Hey everyone, my name is Anthony, i just recently joined JSF and created a log on the journal section called "The Transition"--more info about me can be found there.

For 4 months straight I would drink soda 7 days a week, now I'm getting into the habit of drinking nothing but water. I'm just curious as to what type of water do you guys drink since I see a lot of you get in 1-2 gallons a day: bottle? mineral? spring? tap? filtered (what brand)?

Thanks

Tap

If there's a filter around I sometimes use it. I generally just stick a few litres in a bottle and put it in the fridge, and refill my glass every now and then. I'm not going to waste money on bottled water :/

In all honesty, water is water. Just drink the type of water that tastes the best to you. Some of us on here are very picky about the brand of water because of the taste, others are not. I personally cannot drink tap water or even water that's been filtered by certain filters. My personal preference is the sam's choice water for 50 cents a gallon at wally world. I go through 6-7 per week.

My advice would be to start cheap to save some cash. if you don't like it, try adding a water filter to your sink faucet. If that still doesn't suit your fancy then start buying bottled.

If there's a filter around I sometimes use it. I generally just stick a few litres in a bottle and put it in the fridge, and refill my glass every now and then. I'm not going to waste money on bottled water :/
This is all you need to do. Bottling water and cooling it for about 24 hrs. precipitates out any excessive chlorine taste as well, which is a problem here with Orange County Utilities. The water here is terrible if you drink it straight from the tap. Bottle it and wait a day and it tastes just like the drinking water they deliver to our office.

Do not reuse disposable containers, though. A study I performed in a design class in college showed that reusing disposable containers (particularly milk jugs or small, portable plastic disposable water bottles) have been known to release THMs (trihalomethanes, a carcinogen) into water when reused over time.

While 1 to 1.5 gallons per day is recommended (and I feel better when I drink more water), it's not necessary to drink that much. The minimum water intake I've used (based on a good personal trainer's advice) is 60% of your body weight in ounces.

-R

Man, I'm so easy when it comes to this...I tend to go by Homer Simpson's: "If it's brown, drink it down. If it's black send it back." motto.

I'll always drink from the tap...in fact, I'll fill up a random bottle, put it next to my bed, and still be drinkin' the same water 2 days later...if it doesn't make me gag, I'll drink it.

This is all you need to do. Bottling water and cooling it for about 24 hrs. precipitates out any excessive chlorine taste as well, which is a problem here with Orange County Utilities. The water here is terrible if you drink it straight from the tap. Bottle it and wait a day and it tastes just like the drinking water they deliver to our office.

Do not reuse disposable containers, though. A study I performed in a design class in college showed that reusing disposable containers (particularly milk jugs or small, portable plastic disposable water bottles) have been known to release THMs (trihalomethanes, a carcinogen) into water when reused over time.

While 1 to 1.5 gallons per day is recommended (and I feel better when I drink more water), it's not necessary to drink that much. The minimum water intake I've used (based on a good personal trainer's advice) is 60% of your body weight in ounces.

-R

Because it pertains to this thread I'm hoping my question won't be viewed as hijacking.

How long is "over time". I've heard about water bottles releasing toxins if used over and over again but right now, I grab a new water bottle every monday morning, re-use it at work until friday afternoon and then toss it. Should I be using a new water bottle everyday or is 5 days a short enough period of time to have nothing to worry about? i do have a sport bottle that I can use but I just find it easier to use a water bottle to take my pills with because the nozzle on my refillable water container is restrictive.

How long is "over time". I've heard about water bottles releasing toxins if used over and over again but right now, I grab a new water bottle every monday morning, re-use it at work until friday afternoon and then toss it.
FYI, I did this study as a part of my Environmental Process Design II course in college and that was back in 1999. What I'm recalling from memory is probably shoddy at best, but I can get you all the technical data if you're that interested.

As I remember, the minimum time for detectable concentrations of THMs was 72 hours. At this time, it did not exceed Department of Environmental Protection safe limits for THM in drinking water. In fact, it was 1/16th of the DEP maximum THM standard.

I think the minimum detectable concentration was 5.0 parts per billion (or µg/L, 2.0x10^-9 grams per liter) with the equipment the lab had available. That is an ultra-tiny concentration, but over a lifetime, continual exposure has the potential to cause cancer.

Somewhere around the 10-14 day mark, THMs began to creep closer to concentrations considered unacceptable FDEP. I think the maximum amount I found was in large jugs, and they precipitated around 40-ppb of THM (stands to reason - larger jug, more THM leeching). The DEP maximum drinking water standard for THM concentration is around 80-ppb.

You're just fine drinking out of the same bottle for a week at a time. More than likely, you receive more exposure to THMs taking a shower (because the steam & mist contains chlorinated water, and all chlorinated water creates at least some THM content in water) than you do over a week's worth of drinking from the same plastic bottle.

Which leads me to the fact that I probably never should have stated the point in the first place. :confused:

-R

Which leads me to the fact that I probably never should have stated the point in the first place. :confused:
-R

Thank you for your insight. I don't need all the technical data as you explained it pretty well. I'm glad you brought it up though because I feel a lot better about using the same bottle for 5 days. I had prior knowledge, although very little, about the chemicals that can result from using the same water bottle. At the time it was very important because my wife was using the same water bottle for weeks at a time and now I make her change it at least once a week. I'm glad I did.

Cold tap water, if I worked and didn't have ice water available, I would carry it in insulated container about 1 gallon. add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and 2 packages of splenda or sugar, three times a day.

