the lack of minerals in very soft water can cause colonic irritation in some people and that hard waters my be beneficial to the heart, but I confess that I cannot find any links to support this.

Here in France, those mineral waters that can be used for the preparation of infant feed have this noted on the label. The approval to do this comes from the Health Ministry and is dependent on regular monitoring for bacterial contamination and constant mineralisation. Mineral contant must be low (lower than for most tap waters) and the level of nitrates must be below detection levels. Well known brands that meet this are Evian and Vittel, but there are plenty of smaller ones.

Virtually everyone I know with children used bottled water for feed prep and for giving them drinking water. Mistrust of tap water is widespread, mostly because in a lot of rural areas tap water was non-potable until comparitively recently - until about 30 years ago in our village. So everyone drank well water or bought bottles.

And a lot of people like the taste as a lot of tap water, albeit safe, has a strong chemical taint to it. Mineral water is very cheap here, around 10 cents a litre for some of the less known local brands.

After careful consideration I have decided to maintain my consumption of a certain brand of Vichy water (that from St Yorre), partly because of its perceived benefits to digestion and tonic effect (due, I am told, to the presence of tiny amounts of arsenic that stimuate the metabolism but there's nothbing on the label about this), but mostly because its high level of mineralisation makes it ideal for rehydration in hot weather. And I like the taste.

I shall offset the carbon footprint of my 400 litres or so by adding another regular cycle journey to my list, one for which I currently use the car. Actually I should add about 900km per year to my cycling total, so I'll offset someone else too.

I wonder if the "Natural Resource Commissioner" is going ski-ing this half term? Now that really is eco-terrorism...

[contadina]

Speaking of soft water...I had a conversation with a very unfit Glaswegian bus driver once. He smoked more than anyone that I have ever met (he apparently woke up in the night, every night to have a fag or six) lived on fried food and tunnocks tea cakes, drank a fair bit and never did any exercise. Now he'd already had a heart attack and he'd been warned by his doctor to change his lifestyle or risk an early death. Believing that he knew more than his doctor, he put the furring of his arteries down to Scottish soft water, so drank the odd splash of bottled stuff with his whiskey every night. Sorry for the stereotype guys, but you couldn't make it up could you?

We're pretty lucky over here rain-collected water for washing and free spring water provided by the fountain up the lane for drinking. I really don't miss London murky-looking water.

[ina]

Sorry for the stereotype guys, but you couldn't make it up could you?

Sounds pretty good!

[red]

I have heard that the lack of minerals in very soft water can cause colonic irritation in some people and that hard waters my be beneficial to the heart, but I confess that I cannot find any links to support this.

but you can get those valuable trace elements and minerals from other sources. Soft water also makes the nicest tea - I drink my tea black, and *hate* it when you get a scum on the surface that clings to the sides of the cup. does not happen here where we have soft water. Soft water also means you need less shampoo to get a lather!!

Virtually everyone I know with children used bottled water for feed prep and for giving them drinking water. Mistrust of tap water is widespread, mostly because in a lot of rural areas tap water was non-potable until comparitively recently - until about 30 years ago in our village. So everyone drank well water or bought bottles.

And a lot of people like the taste as a lot of tap water, albeit safe, has a strong chemical taint to it. Mineral water is very cheap here, around 10 cents a litre for some of the less known local brands.

After careful consideration I have decided to maintain my consumption ......

Well i have to say, when I have holidayed in France, I don't drink the tap water unboiled, so understand your decision.
I do myself occassionally buy sparkling water.. its one of my favourite soft drinks, and not available from my tap!

I think the important thing, if you decide to drink bottled water for whatever reason, is to go for something local - and at least from your own country. The fact people are buying water and having it transported from other countries.. even as far as Fiji is ridiculous!

I'm lucky enough to have very drinkable tap water, but the UK does produce a range of very good mineral waters. Still not ideal to transport water around, but I really resent the fact that the UK - a very rainy waterlogged place, imports water!!!

[Millymollymandy]

I have heard that the lack of minerals in very soft water can cause colonic irritation in some people and that hard waters my be beneficial to the heart, but I confess that I cannot find any links to support this.

Well my husband and I are living proof of those two very things. He has done a lot of research on soft water and I've read about it on various forums. Soft water is not good for your heart and he is proof of it. I have had constant diarhheoa since moving to Brittany apart from a few 2 week breaks in England drinking hard water where my bowels have returned to normal.

I've also read that soft water is corrosive for your pipes, so lord knows what it does to your insides! It certainly doesn't make my kettle look very pretty inside (nasty brown rusty colour).

So I'm now experimenting with hard bottled water, not just for drinking but in the kettle, to see if I can return to 'normal'. I fear I will need to use it in cooking as well though.

The water we buy only cost 3c per litre, so it isn't breaking the bank. Just filling up the supermarket trolley!

[justskint]

""I've also read that soft water is corrosive for your pipes, so lord knows what it does to your insides! It certainly doesn't make my kettle look very pretty inside (nasty brown rusty colour""

Soft water disolves metals, copper, lead, brass, aluminium ect.
Hard water provides a hard coating to metals.
Pros & cons, life is too short.

[Millymollymandy]

Pros & cons, life is too short.

Certainly life would be too short if you are more likely to suffer from heart disease due to soft water. Not really something to be flippant about is it?

[red]

I have had constant diarhheoa since moving to Brittany apart from a few 2 week breaks in England drinking hard water where my bowels have returned to normal.

that could be something else in the water where you are in France. not the softness.

[Millymollymandy]

This is true, but impossible to find out, as all the blurb we are supplied with by the water board tell us our water is within safe levels for nitrites/nitrates etc. So I will do a test of only bottled water for everything to see what happens - I haven't gone as far as only using bottled water for soups, stews etc yet.

[red]

spose if you were really interested you could test your tap water privately - we tested our water at the last place we lived a few times as it was private supply. but yeh whatever teh reason if tap water upsets you.. then you are not going to want to drink it. I can see that.