The price of water.

[bindeweede]

A relative of mine recently posted a link to this article on Facebook. Apparently, a little over two years ago, the average price of a litre of Evian water was 31p.

http://www.which.co.uk/advice/switch...ater/index.jsp

I do find those figures hard to believe. A half litre of Evian today will be about 50p, probably more. And the average litre of supermarket water was 8.5p? And they say they bought litre bottles where possible.

Has the price of water, bottled or not, really risen so much in a couple of years?

[brianp]

Has the price of water, bottled or not, really risen so much in a couple of years?

I suspect that the water-bottlers have realized that their are enough
idiots in the world willing to pay 50p/litre for a product that costs
virtually nothing, to make it worth their while to charge such a
ridiculous price.

It amazes me that people regard it as a better quality and 'healthier'
product than tap water when it is subject to far fewer regulations
and safety checks.

I've used it myself reluctantly when our water supply has been off
for any reason. I've used it reluctantly when I've been out and about
and found that the only choice was between sugary drinks and bottled
water (I'm diabetic). But I much prefer good old safe, reliable, monitored
tap water and it costs me next to nothing.

[Pebble]

A relative of mine recently posted a link to this article on Facebook. Apparently, a little over two years ago, the average price of a litre of Evian water was 31p.

http://www.which.co.uk/advice/switch...ater/index.jsp

I do find those figures hard to believe. A half litre of Evian today will be about 50p, probably more. And the average litre of supermarket water was 8.5p? And they say they bought litre bottles where possible.

Has the price of water, bottled or not, really risen so much in a couple of years?

Given free market systems are known to operate perfectly, this rise in price must reflect a supply demand mismatch - proof that the world is running out of water!

Alternatively the recession has forced some people to downgrade to tap water but for those who value getting their liquid from a sealed container price is known not to hugely influence their behaviour, so profit margins are protected by increasing price.

[asydhouse]

I was living in Germany when Chernobyl happened, and since Volvic water comes from deep under the extinct volcano in France I assumed it was safer to drink than tap water, and carried on drinking it for a few years (it does taste nicer than the other bottled waters, that's for sure, especially that empty Evian).

I've no idea if whatever radioactivity fell in Europe would have made its way down to that reservoir by now, and a lot of the stuff released hasn't even gone through one half-life yet, but my understanding is that it was so disperesed that we might just as well live with it by now and not try to avoid it. I still kind of think the soil in Poland might be heavily polluted with fallout, though, and try not to eat food from Eastern Europe as a result.

Does anyone know anything about all this? (I am being extremely lazy and asking here instead of doing a search, but I'm not fretting over it and this is a top of the head moment of interest... just occurred to me someone here might know some good info!) Cheers,

[chaggle]

This is why I drink bottled water and yes, it is a washbasin, not a toilet.

[asthmatic camel]

I don't mind paying for carbonated water. 10p for three litres at Tesco. It's a refreshing drink with ice and a slice.

[polomint38]

I don't mind paying for carbonated water. 10p for three litres at Tesco. It's a refreshing drink with ice and a slice.

Carbonated water is also available at other supermarkets and various other food outlets.
Watch out for the lawyers.

[skbuncks]

I don't mind paying for carbonated water. 10p for three litres at Tesco. It's a refreshing drink with ice and a slice.

Fizzy water is like the distilled and carbonated piss of Beelzebub himself.

skb

[Tony Williams]

Fizzy water is like the distilled and carbonated piss of Beelzebub himself.

That good, is it?

[asthmatic camel]

I don't have many options. I'm a diabetic who dislikes the taste of artificial sweeteners, can't tolerate caffeine, and our tap water smells like it's been pumped from the local swimming pool. Of course, there's always whisky if I want to put myself into a hypoglycaemic coma...

[blackjack]

My dad used to work for Thames Water; his favourite joke when he saw me drinking the tap water was "Did you know that's been passed by the Board of Directors twelve times?"