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Bottled water

(115 Posts)
Luckygirl3 Fri 17-Jul-26 08:14:58

There is a thread about this on mumsnet and I am kind boggled that there are people who never drink tap water but buy all their water in plastic bottles all the time.
Am I alone in finding this quite extraordinary?
All that plastic waste to deal with! What an environmental disaster!

mokryna Mon 20-Jul-26 15:10:39

Bottle water has 240,000 plastic particles. Also the French bottled water “ scandal involves Nestlé Waters admitting to using prohibited treatments—such as ultraviolet light and activated carbon filters—to purify groundwater for brands like Perrier”. I am tap water both in France and the UK.

watermeadow Mon 20-Jul-26 17:49:17

Not everyone has a water meter. Thames Water tried to foist one on me but thankfully they couldn’t fit it. This means I have to pay an ‘average’ amount which is certainly bigger than it would have been otherwise.

Calendargirl Mon 20-Jul-26 19:27:09

watermeadow

Not everyone has a water meter. Thames Water tried to foist one on me but thankfully they couldn’t fit it. This means I have to pay an ‘average’ amount which is certainly bigger than it would have been otherwise.

Do you mean you pay more with your ‘average’ amount?

If that’s the case, you would have been better to have been ‘foisted’ with a meter, surely?

FranP Mon 20-Jul-26 19:44:58

MawsRosie

Plastic waste is recycled as you must know- often very imaginatively.
I once had a very soft scarf which felt like cashmere which was made from recycled plastic bottle!
I buy bottled sparkling water for the principal reason that I prefer the taste which I assume I am permitted to do?

But to make and remake costs the environment

MawsRosie Mon 20-Jul-26 20:13:25

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

Norah Mon 20-Jul-26 20:42:42

We drink San Benedetto sparking water. Glass bottles.

MawsRosie Mon 20-Jul-26 21:21:41

So I can’t defend my preference for bottled fizzy water?
I hardly think the planet is going to be seriously endangered by my contribution especially as I also (whisper it) use my car instead of cycling or buses- largely because we only have one an hour- and have been known to buy ready mixed cocktails in cans., espresso martini and Pimms being my favourites.
I think I can live with the risk of microplastics round my neck at my age but to be on the safe side I’ll stick to cashmere.

Dickens Tue 21-Jul-26 07:13:07

watermeadow

Not everyone has a water meter. Thames Water tried to foist one on me but thankfully they couldn’t fit it. This means I have to pay an ‘average’ amount which is certainly bigger than it would have been otherwise.

I'm a tad puzzled - it's generally understood I believe that a water meter results in cheaper bills (I remember a poster on another thread making a comparison based on her experience, before-and-after).

So why would you object to having one? It's a genuine question as I'm considering asking my water authority to instal one.

JackyB Tue 21-Jul-26 08:25:04

When I first moved to Germany in the 1970s, everyone bought their water in crates of 12 glass bottles. The Germans hate still water so the default is.always sparkling. I always assumed.this was.a.throwback to the post-war days when conditions were dire and tap water really was not reliable. It takes a long time to get it into people's heads that tap water is the cleanest option. My parents in law probably never did believe it.

A deposit was paid on the glass bottles and crates, but most people just swapped one for the next one, so you just paid for the water each time. Then plastic bottles were slowly introduced like in the rest of the world. Nowadays Soda Streams are very popular and most people have them so they can still have their water sparkling.

All drinks containers, cans, plastic and glass bottles and crates, now have a deposit on them and you feed them into a machine on your way into the supermarket and get a voucher which you can cash at the till. People bring huge bin liners full of plastic bottles and put them in the machines, so they are bringing back the light plastic bottles. I really don't see why - they must be drinking gallons of Coke or Fanta, or perhaps it is water, it should be banned.

Welshy Tue 21-Jul-26 11:18:32

Welshy

Milest0ne

We only have spring water which is particle and UV filtered. After very heavy rain the water can be yellow. Not very good for the laundry.At the moment we are trying to use as little water as possible as there is no overflow from the settlement tank. One of our garden ponds has already dried up. We are worried incase the surrounding moor catches fire. We will be reliant on the fire fighters and helicopter water drops. The photo was taken from our front door last time the moor caught fire.

Awful those wildfires. We have had them here too in the Welsh mountains. But fortunately not this year.
I hope you will be just as fortunate Milest0ne.

I spoke too soon sad

Public warned as huge fire causing stink that people can smell 30 miles away ....

Mamie Tue 21-Jul-26 11:22:09

Our flats certainly have a lot of plastic water bottles in the recycling bin after the outage over the weekend. We still have a supply, but the water company message this morning said they are setting up bottled water stations proactively as a precautionary measure.

Welshy Tue 21-Jul-26 11:22:19

I went to the Royal Welsh Show yesterday. There were several drinking water refill points.
I filled up my empty water bottle and you could smell the chlorine in it!

TanaMa Tue 21-Jul-26 11:52:57

👍

Dreadwitch Tue 21-Jul-26 15:44:24

I wish I had an alternative to bottled water but I can't drink my tap water, it tastes vile. Apparently it's something to do with the 60 year old pipes but many residents in the block say the same thing.
I do recycle the plastic though.