Water bottle safety (spring water, distilled, or known treated )

[frankiee]

When it comes to bottled water, is distilled water any better then the advertised spring water.
The distilling process would be getting the water boiling but would it be able to kill the bacteria to any extent.
We have a Water Depot in town and I was telling my wife that I would rather trust thier water. It comes from chlorinated town water then thru thier system which includes U.V.
Which water in bottles would you recomend.
Thanks

 

[cvg]

All bottled water should be safe to drink - it is required to meet quality control testing at least as rigorous as your local city water.

distilled water will not taste very good. Spring water has minerals which add flavor and may be beneficial. If you re-fill bottles at the depot, the spigot may be dirty and your bottle may also be dirty, so that would be the least desirable method of obtaining "bottled water".

 

[hco]

Until recently I wasn't aware of the "drink distilled water"-crazy originating from the US. Interesting question!

Like cvg says, all bottled water should be - and is - safe to drink. If you live somewhere with bad tap water I would go for a locally produced bottled water. Bottled water has an enormous impact on the environment (compared to tap water) and the longer it has been transported the worse it gets.

I wouldn't want to drink distilled water. The minerals present in un-distilled water gives taste and most people don't like the taste of the distilled water. If you're a normal consumer of water, distilled water's probaby ok for you to drink if you like the (lack of) taste, but if you're a heavy consumer (e.g. working in a hot environment or athlete) I wouldn't recommend drinking it. Someone sweating a lot need all the minerals he/she can get.

 

[joemock]

For what it's worth, I've read that a minimum you should look for is the NYSHD Certificate # on the bottle's label. Not sure what the qualifications are, but at least it's been through standardized testing.

As a side note. I just ordered a water filtration system for my home. Our drinking water tastes like pool water (I think the mayor gets a kick-back on chlorine sales - seriously it's nasty). Anyway, I ordered the Equinox Blue Rhino 300 (yeah I know, dumb name). It has a rather elaborate filtering system that removes almost everything (99.9% bio/chem/heavy metals); it costs about $900 installed. We considered bottle water and decided that because a high chlorine content can be harmful to both skin and lungs (steam in the shower - long term exposure), it would be better to have clean water throughout the house. Probably better for our plumbing and clothing too. I'll be getting it installed next week, I'll post again as to any noticable improvement.

 

[frankiee]

Thanks for your responce.
I am in Canada and I heard it said that water does not have to be regulated. A wives tale I hope.
We buy "Presidents Choice" from "Food Basics" food market.
I leave tomorrow at 8AM for the Great Lakes for a 3 and a half month term. I will miss my wife and kids and dog. We do what we got to I guess. I will miss this site much.
Best site I have ever found on the web.

 

[hydrae]

That is not a wives tale, it is true.

In the US, bottled water is not regulated, it is recomeneded that the producer be truthful about the source, treatment, testing as it appears on the label. But there is no requlatory agency verifing compliance, not even as a food.

Hydrae