I work part-time for a bottled water company. Our water is pure mountain spring water. The mountain area around the springs is federally protected and in a remote location. The tast is great, and it is PURE. I know, I have seen the test results.

I drank this water for several years before working for them, so I am not saying this just because I work for them now.

The company bottles water under several different names and delivers to other bottlers who also bottle under their name and several others.

Some water, I won't say names, is nothing more than filtered tap or river water. Once you try some pure mountain spring water, you will never go back.

One way to tell a good water from a not so good is to see how it taste warm. Most anything is good cold, but once it gets warm you can really tell a difference between spring and filtered water.

 

I'm reminded of a Gary Larson "The Far Side" cartoon where trucks labled "Mountain Spring Water" or something like that are pulling out of a warehouse, and in the back of the warehouse is a guy filling the bottles with a garden hose attached to a city water faucet.

 

Which Nalgene bottles do you use.

I notice that my Nalgene bottles, which are made out of rigid polyethylene, leave a nasty taste in the water.

Are the Nalgene bottles you use made from polycarbonate( Lexan)?

 

Our water here usually runs head to head with Polarbears water. It's really clean, yet people still buy bottled.

Oh, I've got a good water story...

We have some volcanic activity here. Millions of years ago there was a bunch of volcanic activity just on the east side of the Cascades that partly formed the Cascades themselves. Right after, glaziers formed and runoff filled a huge aquaduct with possibly billions of gallons of never polluted water that hasn't seen the sunlight since and has spent eons being natually filtered through volcanic rock. This aquaduct could possibly be the size of Central Oregon. Several bottled water co. take their water from this aquaduct.

A number of years ago I had a couple jobs that were at the pumping stations and tanks for the city water there. The water guy was showing me how to get into the building without dying from the chlorine, and told me the aquaduct story. He said this was possibly THE purest water in the world, without drilling into one of the icecaps. He then took me over to this spigot and told me this was directly from the aquaduct, before any filtering or chemicals. I filled up the water jug and when I brought that first taste to my lips....water, tasted just like water.

It's funny, the stores still make money on bottled water over there.

 

I got a HUGE stock of zephyrhills water here. in my place, I go through a good 12 pack case of that in 3 days. its wild how much water I do drink. in fact, since I gave up soda, water is ALL I drink. better for me anyhow, so its all good.

 

I have a couple of this kind: http://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...cat=REI_SEARCH

It doesn't retain odors or tastes, and is very tough. With the wide mouth you can put ice and such in it. I actually rarely use them... originally bought them for camping/backpacking.

 

Lexan, cool. I'll have to try out those bottles.

Haven't been to an REI store in years.

Thanks

 

I think I might have bought the cornerstone to the local REI. You know you live in the Northwest when you get a wedding invitation, and the couple's bridal registry is at REI.

 

REI is a cool store. Doesn't take long to spend a few bucks there

 

We finally have one here.

Used to have to go to Bezerkely to shop REI.

Maybe I'll pickup one of them Lexan Nalgene bottles.

Hope my membership card is still valid.

 

With very few exceptions, bottled water is just someone elses tapwater.
In my area, the water is as clean as you would find anywhere but people will buy bottled water from New York or Kansas or whereever, go figure, I am not saying that water from these places is bad, I'm sure it's good water but it is not better than what I have, it has no iron, sulpher, lead, minerals, bad tastes or odors or anything but a few mosquito squeezings, it is just plain rainwater.
And yes, we bottle it here and sell it in New York, Kansas or whereever, but it is still tapwater.

 

The water that goes through the faucet in my area is nasty. I go to the store and get like 24 bottles for 5 bucks. I'd rather spend 5 bucks then drink something that doesn't taste right.

- Chris

 

The best and worst water, both at the same time, was when I was backpacking in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana.

I ran out of water around 11:00A.M.

No water. Then I found small GREEN creek; 75% water and 25% algae.

Had to drink it. It tasted like soggy chlorophyll grass, but it did quench my thrist.

Filled my bottle until I ran into a cleaner runnig creek.

 

Sierra, do you glow or anything cool like that since you had that experience?

Come out looking like the fish off of The Simpsons.

- Chris

 

Like a night-lite.

Carried that taste for hours.

Think I'll invest in a MSR water purifier.

Too bad someone doesn't invent powdered beer; just add water.