Let's start with water

In the United States, access to safe potable drinking water is something that nearly all of us take for granted.  If you're thirsty, turn on the tap and fill a glass.

(Or if you're a kid playing outside in the heat of summer, take a swig from that garden hose, after you run the hot water out of it, of course.  Not that I recommend this.  I'm sure there are terrible consequences to prolonged exposure to drinking water from a plastic compound hose that has been subjected to the elements, but, if there is, it didn't stop me as a child.  We had the good sense not to dehydrate ourselves, even if we were too ignorant to avoid potential contaminants.)

So, it seems only natural that water should be the first entry in The Potable World.  It is the primary ingredient in making all kinds of drinks, from juices to alcoholic beverages.  It is the first beverage I have everyday (we'll discover my relationship with coffee later) and the last one I have in the evening.

Before we go further, let's get rid of the "8 glasses a day" myth.  I know of no better debunking site than Snopes.  Check out their take on this nugget of health wisdom.  We only need to replenish the water that we lose.  For most of us, that is about one liter per day.  If you work in the heat, play sports, sweat a lot, etc, then your requirements will be much higher.

We all know what water tastes like.  And, not surprisingly, it varies greatly in taste by water system, well, bottled water, filtered water, etc.  That means that over time, we'll have specific entries regarding various waters here in The Potable World.  Today's post is a bit more general in nature.

Let's deal with the elephant in the room, too.  The big debate over bottled water is twofold: first, is it safer than tap water? (related to this question is whether it even tastes better than tap water) and second, is it a smart way of transporting and consuming water?

There are many studies and reports on the former question.  This one at WebMD sheds a little light on the controversy.  There are many more like this.  Also, blind taste tests abound showing that tap water is not much different, and many times much better than bottled water.

Bottling water and shipping it around the country or the world is probably one of the dumber things we do if we consider that it isn't any healthier or tastier than the tap alternative.  Bottles have to be made from plastics.  Plastics are made from oil.  Water is heavy.  It flows easily through pipes, but needs to be trained and trucked when we capture it in bottles.  We pay far more for bottled water than we do for gasoline.

For alternate views to the above, check the trade sites for bottled water.

Oh yeah, I do drink bottled water.  All of this extra cost and potential waste was never a consideration for me.  It was all about the convenience.  The grab and go aspect of bottled water.

At home, we filter our water from the tap.  We use bottled water for traveling and commuting, sporting events and camping.

I promise that I will stop buying bottled water for routine water usage.  However, I will buy flavored or enhanced waters for purposes related to The Potable World.

In the meantime, I'll buy a plastic jug and fill it with water from my own tap.