Tap water, fountain water, Brita water, bottled water - just about anything:)

I do the bottled water from work, and the WalMart Sam's choice, 50 cents a gallon stuff previously mentioned.

Florida tap water is terrible. I won't even use it for coffee.

Thanks for all your responses


Bluestreak your information is extremely interesting and helpful...I used to use the same water bottle for months..I remember someone telling me how bad it was but I wasn't exactly sure whether it was regarding reusing bottles....Now I use nothing but a shaker bottle or glass bottle. Thanks again everyone.

Bluestreak your information is extremely interesting and helpful...I used to use the same water bottle for months..I remember someone telling me how bad it was but I wasn't exactly sure whether it was regarding reusing bottles....Now I use nothing but a shaker bottle or glass bottle. Thanks again everyone.
When I got into exercising, I was carrying around a plastic bottle knowing the results of our class study. As I said, the levels we found in the bottles were well within DEP tolerances, but so many damned things can cause cancer these days, I figured that since I could eliminate this particular risk, I should.

I strongly suggest investing in a Nissan Thermos. They run about $10-$20 on EvilBay (about $25-$40 in most retail stores) and will keep water ice cold for up to 24 hours. I have an 18-oz. Nissan, and I make sure I drink ten refills per day (about one full bottle per hour at work, 180-ozs, just shy of 1.5 gallons). I only have one or two more glasses with meals after I'm home from work to prevent waking up every two hours after bedtime to use the facilities.

-R

Tap water for me. I can do 1.75 gallons in a day, easy. 2.0 is not uncommon.

For me, water is water is water. Tap water is everywhere and free, so I hope I never develop a discriminating taste for the pricy stuff.

A thermos :) ? Now that takes me waaay back. From Kinder. to first grade I had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Lunch box with a thermos I'd bring to school everday...Damn I miss those days...

You know, I am kinda surprised that majority of you responded tap water...I was certain the top answers would be boiled, bottle, or filtered...I drink tap water myself, but if I am going to make a habit of getting in 1-2 gallons of water everyday, 7 days a week, for 365 days a year. I think I might want to invest in a decent filter.

I have one of those nice dispensers about 8 feet from my desk (The kind with the upside down 5 gallon bottle). Since I started working here, those bottles disappear pretty quickly!

At home, I have a refrigerator with the filtered water dispenser in the door. I must just be spoiled. I would gladly drink tap water, but there's always filtered stuff around.

Bottom line, drink the cheapest thing that you like the taste of!

Brita water pitcher for the refrigerator
:tucool:

Brita water pitcher for the refrigerator
:tucool:
Please be sure you replace the filter monthly and disinfect the pitcher before each refill. Those carbon-activated filters can become bacteria factories if left in place too long (and one month is too long, three weeks is a more safe service life for those Brita filters).

Carbon-activated filters like Brita eventually suffer a problem known as "breakthrough". This is the point at which a carbon-activated filter can no longer capture impurities in the water because all the voids in the activated carbon have been utilized. Once this occurs, funky things start to grow on the impurities inside the filter, and they grow quickly because those impurities serve as a food source for the bacterial growths. Then, every time you refill your pitcher and pass water through the filter, some of that growth can slough off the activated carbon and into the water you drink.

I did some study work on those pitchers as well, and the bacteria that can grow in them in astounding. We found staph bacteria in one of the pitchers - which can cause everything from pnuemonia to meningitis.

I had a Brita pitcher at the time; I threw it out.

-R

As for me, a water filter if it's available, otherwise tap water. We have hard water in this area, but I don't mind the taste :drool: I do use bottled water for cooking.

A question for Bluestreak: I take a bicycle-style clear plastic water bottle with me practically everywhere I go, and I only buy a new one when the old one starts leaking (so about once or twice a year). I read an article a couple of years ago that warned against using hot water to wash such bottles (specifically the soft, clear plastic that is used in bicycle bottles) because the hot water can release chemicals (I think it was BPAs). I've avoided hot water since reading that, but your posts now have me thinking about my bottle. It's stamped on the bottom as being made from #4 LDPE, low-density polyethylene. Do I need to worry about THMs with this bottle and long-term use?

Do I need to worry about THMs with this bottle and long-term use?
I doubt it. For the concentration of THM or DEHA (diethylhexyl somehting-or-other, I can't remember the whole chemical name, it's another possible human carcinogen found in plastics) to build, the same food or water has to be left in the bottle over time. I doubt you ever leave water in there for 72 hours, let alone the 10 days it took to create even minor levels of carcinogen. I neglected to mention that in my original post, like an idiot...

Don't worry about it. I'm half-tempted to edit the original post so I don't scare anyone else. :lol:

-R

Ha ha, cool man, thanks! :claplow:

BTW if anyone else panicked about the plastic type like I did, it's stamped as a number inside three chasing arrows on the bottom of each plastic container. Here's a list of what each number refers to:

http://www.checnet.org/healtheHouse/education/quicklist-detail.asp?Main_ID=353

Just wanted to say that it is great that you are cutting back on the soda that adds so many empty calories to your diet (trying to get a friend to cut back right now). I happen to drink deionized, sterilized water but that is because I work in a lab so that is what is right there.

Just wanted to say that it is great that you are cutting back on the soda that adds so many empty calories to your diet (trying to get a friend to cut back right now). I happen to drink deionized, sterilized water but that is because I work in a lab so that is what is right there.

Hey thanks...Fries and Soda....The closest thing to poison that wont kill you immediately.:lol: