Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Milking the Price of Water

I've long marvelled at how much supermarkets charge for bottled water and don't get me started on restaurants that often mark up water more than wine. There's news today that The City of New York is trying to persuade people to give up bottled drinks and consume tap water to help protect the environment. According to environmental groups, four out of five plastic water bottles end up on landfill sites and the production process contributes to global warming. Already restaurants in California have begun to serve only tap water and some in New York are looking to follow suit.

Unsurprisingly the Bottled Water Association says it is unfair to single out an industry that is promoting recycling and introducing biodegradable packaging. Here in Britain it hasn't started yet but given how much water rates are, and given all the talk about how much better our water is from the tap it's only a matter of time.

But what about the cost? At the supermarkets they're generally charging about 50p a litre for milk and anything from 40p to a £1 a litre for water. The whole thing s crazy. We’re prepared to pay more for milk than bottled water, when the bottled water is no more pure than what comes out of our taps.

UPDATE
Just back from walking the dogs to find our friend, who is staying with us, washing his very smart car's windscreen with a bottle of Malvern Water. He absolutely assured us it was an old one he'd filled with tap water. I should add he's from London.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I refuse to pay my good money for something I can get out of the tap. Am I cheap? Yes, but I prefer to see myself as sensible.

I do realize there are municipalities with terrible water. When we lived in Medicine Bow, Wyoming, our small town's water supply was radio-active. No lie. We were on top of a rich uranium deposit. My wife and kids drank one-gallon jugs of KMart bottled water for four years. I drank the radioactive water. A very old cowboy buddy of mine had drunk the water his whole life and swore by it.
At the very least, when I'm old, I will be able to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and be able to light my own way with the glow.

Anonymous said...

The cost of bottled water is a stupid tax along the lines of the national lottery. Although it doesn't fund good causes, at least it does something to lighten the wallets of simpletons.