I live in the middle of the state of Virginia (not Richmond). The tap water here actually burns my eyes.

I miss London. Best tap water ever.

that said, i do really like the fiji water bottles. i got a free fiji water while shopping at some fancy-ass store and i've been refilling the bottle (with *gasp* tap water) cause it's so cute and little and square. and it has flowers and ferns on it, too! that must mean it's good for you.

Oh and for those who recicle plastic bottles for carrying water, wash them often, they will eventually grow fungus or bacteria if you just put more water in it.

L.A. business tries to make Fiji Water a star

The other two parts are searchable on the site, look up "Lazarus" + "water"

Your belief is wrong. Straight from the Catskills, baby!

"I still hope they one day faze out flouride."

1. Why? Are you a fan of childhood tooth decay?
2. It's phase, not faze.

My father once worked for a bottled water company, so he'd drink the water he got there for free; it never occurred to him to give that bottled water to his dog. One day his dog dropped dead. The autopsy came back with lead poisoning. He's been a believer in bottled water ever since.

That all said, I avoid buying bottled water. I am pretty seriously on the reduce end of the reduce-reuse-recycle trend. I now have an RO filter in my house, and fill stainless steel water bottles to take out of the house with us. I only buy bottled water when I find myself unexpectedly needing water and tap water is either unavailable (stopping at a gas station on a road trip), or unreliable. As I said above, some places have really clean water... others don't. I prefer not to trust strange water. I'll strive to carry water from my own filter.

On the occasion that I do buy bottled water, though, I would never buy water from Fiji or France. That transportation issue is an environmental and ethical nightmare. I avoid buying Poland Spring or any other national brand as well. Pennsylvania is rare among states in that it actually has testing standards for spring water. There is a license number printed on every bottle of PA-bottled spring water. Thus, if I do buy bottled water, I always make sure it's bottled in Pennsylvania. It's both fairly local and reasonably guaranteed clean.

[www.ewg.org]

"Tap water in 42 states is contaminated with more than 140 unregulated chemicals that lack safety standards, according to the Environmental Working Group's (EWG's) two-and-a-half year investigation of water suppliers' tests of the treated tap water served to communities across the country.

In an analysis of more than 22 million tap water quality tests, most of which were required under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, EWG found that water suppliers across the U.S. detected 260 contaminants in water served to the public. One hundred forty-one (141) of these detected chemicals - more than half - are unregulated; public health officials have not set safety standards for these chemicals, even though millions drink them every day.

fantastic tap water, no need for a filter, clean and basically ice cold out of the tap..

Drink hyperpurified local bottled tap water if you must (dasani for instance), but drinking imported water is utterly despicable in this day and age.

I can't even believe I once thought it was ok to buy bottled water, much less to throw the bottle away and not recycle it when I was done. Gross!

it's new jersey. the entire state is devoid of flavor.

Having said that, i'm not for or against tap water. But if i'm out and didn't bring any boiled tap water, then i'll buy a bottle. But it is ironic that the island of Fiji does not have safe drinking water for its residents.

After awhile you get used to the smell, but it's still awful to drink. I keep a few cannisters of Country Time and Kool Aid powder around for my drinking needs.

She looked at him and said, totally deadpan, "I believe I'll have the Giuliani."

Where in Alabama are you? My grandparents used to live in Demopolis (not far from Selma).

Best.tap.water.EVER.

"I don't drink water. Fish poop in it." (or some version thereof)

"And in Fiji, a state-of-the-art factory spins out more than a million bottles a day of the hippest bottled water on the U.S. market today, while more than half the people in Fiji do not have safe, reliable drinking water. Which means it is easier for the typical American in Beverly Hills or Baltimore to get a drink of safe, pure, refreshing Fiji water than it is for most people in Fiji."

I don't doubt that in developing countries it's difficult to get access to safe potable water but, Fiji seems to be a pretty popular vaction/honeymoon spot these days and the above quote sounds like propaganda to me.

