Could someone tell me what I should be looking for in premium water? I know there should be minerals but I don't know the details on what the analysis should look like.

Any recommended brands for water coolers for the home/office? Currently we have Blue Ridge Mountain Water. I love having big jugs of it delivered to our home every 2 weeks. At this point in being Raw though, I'm really concerned about my hydration. I drink TONS of water and still don't feel hydrated. I really think it's been effecting my elimination process and has caused breakouts. All symtoms show that I'm not getting the right water.

Anyone have suggestions?

I don't know about every one else, but I drink aquafina bottled water. It tastes fresher to me, I guess.

Aquafina is made by Pepsi. Do you trust a soda company to give you quality water?
I personally think it's the best tasting water out there as well, but I don't trust my tongue to give me the best answer....My taste buds have decieved me many a times (ie, candy, bread, pasta I like the taste of Fiji water as well.

Coca-Cola is already under investiagation for their Dasani product because they used the word "pure" in their marketing.

I'm going to do some resarch on the net and I'll post anything I find here.


Peace,
Jen Rose

Cokes use of word 'pure' questioned

LONDON - The Coca-Cola Co., world famous for its "real thing" sodas, is being questioned in Britain about using the word "pure" to advertise its Dasani bottled water.

Why? Because it's specially treated London tap water.

On Tuesday, British trading standard officials asked the borough where Coke's headquarters is based to look into the matter.

Coke, which sells a similarly made Dasani water in the Untied States, said it's confident it's abiding by the local rules.

"We work closely with all regulatory bodies and in this instance we are fully satisfied that we are compliant with all guidelines and regulations," the company said in a statement.

A Coke spokesman said on condition of anonymity that the complaint may have been made by its competitors in Britain's $1.9 billion-a-year bottled water market.

Coke says its Dasani water is treated in a highly sophisticated filtration process, perfected by NASA to purify fluids on spacecraft.

But why, British newspapers such as The Daily Mail asked Tuesday, should consumers pay up to $1.76 for 17 ounces of Dasani when it's based on London drinking water that costs 6 cents for the same amount?

The same purification process is used for the Dasani water that Coke has sold in the United States since 1999. Dasani is the second-best seller in the bottled water market there, behind a similar purified water product - Aquafina - made by Pepsi-Cola Co.

Britain's Food Standards Agency asked the borough authority where Coca-Cola's headquarters is based to look into whether the term "pure, still water" breached labeling guidelines.

Dasani, which was launched in Britain last month, uses municipal water at Coca-Cola's factory in Sidcup, southeast London.

The soft drinks giant said a "highly sophisticated purification process" removes any impurities, such as "bacteria, viruses, salts, minerals, sugars, proteins and toxin particles" from the tap water.

The Food Standards Agency said Dasani may have broken guidelines designed to protect shoppers from misleading marketing.

"This bottled water does not appear to follow our labeling guidance on the use of the term 'pure,' " an agency spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity.

"Consumers may not realize that there are three types of water sold in bottles: natural mineral water, spring water and drinking water (which can be tap water). If a product is not labeled as mineral water or spring water, it will, in fact, be bottled drinking water."

The FSA's guidelines state the term "pure" should only apply to "single ingredient foods or to highlight the quality of ingredients."

Since Dasani takes tap water, a pure product, removes material through purification, then adds calcium, magnesium and sodium bicarbonate for taste, it may not be allowed to be called "pure," he said.

Coke Pulls Water From UK Shelves


Quote

"We do understand the problem and have a solution for it."
Coke spokesman Jonathan Chandler

(CBS/AP) Coca-Cola Co. said Friday it is withdrawing its Dasani bottled water from sale in Britain after finding that samples contained higher-than-permitted levels of the chemical bromate.

The Food Standards Agency said there was no immediate risk to public health, and described Coca-Cola's decision to stop selling Dasani in Britain as "sensible." It said bromate can cause an increased cancer risk as a result of long-term exposure.

