I have a BIL that works for a major bottling company in this area. We was talking over easter and he let me know a few interesting things. Do you know why some bottled waters cost as much as an equivalent sized coke? The water is plain ol' tap water that is run thru either filters or thru a reverse osmosis process, then they add that specific companies "additive"...which is a $10,000+ bag of soluable minerals and "flavor enhancers". He also said that the cheaper brands of bottled water are done the same way, but with more generic soluable minerals (a few hundred $$$'s per batch instead of the big $$$).
He also said that nearly every pop (or soda, or coke, or whatever you want to call it) has an additive (either a phospherous or bromide salt) added in that actually dehydrates you a bit and makes you thirstier :eek:
I thought you all might find this interesting.

I knew there was a good reason I built a bar so I could have fresh beer on tap! I knew that a lot of bottled water actually comes from filtered city water sources. Some towns have very good filtering so they sell it as bottled water. I bet less than 5% of bottled water is actually from a natural source. So pour me a fresh draught, that's my water source! :D

I just did some work at a water bottling plant. They were drilling a new well to compliment their existing one. IT'S JUST WATER!!!

I don't know all the facts about bottled water but, the water here in Vacaville is terrible. It tastes very bad and smells to me. This is why I drink bottled water, not because I think it's any better for me. People that grew up here are used to it and can drink the tap water. I grew up in the Bay Area and the water there was great and I never bought bottled water. I about passed out the first time I ran a glass of tap water here and put it under my nose.

I didn't put a whole house filter on and that really helps, in a pinch I can drink the tap water since installing the filter.

Royce, I agree, my wife is from Sacto, and when we used to visit her parents, the water was nasty :eek: , (Don't get me wrong, I love the Sacramento area, We are even thinking of retiring in El Dorado Hills) I think we are spoiled by that Yosemite mountian water in the bay Area... :D Mike

I think your paying for the bottle more than the water. You can buy a gallon of water in the grocery store for what you will pay for a 16oz at a quickie mart.

We have an Equinox charcoal type filter under the sink to filter our water for drinking. It even removes the chlorine from the city water. There's really no reason to waste money buying bottled water when you can buy these types of filters to hook into your system. The filters you see commercials for don't even come close to filtering as well as our filter.

Here's the under counter filter we've been using for almost 10 years now.
Equinox Water Filter (http://www.equinox-products.com/EquinoxEQ-10UndercounterWaterFiltrationSystem.htm)

I have a friend who used to manage a fast food restaurant (years ago). He told me that it costs 7 cents to serve a large pop and that the cup, lid and straw was 5 cents of the 7 cents :eek:
I guess that's why they offer soda pop when they screw up your order in the drive thru :D

Dan B

Dan

That must have been in 1977. Syrup prices have gone up and up and so have fountain soda prices. The cost is still around 5 cents for the cup but it's at about 38 cents for the syrup, C02 and water. :D

Water can certainly be modified a lot of ways. I bring home water from work and it's been through a DE Diatomaceous Earth Filter and then a series of carbon filters and coolers. Great stuff and it's originally the same water that is right across the street from me in the local reservoir, only tidied up and the chlorine removed. Yes, it's the same, but different...

Now, the water I'm bring home is used to brew beer so perhaps I should go a little further down the line and fill the jug before coming home. ;)

Since were on this subject of water. Can someone tell me how so many restaraunts get away with adding way too much water to their soda fountain drinks? graemlins/sad.gif

I used to work for Pepsi in 1994 and back then the cost to produce a 500ml bottle was 17 cents. That was dead costs including packaging. If they could sell it for 24 cents a botle they were doing great but a 17 margin was what they targeted at the time to be profitable.

As for bottled water, I have a friend that owns a company that makes bottled water for the retail market. They use water that is fresh from the glaciers in the rocky mountians and then filter it till it's 1 part per million in bacterial culture and sell it as fresh glacier spring water with nothing added. Others play all sorts of games with drinking waters. Especially the local ones.

I started buying 5 gallon bottles of water 2 years ago because I did not want all the chlorine and fluoride in my water as the city mandates. We have great water here in Canada but I like the bottled stuff better. It costs me 3.00 Canadian for a 5 gallon jug and that lasts a week. We cook with it and use it for drinking.

Must also work on other things because my wife is pregnant and I swear it was the water that caused it. lol

We have good tap water here. I can't believe how nasty the water tastes when I visit family in Arizona.

Why would you drink the tap water in Arizona ? Licking the driveway after washing the car has the same taste.

It's not that bad is it Jack? :D I really don't remember as we installed a filter as soon as we moved into our house (forever ago).

I read an article on the airplane this week about bottled water. I guess some restaurants are trying to push it more as they can make more money selling it.

Hey everyone, If you don't like the water you've been drinking..Try this new product. Its called Dehydrated Water :D

Here, see for yourself http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/

And look, as an added bonus, its PAYPAL verified tongue.gif

Maybe I should buy some and sell it on ebay huh

http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/food_and_drink/news/story.jsp?story=496974

That's the original story the update was this :-

http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=63936t

Visit Dunsmuir, CA. Best water on earth. Comes off Mt. Shasta right to the taps.
What you have to watch out for are the pipes it runs through. Some homes have pipes so old it ruins the taste & clarity of the water.
True story. smile.gif
There is a Dannon water bottling plant at the base of the mountain too.

Mmmmmmmm driveway...

We have a well and our water has a lot of iron in it, and occasionally has a mild sulfur smell too; I have a whole-house filter on it to reduce the iron, then a Culligan Premier water softener/conditioner. My wife can't stand it and has been buying bottled water by the case to drink.

We had a Culligan reverse-osmosis "Good Water Machine" installed a couple of months ago ( http://www.culligan.com/Product.asp?ProductID=102&Section=1 ) with its faucet on the kitchen sink and another line to the icemaker in the refrigerator, and she says it's just as good or better than the bottled water was. They have a 3-gallon tank system that fits under the sink, but I had them install the optional 10-gallon system in the basement instead so it's out of the way. Works great!
graemlins/beers.gif

http://www.berkeleysprings.com/water/awards.htm

Originally posted by stevo camaro:
Visit Dunsmuir, CA. Best water on earth.

Funny you should mention that. I just got the May/June issue of "VIA" magazine and there is an article about Dunsmuir claiming the same thing.
It also claims to have the best rainbow trout fishing in America. I guess I'll just have to see about that. It tells a little about the history and how it got the original name of Pusher. Looks like my kind of place. Does the railroad need a good plumber?? :D
"VIA" magazine is put out by the AAA if you are interested.

Rick