Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yaya]

Imagine you�ve just been given a choice: You have to drink from one of two containers. One container is a cup from your own kitchen, and it contains a product that has passed strict state, federal and local guidelines for cleanliness and quality. Oh, and it�s free. The second container comes from a manufacturing plant somewhere, and its contents�while seemingly identical to your first choice�have not been subjected to the same strict national and local standards. It costs approximately four times more than gasoline. These products both look and taste nearly identical.

Which do you choose?

If you chose beverage A, congratulations: You just saved yourself a whole lot of money, and, perhaps, even contaminants, too. But if you picked beverage B, then you�ll be spending hundreds of unnecessary dollars on bottled water this year. Sure, bottled water is convenient, trendy, and may well be just as pure as what comes out of your tap. But it�s hardly a smart investment for your pocketbook, your body or our planet. Eat This, Not That! decided to take a closer look at what�s behind the pristine images and elegant-sounding names printed on those bottles.

You may actually be drinking tap water.
Case in point: Dasani, a Coca-Cola product. Despite its exotic-sounding name, Dasani is simply purified tap water that�s had minerals added back in. For example, if your Dasani water was bottled at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Philadelphia, you�re drinking Philly tap water. But it�s not the only brand of water that relies on city pipes to provide its product. About 25 percent of all bottled water is taken from municipal water sources, including Pepsi�s Aquafina.

Bottled water isn�t always pure.
Scan the labels of the leading brands and you see variations on the words �pure� and �natural� and �pristine� over and over again. And when a Cornell University marketing class studied consumer perceptions of bottled water, they found that people thought it was cleaner, with less bacteria. But that may not actually be true. For example, in a 4-year review that included the testing of 1,000 bottles of water, the Natural Resources Defense Council�one the country�s most ardent environmental crusaders�found that �about 22 percent of the brands we tested contained, in at least one sample, chemical contaminants at levels above strict state health limits.�

It�s not clear where the plastic container ends and the drink begins.
Turns out, when certain plastics are heated at a high temperature, chemicals from the plastics may leach into container�s contents. So there�s been a flurry of speculation recently as to whether the amounts of these chemicals are actually harmful, and whether this is even a concern when it comes to water bottles�which aren�t likely to be placed in boiling water or even a microwave. While the jury is still out on realistic health ramifications, it seems that, yes, small amounts of chemicals from PET water bottles such as antimony�a semi-metal that�s thought to be toxic in large doses�can accumulate the longer bottled water is stored in a hot environment. Which, of course, is probably a good reason to avoid storing bottled water in your garage for six months�or better yet, to just reach for tap instead.

Our country�s high demand for oil isn�t just due to long commutes.
Most water bottles are composed of a plastic called polyethylene terepthalate (PET). Now, to make PET, you need crude oil. Specifically, 17 million barrels of oil are used in the production of PET water bottles ever year, estimate University of Louisville scientists. No wonder the per ounce cost of bottled water rivals that of gasoline. What�s more, 86 percent of 30 billion PET water bottles sold annually are tossed in the trash, instead of being recycled, according to data from the Container Recycling Institute. That�s a lot of waste�waste that will outlive you, your children, and your children�s children. You see, PET bottles take 400 to 1000 years to degrade. Which begs the question: If our current rate of consumption continues, where will we put all of this discarded plastic?

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/34361/the-truth-about-bottled-water/print/

[greene]

i would agree with you if the water...didn't...give me explosive diarrhea. maybe if i had a filter.. but still, seems shady

i trust my jaju water

also, most of those bottles are certainly being recycled in korean

[Emeliu]

I usually buy those huge 1.25 gallons of "Drinking Water" for 80 cents. Not exactly 4 times more expensive than gasoline.

[toadhjo]

I drink tap water at home in the US, and I'd like to do the same when I move to Korea...

Is the tap water in Korea okay? I hear mixed things. I'll be in Daejeon if it matters.

[OnTheOtherSide]

The best way to do it is to take tap water and run it through a filter. I run my water through a filter two times and it comes out tasting great. If i'm in a place with truely disgusting water, I will boil it in a huge pot after I filter it. But the water in most parts of Korea is not that bad.

Bottled water is basically just filtered tap water. With the added bonus of yummy plastic particles.

When you drink bottled water, and it has that mild plastic taste, it's because there is plastic in it.

Bottled water is a scam, just filter your own tap water for much cheaper cost.

[pkang0202]

Best water I've drunken is Deer Park Spring Water.

[redaxe]

Anyone know where to buy replacement Brita filters in Korea? I've been putting it off for about a year now...

[red_devil]

Not all bottled water is the same, and this report neglects to mention what brands they tested and where. The whole plastic leaking chemicals is controversial and many bottling manufacturers use plastics that have a higher temperature threshold, look for the bottles that have slightly firmer and stiffer plastics.