According to the FSA, some samples of Dasani has bromate levels of 25 micrograms per liter, higher than the legal limit of 10 micrograms per liter. The agency said bromate is found in tap water and other bottled waters, but at legal levels.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says bromate is a by-product of processes that disinfect water supplies, and is associated with an elevated cancer risk.

A Coca-Cola spokesman said the voluntary withdrawal was a precautionary measure.

"We haven't yet confirmed when and how we'll be back in the market," spokesman Jonathan Chandler said. "We'll make a communication on the next steps when we're ready to make them."

Coca-Cola, which launched Dasani in Britain last month, said the higher-than-permitted levels of bromate occurred as a result of a process aimed at adding calcium to its bottled water.

"We do understand the problem and have a solution for it," Chandler said.

The withdrawal began Friday and was expected to be 80 percent to 85 percent complete within 24 hours, Coca-Cola said.

Dasani suffered a rash of bad publicity earlier this month when British newspapers discovered that the product was purified tap water — something Coke had always acknowledged. Following the newspaper stories, the Food Standards Agency said it was inquiring whether Coke was entitled to use the term "pure" in describing Dasani.

Coke, which sells a similarly made Dasani water in the United States, said it's confident it's abiding by the local rules.

"We work closely with all regulatory bodies and in this instance we are fully satisfied that we are compliant with all guidelines and regulations," the company said in a statement.

A Coke spokesman said on condition of anonymity that the complaint may have been made by its competitors in Britain's $1.9 billion-a-year bottled water market.

Coke says its Dasani water is treated in a highly sophisticated filtration process, perfected by NASA to purify fluids on spacecraft.

But why, British newspapers such as The Daily Mail asked Tuesday, should consumers pay up to $1.76 for 17 ounces of Dasani when it's based on London drinking water that costs 6 cents for the same amount?

Dasani, which was launched in Britain last month, uses municipal water at Coca-Cola's factory in Sidcup, southeast London.

The FSA's guidelines state the term "pure" should only apply to "single ingredient foods or to highlight the quality of ingredients."

Since Dasani takes tap water, a pure product, removes material through purification, then adds calcium, magnesium and sodium bicarbonate for taste, it may not be allowed to be called "pure," he said.

The same purification process is used for the Dasani water that Coke has sold in the United States since 1999. Dasani is the second-best seller in the bottled water market there, behind a similar purified water product — Aquafina — made by Pepsi-Cola Co.

According to a company Web site, "To create Dasani, Coca Cola bottlers start with the local water supply which is then filtered for purity using a state-of-the-art process called reverse osmosis.

"The purified water is then enhanced with a special blend of minerals for a pure, fresh taste."

©MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Coca Cola also uses pretty environmentally unfriendly methods to get water, at the expense of the "common" people whose livelihood depends on it!

You may have already seen this article:



Bottled water big business but bad for environment
by Sam Bond

Environmental Data Interactive
16 February 2006

On 16 February 2006 Environmental Data Interactive reported: The indiscriminate bottling of water for commercial purposes is damaging some of the drought-stricken areas of the world, according to a study from the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington-based NGO. Sales of bottled water have risen by 57% in the past five years and in the past year 154 billion litres were consumed worldwide. Global Good News service views this news as the failure of modern business systems. Such 'flops' highlight the need for more intelligent, evolutionary, Natural Law based, life-supporting systems.

The exploitation of natural springs is often done without regard for the spring's capacity to renew itself; hence water levels beneath the earth begin to drop dramatically.

According to the article, the situation is particularly dramatic in third world countries, such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu in India, where the Coca Cola company, bottler of Dasani water, has been accused of draining the aquifer and has been sued by the Indian government.

The Earth Policy Institute's report states that: 'In addition to the strains bottled water puts on our ecosystem through its production and transport, the rapid growth in this industry means that water extraction is concentrated in communities where bottling plants are located.'