And in my opinion the water tastes much better than my filtered tap water.

I think if you HAD actually tried the water, we wouldn't even have this post to rant and rave about.

P.S. I do NOT work for Fiji water, though I would love to to, heck it's in Fiji for goodness sake.

Don't the proceeds go toward raising the level of the Fijian economy in some way? Make whatever puns you will regarding "trickle-down" and the aquifer, it's too early for me.

Still, I don't see how avoiding Fiji Water helps the people of Fiji. According to the article, 200 (soon to be 250) Fijians are employed at the plant, and entry-level jobs pay twice the minimum wage. It also says that Fiji Water buys local packaging, engineering services, landscaping, and security. But I guess that doesn't mean anything. Corporations are always evil, right?

"Fiji Water often quietly supplies emergency drinking water in such cases. The reality is, if Fiji Water weren't tapping its aquifer, the underground water would slide into the Pacific Ocean, somewhere just off the coast. But the corresponding reality is, someone else--the Fijian government, an NGO--could be tapping that supply and sending it through a pipe to villagers who need it. Fiji Water has, in fact, done just that, to some degree--20 water projects in the five nearby villages. Indeed, Roll has reinvested every dollar of profit since 2004 back into the business and the island."

Let me tell you a true story about immunization ok. When I was a little boy in New York city in the nineteen-forties, we swam in the Hudson river. And it was filled with raw sewage! OK? We swam in raw sewage, you know, to cool off. And at that time the big fear was polio. Thousands of kids died from polio every year. But you know something? In my neighborhood no one ever got polio. No one! EVER! You know why? Cause WE SWAM IN RAW SEWAGE! It strengthened our immune system, the polio never had a prayer. We were tempered in raw shit!

Filter, whether under the sink or in the fridge, and don't hesitate to request tap water at restaurants, even if they grief you for not consuming somthing from a glacier or an artesian well or mineral spring or even clarvic spring.

However, I will be drinking Fiji water no more.

I am a sucker for the square bottle. Fiji for Meji

I don't go around spouting the revitalizing virtues of bottled vs. tap and I don't delude myself with BS about it being better for my health. I drink it purely because I'm too lazy to buy a nalgene and fill it so I grab a bottle and chuck it after I'm done. If I wasn't so lazy I'd happily drink tap like I did growing up.

Or I do because I canot STAND the taste of teh tap water.

Pacific islands aren't exactly known for the quality or quantity of their water.

Also, I grew up with sand and iron in my tap water. I'd sooner do with out. (And up in the hills they got arsenic to go with it, and/or sulfur.)

@BrigitteT: "Purest?" God, purest what?

You know, New York has a reputation for having excellent tap water, and it seemed pretty good to me the one time I went. They should fucking kick everyone out who doesn't drink it. Your friends of friends really need the shit kicked out of them.

Anyhow, they're not the greatest books in the world, and the author is a damn pedo pervert, but the Conrad Stargard books by Leo Frankowski had one part I really liked. The hero has travelled back in time to medieval Poland. Among other things, he sets up a breeding program to enhance livestock. A local nobleman, to show how wealthy he is and always have the best table, keeps buying and slaughtering the prizewinning animals. Conrad's accountants grab the guy and beat the shit out of him.

This is the same sort of thing, and the same response seems like a very good idea.

But, in NY, tap water is as good as it gets.

Funny, though - bottled water as a 'status' symbol: I know(by association) a wealthy New York socialite couple who *only* allow their daughter to drink Fiji water. I tried to give her tap water one time, and they flipped. Because, of course, only the 'purest' water is good enough for their child.

Funny about Nestle -- if I'm not mistaken, there was a boycott of Nestle some years ago, because in marketing their baby formula to third world countries, they tried to convince mothers that Nestle formula was superior to breast milk.

At least it isn't imported. >>

In theory, however, I'd much rather use a nalgene and tap water to keep hydrated, but sewage-scented water just isn't that appealing...

[www.npr.org]