Coca-Cola Water

[Kess]

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_878462.html

Sort of amusing after Randi's many comments about scams relating to bottled water, but Coca-Cola is now under fire in the UK for selling bottling tap water (after subjecting it to filtering and "reverse osmosis", of course).

It seems the media have finally woken up. Perhaps they should also read the small print on many other bottled waters...

[Jaan]

I don't see what the big deal is ... in fact, I think the scaming goes the other way.

Water is water. I've always wondered how people could fall for the "Naive Springs" marketing hype, and personally all I ever wanted was clean water.

I think it's hilarious that people are up in arms because someone would DARE to sell clean water, instead of "Natural" water. BAH!

[Rolfe]

They had a thing on the radio yesterday afternoon where a professional wine taster was given three waters to blind-taste - one "mineral spring", one tap, and one the Coca Cola thing.

He said the first one was OK, just ordinary water, the second had a slight mineral tang to it, and the third was unbelievably flat, like water with the water-ness removed. He guessed the third was the Coca-Cola water. He was wrong. It was the fancy mineral spring!

Of the other two, I can't remember which way round it was, I think it was the tap water that had the slightly mineral tang, and the Coca-Cola water that was just OK ordinary water taste.

Anyway, he said that if you were drinking it with food there's no way you'd notice any difference anyway, except that the spring water was remarkably uninteresting.

Rolfe.

[jcon96]

I will admit we buy bottled water at my house (only because the local tap water is disgusting, salt water contamination I was told) though the stuff we buy is nothing fancy, just the local grocery labeled stuff. At least it has no fishy odor.

[Matabiri]

There was an article in the paper today, in which a "famous food and drink critic" was quoted as saying something along the lines of:

I don't buy bottled water, but I keep a bottle of San Pelligrino filled with tap water in the fridge to put on the table for guests. One of them once took a swig and said, "There's nothing like San Pelligrino, is there?"

Reminds me of the Roald Dahl Tale of the Unexpected with the cheap and odious Spanish wine.

[Kess]

Originally posted by Rolfe
They had a thing on the radio yesterday afternoon where a professional wine taster was given three waters to blind-taste - one "mineral spring", one tap, and one the Coca Cola thing.

He said the first one was OK, just ordinary water, the second had a slight mineral tang to it, and the third was unbelievably flat, like water with the water-ness removed. He guessed the third was the Coca-Cola water. He was wrong. It was the fancy mineral spring!

Of the other two, I can't remember which way round it was, I think it was the tap water that had the slightly mineral tang, and the Coca-Cola water that was just OK ordinary water taste.

Anyway, he said that if you were drinking it with food there's no way you'd notice any difference anyway, except that the spring water was remarkably uninteresting.

Rolfe.
I heard that interview (on Radio 4). I loved the way that the 3rd water, which the taster described as having no personality, turned out to be the French mineral water.

I think the Coca-Cola water and tap water were pretty indistinguishable, as you say.

[Monketey Ghost]

My uncle in Ireland thinks it's just hysterical that Americans will pay for bottled water. He finds it endlessly funny.

[magicflute]

My favorite is the "Agua De Culo" that P&T served to the restaurant guests in their "BULLS***T" series. Look ...., for about $49 at Home Depot you can get an under-counter double stage water filter that will correct most problems. Bottled water is only a convenience when out and about.

[Zep]

Originally posted by jcon96
I will admit we buy bottled water at my house (only because the local tap water is disgusting, salt water contamination I was told) though the stuff we buy is nothing fancy, just the local grocery labeled stuff. At least it has no fishy odor. That's way better than the advertising reasons for buying it, I'm guessing.

Come to think of it... How would the advertising jingle go? "Buy our water because it doesn't stink of fish!!"

[Beanbag]

Of course, there's the apochryphal line attributed to W.C. Fields, when asked why he never drank water:

"Goodness, woman! Don't you know fish f**k in it?"

