I've read some conflicting things about the risks associated with reusing plastic water bottles. For instance, the generally trustworthy folks at the urban-legends site
www.snopes.com have criticized a widely circulated email that claims regular water bottles are not safe for refilling because the plastic breaks down. The commonly offered solution is to refill only bottles made from stronger plastics, which are meant to be washed and reused, such as Nalgene bottles. But I then read in Daily Grist that even Nalgene bottles may leach a dangerous chemical into water. Dr. Glands from UCLA wrote in an article related to this topic, " the only 100% safe drinking water is water treated with reverse osmosis." I will change my water filtration system this week...

Neither the bottles or water are safe enough for me. I don't like surprises. And I'm not willing to trust anybody. (Remember 9/11 when the officials were saying the smoke was safe.) Too many people have cancers and other strange ailments. I'm not going to risk my health on unkowns.


If you have a water store near you buy from them. Some are very elaborate and have clean rooms where you can see their equipment they use to process the water. One in particular that I'm thinking of has a wall showing their water test records updated often.


Buy from them water bottles. The 5 gallon old fashioned glass type. They should be less that $40 each. Reuse them of course. They look cool. Then buy a stand that holds two water bottles and the third you are using. The stand, dispenser, and bottles will probably set you back around $250. The water from that point forwards will probably costs around $0.30 a gallon when you take them in to refill.

__________________
http://tinyurl.com/25trx9

03/04/07 "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)

02/25/07 "There is no nonsense so errant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action." ~ Bertrand Russell, British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)

I remember thinking at the time that the smoke from the collapse was toxic.

Yep. Me too. I stayed completely away from it thinking much the same thoughts I do now. That you'd have to be crazy to trust the Governments assurances that it was tested and found to be safe. Fortunately we lived upwind from it so rarely did we ever have to smell it.

__________________
http://tinyurl.com/25trx9

03/04/07 "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)

02/25/07 "There is no nonsense so errant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action." ~ Bertrand Russell, British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)

I have heard that these are pretty good, but have not purchased one for myself yet: http://www.berkeyfilters.com/

Good advice, but in Taiwan I am very limited in my fresh water choices... I have been buying a new brand that the locals like a lot. It's a non-mineral pure water type deal.
It's not bad...

I was puzzled by the Expiration dates printed on bottled water. My buddies mom-in-law was a chemist with phizer so i asked her about it. She told me the "plastics break down" story. Sounded plausible.

Bottled water is extremely dangerous. You could slip and fall, breaking the bottle and put your eye out

__________________
Its better to have fussed and crabbed then never to have fussed at all - Lucy

:

There's a reason why I see
"nathanbforrest45 This user is on your Ignore List."
rather than what he typed. It has to do with a very low signal to noise ratio...

__________________
http://tinyurl.com/25trx9

03/04/07 "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)

02/25/07 "There is no nonsense so errant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action." ~ Bertrand Russell, British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)