Why do people buy so much bottled water at the grocery store?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For people who drink out of plastic bottles regularly, aren't you worried about all of the plastics you are consuming along with your water? Even if you don't care about ruining the environment, don't you worry about your own health?

No to all. I’m going to die one day, so what’s the big deal. I’d rather have a good time while it lasted.

[Anonymous]

I never buy bottled water, but I know people who are neither stupid, rich, or crazy, but who only drink bottled water because they prefer the taste. I suppose it's wasteful, but so is traveling on vacation, or buying a boat, or buying a new shirt when you already have enough shirts, or thousands of other things that some people enjoy. To each his or her own.

[Anonymous]

Our food quality control is much higher than it was. My four grandparents, born between 1912 and 1918 all lived into their mid 90s or later and that was without food quality control for most of their lives. I have two relatives that are 104 and 103 who are still living! I don’t think the microplastic from the water bottle is enough to affect my health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our food quality control is much higher than it was. My four grandparents, born between 1912 and 1918 all lived into their mid 90s or later and that was without food quality control for most of their lives. I have two relatives that are 104 and 103 who are still living! I don’t think the microplastic from the water bottle is enough to affect my health.

And I have relatives who lived to be 104 and 98 and currently have parents in their 90s who have only ever drank tap water and are fine.

[Anonymous]

I'm kind of OK with people buying lots of bottled water - not my choice but not the worst thing in the world.

My complaint is that empty single use water bottles are a major litter problem. Some number of families that buy water bottles (5%? 50%?) just throw them everywhere. I'm very judgy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our food quality control is much higher than it was. My four grandparents, born between 1912 and 1918 all lived into their mid 90s or later and that was without food quality control for most of their lives. I have two relatives that are 104 and 103 who are still living! I don’t think the microplastic from the water bottle is enough to affect my health.

And I have relatives who lived to be 104 and 98 and currently have parents in their 90s who have only ever drank tap water and are fine.

Of course, not sure how that relates but sure. My relatives who lived to be old only drank tap water too but the plastics they used in life and many other products had all kinds of harmful things in them, much worse than what we have now due to controls.

[Anonymous]

If you ever took the time to read OP, you would know that tap water in DC is not safe and is polluted. Do the research yourself and stop asking dumb questions. Stop the boring/old/trite attempt at virtue signaling. Other virtue signalers will turn the tables on you and ask things such as:

1. Why do you drive instead of taking public transportation
2. Why do you fly
3. Why do you eat meat
4. Why do you wear leather
5. Why disposable diapers
6. Why buy new clothing instead of second hand
7. Why do you live in a home big enough for more
8.Why do you eat processed foods

Etc., Etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what about not wanting to carry around a plastic/metal jug everywhere one goes? Bottled water is convenient... grab it, drink it, toss it... no reusable water bottle to wash/etc...

It’s like wearing a huge sign that says “I think my convenience outweighs anything else and I DGAF about other peolle in this world.” I really don’t know a single person that does this. There’s not a lot of things I judge but if I knew someone that did this as their regular practice, I would really think negatively of them.

It is amazing that people get worked up about stuff like this.

[Anonymous]

We have filtered tap water, so we drink that. Kids refill their vast collection of fancy water bottles for sports. I have a few of those, too.

My inlaws find that this creates dishes! It fills up the dishwasher! So let's just buy you some bottled water ... (Doesn't that just fill up the recycling bin?). These are the same people who keep the paper plate & plasitc silverware industry in business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s cheap.

Nobody I know who’s worked for a city gov or contractor and seen the incompetence, the filthy pipes, the juked water testing, and/or the chemical additives drinks tap water unless they have a super sophisticated whole house filter system.

Why would whole house system be needed? For showering?

We bought a reverse osmosis system for $ 200 15 years ago and use it for drinking water. Yea, can test the water with a $10 water tester every few months to know if a filter change is needed. Its cheaper than buying tap water in bottles,

I bet half of the bottle water users don’t even recycle the bottles.

Consumer recycling is just landfill with plausible deniability.

[Anonymous]

Because our tap water reeks of chlorine and I can't stand it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For people who drink out of plastic bottles regularly, aren't you worried about all of the plastics you are consuming along with your water? Even if you don't care about ruining the environment, don't you worry about your own health?

No to all. I’m going to die one day, so what’s the big deal. I’d rather have a good time while it lasted.

Dying of infection/cancer, etc. does not sound like a good time to me, but to each their own. I mitigate risks in my life. If I know that drinking water out of plastic bottles will harm my health and is no better for me than drinking tap water, why would I continue? After all, most of the bottled water is just packaged tap water but so many have made themselves believe it "tastes better."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you ever took the time to read OP, you would know that tap water in DC is not safe and is polluted. Do the research yourself and stop asking dumb questions. Stop the boring/old/trite attempt at virtue signaling. Other virtue signalers will turn the tables on you and ask things such as:

1. Why do you drive instead of taking public transportation
2. Why do you fly
3. Why do you eat meat
4. Why do you wear leather
5. Why disposable diapers
6. Why buy new clothing instead of second hand
7. Why do you live in a home big enough for more
8.Why do you eat processed foods

Etc., Etc.

1. Spouse forced a move
2. Only when family demands
3. Extremely rarely
4. Only for a few things that last forever.
5.. Only when traveling
6. Only things that last until they are beyond shredded.
7. Houses are a long term durable good. Bought used houses with as many bedrooms as people.
8. Processing is just cooking. It's not less efficient than shipping fresh food. Unfortunately society has evolved to not have a reliably supply of local food..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The District provides lead in the drinking water for free.

https://www.tapwaterdata.com/blog/cities/dc-water-lead-reduction-2025

DC tap water currently meets federal safety standards, with lead levels well below the EPA action level.

If you have detectabe lead in your water, due to your own pipes, you can replace your lead pipes.


While DC Water works toward complete lead line replacement, NSF-certified filters provide immediate protection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The District provides lead in the drinking water for free.

https://www.tapwaterdata.com/blog/cities/dc-water-lead-reduction-2025

DC tap water currently meets federal safety standards, with lead levels well below the EPA action level.

If you have detectabe lead in your water, due to your own pipes, you can replace your lead pipes.


While DC Water works toward complete lead line replacement, NSF-certified filters provide immediate protection.

And not only that, how many bottling companies list their testing data on the product? How are people who are buying bottled water sure they aren't getting worse than what they're getting out of a tap?