As far as local water goes here, at the end of the summer we have an algae bloom in the lake, and the water has a grassy, oily taste for a few weeks. I bought a carbon filtration system that screws on the end of the tap. I use it for drinking water and making ice only; everything else gets straight tap water. A $6.00 filter lasts about six months. I keep a supply of "generic" bottled water on top of the refridgerator as "just in case" water, for any emergencies that might arise. Other than that, I've been drinking the local water since I was born, and for the most part I think it has no taste, except around July/August.

Regards;
Beanbag.

[Charlie in Dayton]

Back almost 15 years ago, I had a night job at a convenience store/gas station/car wash north of town. The place should have been a license to print money...the first gas station you could see from the Interstate after (or, depending on your travel, the last one you could see before) long travels through farm country. We sat right on the edge of the transition from agriculture to industry.
Naturally, the night shift guy (me) did the shelf and cooler stocking. Milk, beer, soda pop, you name it. One night, there was a note from the boss about that special case of stuff he'd run across super cheap, and he wanted it in the cooler on the rack so people could grab one to quench the internal fires.

I looked at the case, then opened it, and did a triple take at the bottles. Little 8 oz plastic jobs, screw-off caps, almost generic-product looking labels...I remember thinking that nobody is gonna fall for this one...I stocked the racks with the entire case.

Next night, I came in for work, and after the standard hooraw was over and things settled down, I checked the cooler for that night's stocking.

Every single bottle of the stuff in question was gone...

In the morning, the boss stopped in, and I asked him about the stuff. Oh, he said, it went like hotcakes at 79 cents a bottle (if I recall right), and the whole case only cost him a couple of bucks, and he wanted to find more 'cause this stuff was just raking the cash in for him...never did see that stuff in the cooler again before I left for greener pastures.

What was the miracle elixir that sold out?

As the divine entity of your choice is my witness, the bottles were labeled "Diet Water".

True story.

[Darat]

Originally posted by Kess

I heard that interview (on Radio 4). I loved the way that the 3rd water, which the taster described as having no personality, turned out to be the French mineral water.

I think the Coca-Cola water and tap water were pretty indistinguishable, as you say.

Not surprising, consider what happens.

A municipal water supply in Sidcup Kent, that has already been treated to remove impurities, bacteria and so on is filtered again to remove the exact same contaminants.

Then (and this is what cracks me up) they "contaminant" the pure water they've produced with calcium, magnesium, sulphate, sodium, bicarbonate and chloride so that it “tastes nicer”! (Words of a Coca-Cola spokesperson.)

[digital goldfish]

Vaguely related quote that always makes me smile.

Ford Prefect:
"....It's unpleasantly like being drunk"

Arthur Dent:
"What's so bad about being drunk?"

Ford Prefect:
"Ask a glass of water"


Thank you Hitchhiker's....

[AlienX]

The main point here is that the water is clearly marked as "pure", but it's got a list of additives.

In the EU there are definative guidelines as to what you can label as "pure", one of the mian features of these guidelines apparently is for it to be classed are pure your unable to use additives.

If this is the case the they may be forced to either remove the word pure or stop selling it all together.

I think it's disasterous for the company as unfortunately a very popular UK comedy show had a mian character who had the same idea (Bottle london tap water and sell it as Peckham Spring).
This character is synonomus with dodgy dealing and being a con man - so much so that con men are often called "Del Boys" after the character. So for this company to bottle london tap water.. even if it is ran through an RO .... I'm stunned . whats the point of running the water through a reverse ozmosis just to add the salts back at the end? (even Del boy wasn't that stupid).

At work today in the canteen people complained about the fact that this water was on sale in place of the usual. It's being sent back as nobody will buy it. Being seen drinking this now will meet with instant ridicule in the UK.

AX

[ManfredVonRichthoffen]

I won't buy the coka cola stuff simply because it is priced like a coke. I mean, if you're going to sell filtered tap water, sell it for a quarter.

[Rascal]

We have five-gallon jugs of water delivered, as it does taste considerably better than what comes out of our tap (plus it's not too expensive). Still, I've never quite shaken the suspicion that when they collect the empties, they drive around the corner and fill them up using the neighbor's garden hose.

