this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2024
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Hydro Homies

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[–] pinkdrunkenelephants@lemmy.cafe 45 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

They don't actually produce the bottles. They buy them from another manufacturer and just fill them with water.

You're mostly paying for the cost of the bottle plus artificial markups for your water. A Brita filter for tap water is much more cost effective for the consumer assuming their tap water is safe.

[–] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 14 points 10 months ago

A Brita filter for tap water is much more cost effective for the consumer assuming their tap water is safe.

Here (the Netherlands) tap water is much, much cleaner than bottled water. It’s subject to much stricter regulations than bottled water. If the stuff in bottled water would come out of your tap then the water company would be in big trouble.

[–] LifeOfChance@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

The two major companies blue triton and niagra do have their bottles made in house. They use plastic resin in a preform machine that then goes to a blowmolding machine to form the bottles then its filled right after. Blue triton is the investment group that bought out nestle waters north America back in 2021

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 3 points 10 months ago

Is more the distribution costs.

[–] Jon_Servo@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Water landlords smh. Or maybe waterlords?

[–] MrFunnyMoustache@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago

Waterlords sounds too cool of a title, I think water suckers is better.

[–] zik@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

And honestly any plastic bottled drink is just as bad. They just add some sugar and flavouring so it's even worse for you.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 30 points 10 months ago (2 children)
[–] platypus_plumba@lemmy.world 28 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

I really hate these headlines. "100 times more!!! Will somebody think of the children!!!"

A better headline would express if this is actually concerning or not for our health. 100 times more than an insignificant quantity can still be an insignificant quantity.

[–] Gabu@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Let's put it this way: it's infinitely more plastic than would be in your body under natural circumstances.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 0 points 10 months ago

They want you to accept your role in a capitalist society. There's no need for numerous public water fountains if you can pay for water, and since you're not paying for the premium glass bottles, you should accept some microplastics.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago

Or, society could actually provide a lot of public fountains, but that might mean taxing the richest to the point where they only have enough money for a hundred lifetimes, instead of a thousand lifetimes.

[–] zik@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

I mean bottled water even tastes like plastic so it should be no surprise to anyone.

[–] Hazmatastic@lemm.ee 23 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I hate water companies as much as the next guy, but processing water can be really expensive and would be disastrous for a company to do poorly. This take is like saying "you know fence companies don't produce iron, right?" No, but it takes money to make the iron into a fence, just like it takes money to make water potable.

That said, water companies can still go eat a dick. Idk how ethical smaller companies like liquid death are, but I just refill a reusable bottle when at all possible. I will go thirsty out of spite if the only water available is Nestlé. There is a lot more to complain about than saying they "don't produce anything."

[–] schnokobaer@lemmy.ml 16 points 10 months ago

What company that sells bottled water processes it themselves? The two types I know are syphoning it from a spring and those (at least where I'm from) are not allowed to process it and still call it "from spring XYZ"... and those who just fill up tap water somewhere where it can pass as mineral water and then transport it over the globe.

[–] Nobody@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

“You know what would make water better? A small container with a shitload of microplastics!“

Filtration gang for life

[–] Bigoldmustard@lemmy.zip 12 points 10 months ago (2 children)

What’s the filter made out of?

-Tap water gang

[–] otter@lemmy.ca 9 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Eh, people usually filter water when their tap water isn't clean enough?

Good quality tap water is also filtered and treated, but it happens earlier down the line

[–] Bigoldmustard@lemmy.zip 2 points 10 months ago

I’m working on my lived experience. I’m not going to apologize for paying a shitload of taxes to have tap water I can drink though.

[–] LoveSausage@lemmy.ml -1 points 10 months ago

Lucky to have spring water in the tap so no filters :)

[–] Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What do you think the water lines are made out of?

[–] Bigoldmustard@lemmy.zip 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

My house has copper pipes for the most part but the water main coming to my house is plastic. Older main lines are often steel but as they age and get replaced they're replaced with plastic and in new houses it's mostly PEX/composite pipes aswell.

[–] Bigoldmustard@lemmy.zip 3 points 10 months ago

Yeah I have PEX inside lol. Guess it’s better than lead.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 17 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Disposable plastic should be illegal. It's cheap, but only because of all the externalized costs.

[–] Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

In Finland 93% of plastic, glass and aluminium drink containers are returned back to the store and recycled into new ones.

[–] urshanabi@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 10 months ago

thankfully if plastic is gone we wouldn't be left with a majority of the hassle to deal with in the public sector, i.e. what another commenter called "externalized costs"

[–] FlordaMan@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

Or they should be made so expensive that they only make sense when there really is no alternative.

[–] SatyrSack@lemmy.one 12 points 10 months ago

They don't technically produce the water, but they are probably the ones filtering it and stuff

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

It's worse than that. They consume the bottles, and then resell the bottles filled with something that is supposedly a human right, for profit.

[–] Coreidan@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

Pretty sure they don’t claim that they “produce water”.

[–] Daft_ish@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

When they first started showing up at gas stations I thought it was so absurd. That day I learned if it exists in a retail store someone will buy it.

[–] brian@sh.itjust.works 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is without me looking it up because I don't really care enough to. But more than likely, the bottled water companies do not make their own bottles. They probably buy from manufacturers of bottles, then do the hard part of filling them up.

[–] Knightfox@lemmy.one 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Majority of the bottlers who are of notable size buy "blanks" which are heated, blown, and formed by equipment as part of the bottling process. Blanks are essentially the lip and cap portion of the bottle, but instead of a bottle below that it's a vial of plastic about 2 inches long and an inch wide. It's cheaper to ship blanks and blow them at the destination than it is to ship fully formed bottles. The benefit of this method is that the bottler can have their own bottle design, but buy blanks from any standard producer.

From blanks to formed bottles filled with water is literally fractions of a second the process happens so fast. It takes longer for the bottle to get a label and end up in packaging than it does to form and fill.

EDIT: Also, very few bottlers produce their own water. They use tap water from a large municipality and then additionally treat it to match brand specs (taste and flavor). If you drink Dasani or Aquafina you're essentially drinking tap water.

[–] brian@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago

That's actually super interesting. When I was typing out my first post, my main thought was "man it'd actually be pretty silly to ship around cases of empty bottles". But having blanks ready to be blown into more custom molds owned by the different manufacturers would certainly be a way around it.

[–] Hikermick@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Funny how things change. 30 years ago drinking bottled water was considered snobby

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

I remember when it first started gaining popularity, and there were plenty of naysayers that couldn't believe people would pay for water. What I really can't believe is that people pay up to $10 for a bottle of water if the bottle is fancy enough.

[–] Gabu@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago

It's still largely considered insane in most parts of the world.

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[–] PhilipJFryJr@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Who are those horrible orange creatures over there?

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)
[–] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago

Tell them I hate them!

[–] boatsnhos931@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

The Donald's bastard children my dear

[–] Rhoeri@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago
[–] LemmyIsFantastic@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm not filling up my Stanley in a gas station bathroom.

[–] thisfro@slrpnk.net 7 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Feels bad man

I've done this multiple times where I live and the water was as great as anywhere else

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[–] GrammatonCleric@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I mean, it's literally in the name

[–] dan42O@infosec.pub -1 points 10 months ago
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