Oddball question of the day: Are there additives in Evian water? Here's why I'm asking....

M

marilynfl

Moderator
I love Evian, but I don't buy it that often because it's just too expensive. Target had a sale the other day and I picked up a few large bottles for work.

A coworker stopped by and I offered her some and she refused, saying it always tasted "oily" to her.

I forgot about that until I used it for hot tea this morning. Water here at work is highly clorinated (to the point you can smell it in tea) so I figured since I like how it taste so much that I'd love it in hot tea. I used a porcelain tea pot I keep at work and you would NOT BELIEVE the ick that is pouring out of this spout. I can actually swirl the contents and see a film of...stuff. When I pour it into a cup, tiny clumps float to the top.

I'm using Stash tea that I've used before with no problems.

I'm slightly freaking out here, so I'm hoping someone knows something I don't know.

Damn, I was really looking forward to a nice hot cup of tea, too.

 
Marilyn, when I've had to cook with hard water, I've noticed a film on top. As for the clumps,

I wonder if it's minerals. There aren't supposed to be additives in it.

 
How about keeping a Brita water filter pitcher in the fridge at work? And no, ......

I don't work for them but save a lot using it and not bottled water. Costco has the filters on sale this week too.

 
I never buy bottled water and usually have a personal crusade against it...

not only they lead to a ton of plastic waste, but many brands (not Evian) are simply bottled tap water sold by the price of liquid gold - or almost.

I use a Brita filter at home, and took another Brita system to our lab - all our students now drink Brita filtered water poured into their own cups. I was sick and tired of seeing dozens of plastic bottles, sometimes only half used, laying in our conference room. Not anymore... smileys/smile.gif

We also bought years ago a Soda Stream carbonator (Penguin), and stopped buying Perrier, we carbonate our own Brita filtered water. It tastes absolutely great, very clean and pure.

I use Brita-filtered water to make our coffee, my tea, and my breads.

 
Not to mention cavities are making a comeback because the kids are drinking

bottled instead of flouridated water. My baby teeth were awful and they put flouride in our town's water right about the time my adult teeth came in and they were just about perfect after that. It drives me INSANE to see the poor people who live around me with a cartful of bottled water-what a huge waste of money they don't have.

 
As an avid tea drinker - yes - some bottled water (and some tap) cause the oily/clumpy thing to

happen to tea. Way back when I too thought it would be easier at work to use bottled water for brewing my tea since the water in our building wasn't the best tasting. But when I used bottled water (Poland Spring, Aquafina, Dasani, Evian) - they all did the same thing - created a "oil slick" on top of the tea. Some more than others -- eeeewww. I can't remember which brand of water it was - maybe Dasani - left a slick so thick you could spoon it off. I know most like Dasani is packaged tap water - but - YUCK!

So - I work from home most of the time now, I have well water and it works well - tastes good straight from the tap and leaves no slick.

I also have a Brita filter, I do use the filter - not necessarily to filter the water -but to keep water reallllly cold for drinking. I don't use it to make tea since tap water for me works.

 
Thanks everyone! Brita it is, although I don't have much hope for Florida water

ever tasting good. It's so close to the surface that there is no natural filtration, so they load it with chemicals to make it safe and then add more chemicals to improve the taste.

 
Try it, and you might be pleasantly surprised... (more)

I swear I do not work for the company! smileys/smile.gif

but the Brita system couples charcoal filtering with ionic exchange resins - we use those in our lab to purify proteins and other molecules - basically these resins are able to bind compounds with a charge, either positive or negative - that will take care of all metals that might be present in the water. When associated with activated charcoal (that binds all kinds of organic molecules) the water is pretty much free of contaminants.

If a particular source of water is heavily contaminated, one could exchange the Brita filter more often instead of once every 4 weeks, which is the recommended average time.

 
even if they don't "add" to the water

the plastic that most bottled water comes in is highly carcinogenic. If the bottled water is exposed to sunlight it begins a leaching process. See the documentary "Tapped" It is pretty disturbing.

"BPA" a well known carcinogen is also used to "line" the interior of cans and bottles used for canned/bottled foods. WHY? I dunno but having my 20 year old daughter forced to come home from college with about 100 severe food allergies that have all materialized within the past year - gluten, soy, dairy, nuts etc I am convinced that these chemicals are killing and/or maiming generations of children. I believe that the genetic modification of our produce is also huge in this. And don't get me wrong, I am no eco-fanatic or tree-hugger per se. In fact in our county there was an initiative on the ballot a few years ago to ban GMO but I thought it was silly. Now I'm completely convinced otherwise.

Also on the "oily" when I lived in Arizona we had extremely hard water. The only option was a water softener. I HATED it. The water feels really oily when you shower. Those that sell water softeners say this is because you are cleaner but I don't buy it. But the process could be similar to Evian etc for their bottled waters.

 
as an alternative to Brita- checkout Zero Water

I've used both and I think Zero Water is superior. They also provide you with a very quick/simple water tester which is where the "Zero" comes in.

 
Am I the only one who drinks water from the tap?

When I was pregnant and living in LA, I started to get Sparkletts delivered. Since then though, I have read that there are no regulations on bottled water. I get a water report from my water company once a year and can see what is in my water. I drink it, but Bub doesn't. I have broken the kids of bottled water habit, mostly because of the plastic bottle landfill crap. One of my pet peeves.

 
I do. I just fill up a jug from the tap and keep it in the fridge. The chlorine

dissipates overnight and water tastes just as good as bottled. We get a water quality report every year and ours is excellent, as are 99.5% of other communities. I think people get way nuts over "toxins" and everything being contaminated. Even if you don't like the way a particular city's water tastes doesn't mean it is harmful. Municipal water supplies are one of the great U.S. achievements.

 
My aunt lived in the mountains northeast of Phoenix. Her water came from a well...

...and was better (by far!) than any bottled water I've ever had. It was cold and so pure tasting.

Phoenix tap water tastes almost as bad as San Diego tap water. I haven't had tap water to drink in years.

Michael

 
I guess it depends on where you live....

... I was ok with drinking tap water until we saw reports about contamination with chromium and arsenate in the water from parts of Oklahoma, including the city where we live.

It is true that there are standards for water treatment in the US, but they are not as strict as they could be. Filtering the tap water through a system like Brita gives me the extra insurance I want.

 
I drink water from the tap. We have GREAT water here, it's even better than bottled water

I know I'm lucky smileys/smile.gif

 
I do. If bottled water is the only alternative I try to save the bottle and reuse it with tap water.

I agree with Sally about the plastic waste. There is also the fossil fuel used to transport it. Avoiding bottled water is one of the best changes you can make for the environment.

But I have a weakness for the occasional bottle of sparkling mineral water. At Trader Joe's, I'm torn between local water in a plastic bottle, and imported German water in a glass bottle.

 
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