[TeaBag420]

Originally posted by AlienX
[B]The main point here is that the water is clearly marked as "pure", but it's got a list of additives.

In the EU there are definative guidelines as to what you can label as "pure"....


I thought we settled that back in the 1940's. Silly me.

[Eos of the Eons]

Originally posted by Charlie in Dayton
Back almost 15 years ago, I had a night job at a convenience store/gas station/car wash north of town. The place should have been a license to print money...the first gas station you could see from the Interstate after (or, depending on your travel, the last one you could see before) long travels through farm country. We sat right on the edge of the transition from agriculture to industry.
Naturally, the night shift guy (me) did the shelf and cooler stocking. Milk, beer, soda pop, you name it. One night, there was a note from the boss about that special case of stuff he'd run across super cheap, and he wanted it in the cooler on the rack so people could grab one to quench the internal fires.

I looked at the case, then opened it, and did a triple take at the bottles. Little 8 oz plastic jobs, screw-off caps, almost generic-product looking labels...I remember thinking that nobody is gonna fall for this one...I stocked the racks with the entire case.

Next night, I came in for work, and after the standard hooraw was over and things settled down, I checked the cooler for that night's stocking.

Every single bottle of the stuff in question was gone...

In the morning, the boss stopped in, and I asked him about the stuff. Oh, he said, it went like hotcakes at 79 cents a bottle (if I recall right), and the whole case only cost him a couple of bucks, and he wanted to find more 'cause this stuff was just raking the cash in for him...never did see that stuff in the cooler again before I left for greener pastures.

What was the miracle elixir that sold out?

As the divine entity of your choice is my witness, the bottles were labeled "Diet Water".

True story.


I reminds me of the time when I was in high school and a teacher asked us what amount of calories was in tap water(giving us a few to pick from 0, .05, 1).

I mulled over the fact that some impurities might be in tap water (a bug wing maybe?) and that might count.

Guess not, the answer was 0 of course.

So, what is diet water? I wonder if you market something like that with a touch of grapefruit juice in it, and claim it will cut your food cravings?

Hmmm.... ***rubs hands together***

[epepke]

Can someone please explain to me what the big fuss is about here?

I've had London tap water and, while it tastes OK, I guess, there's something in it, and whatever the hell it is it makes it take about five times as long to wash shampoo out of your hair. Which may explain something about London hairstyles, but I digress.

But what do you expect? That they teleport it from the Planet of Pure Water or something? They pump ozone in it to oxidize particulate matter and pump it through a semi-permeable membrane (reverse osmosis) to get most of the crap out. And even if they distilled the stuff, I'm sure a London tabloid would say that it's just tap water.

And for those of you who think your tap water is so great, most places in the US, the county will give you an analysis of water for free. Of course, they tell you to let the water run for five minutes before taking a sample, but people don't do that when they want a drink, do they? Take a sample just as if you were going to drink it and see what's in it. Go ahead. I double-dog dare you.

Not that I buy bottled water, except when on the road. The Tallahassee tap water is pretty good, even for brewing. But if I lived in Central Florida where the water is so sulfate it smells of rotten eggs, yeah.

[JMEJAM]

HEY! "Tallahasee Tap Water" would be a great name for a bluegrass band!

[Matabiri]

I also remember an article when Coke first started building the factory. The Coca-Cola European director of marketing was quoted as saying, "I don't have time for tap water."

[Silicon]

Of course it's tap water. Again, I have to ask "where's the outrage". That's what Dasani is, filtered, flavored water. It's pretty good, actually my favorite brand of bottled still water (yes because of taste. I like the mineral mix in Dasani).




A spokeswoman for the National Consumer Council said: "It sounds like the episode from Only Fools And Horses when they sold tap water from what they called the Peckham Spring."


Now that I completely don't get. Is that why this is an outrage, because it resembles some obscure british sitcom?

[Darat]

Originally posted by Silicon
Of course it's tap water. Again, I have to ask "where's the outrage". That's what Dasani is, filtered, flavored water. It's pretty good, actually my favorite brand of bottled still water (yes because of taste. I like the mineral mix in Dasani).