The report indicates that the problem is not limited to developing countries: 'Similar problems have been reported in Texas and in the Great Lakes region of North America, where farmers, fishers, and others who depend on water for their livelihoods are suffering from concentrated water extraction as water tables drop quickly.'

The report also shows that India has tripled its demand for bottled water, because of successful marketing and a growing economy, and that China is sure to follow suit, potentially increasing the problem tenfold.

A spokesman for the Earth Policy Institute was quoted as saying: 'There is no question that clean, affordable drinking water is essential to the health of our global community. But bottled water is not the answer in the developed world, nor does it solve problems for the 1.1 billion people who lack a secure water supply. Improving and expanding existing water treatment and sanitation systems is more likely to provide safe and sustainable sources of water over the long term.'

Wow...that's terrible.

I'm not finding anything on the internet about what kind of water to drink.

I'm beginning to think there is no "safe" water. How many companies are telling the truth about what is in theirs? I know some say don't drink it at all, but If I get thirsty, a piece of fruit doesn't always do it for me. I've been drinking a lot of lipton green tea lately. I just throw 2-3 in the freezer, then as they melt, I have ice cold green tea all day.

Well, since I'm living in MD now the only water I drink is drinkmorewater.com. They have the best water on earth and it has nothing in it but water. When I move on I'll buy another RO System that also has u/v and additional filtration to kill everything. I also look forward to setting up my own permaculture village soon with a few friends and having our own water catchement system so that we can truly be blessed with water from the heavens.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

I've been distilling my own water at home, but that relies on electricity (and heats up the house a bit). I really want to get a Berkey. They work without electricity and seem to do a great job. I want to get their sports bottle too, for any unexpected need to travel to places where there is otherwise no trustworthy water.

Here's a link: [www.berkeywater.com]

Also, if you have zero salt in your diet it might help to add just a little bit of Celtic sea salt or another good salt to help the body hydrate. So I hear.

I agree with Rawmark and 24 CArrots. The way to go is to filter your own water if you can afford it. Saves in the long run.

Just a word of warning. Even with catchment you need a filter system. The water hits your roof clean, but rats and other critters have a tendency to run around up there and @#$%& onto your roof. If you don't have a good filter system, you can get leptospirosis from rats @#$%& on your roof!

what about those "pur" water filters that attach to your faucet? I've never used one, but I've thought about getting one.

We use a Multipure filter installed into our kitchen and bathroom sinks, with it's own spout on the sink for drinking water separate from washing water. We've been on catchment for 22 years and not yet been sick. We don't add chlorine or anything else to the water.

Roofs used for catchment should be built from catchment grade materials to keep out lead (like from lead in the nails) and other toxic chems.

We don't have an ultra-violet purifier, but my husband just installed one in another house; and when we had the water tested, it was coliform free.

Construction contractors here swear by the ultra-violet because so far it's the only thing that's been able to take out all the coliform from the groundwater accessed by the private wells. The ultra-violet system includes filter installment, and you can purify all the water in your house through the system.

You need to remember to change the filters for any filter system.

REI carries several different kinds of camping water filters. There is one that does not require adding anything to the water, and it filters out amoeba.

-Ally



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/2006 07:04AM by Ally.

Michele,

I'd really recommend you skip their sport bottle. It's plastic. They way to go is with a klean kanteen, which I swear by. Also, what kind of filtration system is the berkey? It doesn't look like a distiller so I can't tell. Another thing to look for is does it remove fluoride from the water? Many filtration systems remove most everything but. Reverse Osmosis will remove it. The water I buy from drinkmorewater.com has no fluoride or anything else in it. If you're going to invest $50/$100 in a product then make sure it's removing one of the most toxic chemicals known to man or it's not worth buying.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

Thanks for the info. Drinkmorewater.com looks good to me. I really don't want to filter my own water at this point in my life. We don't own our home and move around alot. I'm looking mostly for convenience and the best quality.