Now that I completely don't get. Is that why this is an outrage, because it resembles some obscure british sitcom?

Don't know if I'd label it outrage but it really revolves around two things one the Coca-Cola's attempt to sell us tap water that has already been treated and is safe to drink by claiming it's somehow "different" and "better" and secondly labelling it "pure" even though they add to the "pure" water.

[Silicon]

Originally posted by Darat


Don't know if I'd label it outrage but it really revolves around two things one the Coca-Cola's attempt to sell us tap water that has already been treated and is safe to drink by claiming it's somehow "different" and "better" and secondly labelling it "pure" even though they add to the "pure" water.


Isn't that what all bottled water is, except perhaps Perrier?

They aren't claiming it's imported.

And as for the word pure, if they further filtered it, isn't it more pure than tap water?

Adding minerals doesn't make the water impure.

Unless somehow you were thinking that Dasani was supposed to be distilled water, which they're not.

You chaps in england DO know the difference between minerals that add flavor and nutrition to water, and the kind of impurities that wind up in tap water, right?

[Darat]

Originally posted by Silicon



Isn't that what all bottled water is, except perhaps Perrier?


Most of the bottle water sold in the UK is "mineral water" i.e. from natural springs and so on. This water is not labelled as "pure" because it contains minerals. (An interesting point is that Coca-Cola used its retail power to try and stop shop owners in Buxton - the home of the most famous UK mineral water - stocking Buxton water in the Coca-Cola labelled fridges. Now this did cause an outrage from the retailers, from the local community and the local tourist board.)

Originally posted by Silicon


They aren't claiming it's imported.

And as for the word pure, if they further filtered it, isn't it more pure than tap water?

Adding minerals doesn't make the water impure.



Adding something to something that is "pure" isn't making it "impure"? Of course it is!

Originally posted by Silicon

Unless somehow you were thinking that Dasani was supposed to be distilled water, which they're not.

You chaps in england DO know the difference between minerals that add flavor and nutrition to water, and the kind of impurities that wind up in tap water, right?

Er no because our tap water (bar a very few exceptions) is "pure" in the Dasani meaning of the word straight out of the tap. (As blind tasting keep proving...)

[MasterDirk]

Here in Norway most people have excellent tap-water, and it is a known fact that the bottled water sold is just tap-water with "minerals" added. Some water-types claim that they come from glaciers or special sources, but all analyses show these kinds of water to be of inferior quality to the normal tap-water. Many people buy them just for the nice bottles and sportscaps, which is OK, I guess.

I work at a gas station, and we sell a lot of water. Hey, we sell a lot of stupid things. The one thing I can't understand, though, is that people buy a .5l bottle of water for 20NOK (almost $3) of unknown quality when they can get a 4 litre canteen of certified cleaned water (distilled to be chemically pure) for their car-battery for 12NOK (about $1.7). That's $0.425 pr litre, or $0.2125 for 0.5l (compared to the $3 bottle). Even better, tap water is aboslutely free in Norway. It's included in the municipal taxes you have to pay to live (which also include sewage disposal and waste).

I'm always stunned by this when I think about it.

[ceptimus]

Another program on Radio 4 yesterday afternoon. A guy had begun marketing marketing bottled tap water, the brand name being, 'On Tap'. He insisted that this was not satire at Coca Cola's expense; he said the reason people buy bottled water is for convenience - when they are away from home. His product is to be marketed in a 'no frills' way, and he hopes it will be around half the price of Coca Cola water.

I have found water straight from the tap at my house sometimes has a slight chlorine taste, but if I fill a jug with it, and stand it in the fridge for an hour or so, it tastes better (to me) than most bottled water.

I believe most people prefer water from water coolers, or bottled water from fridges, just because it is usually cooler than water taken straight from the tap. Any blind trial protocol should ensure that all the varieties of water are served at the same temperature. Warm or hot water is pretty disgusting, no matter what fancy mineral spring it came from.