Italians Get With the Program, Start Drinking Tap Water
- Posted by: Siobhan O'Connor
- on June 12, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Great news coming out of the country that drinks more delicious bottled water than any other in the world: Venice is finally encouraging its residents to take from the tap and stop clogging the city with bottles.
This piece in The New York Times says that Italians drink 40 gallons of bottled water per person, per year. (We Americans drink a not-so-paltry 29.) That’s a lot of bottles, plastic or glass, to have to get rid of by foot, since Venice doesn’t have roads. So the mayor launched a campaign (see the hilarious poster) to get people to start drinking tap water, which, it turns out, is very delicious.
To boost the campaign, the mayor’s office even leaked the juicy fact that “Venice’s tap water comes from deep underground in the same region as one of Italy’s most popular bottled waters, San Benedetto.”
Anyway, this is great, even if the self-congratulatory tone folks use when they tell you they drink tap water is kind of annoying at times, whatever it takes to get the rest of the bottled-water-drinking world up to speed is good news.
DISCUSSION: 18 Comments
Most water used in the household in Italy is actually sold in boxes. It’s only walk-about water that’s sold in bottles.
Excellent news! I get sick of seeing people dirty our environment with plastic bottles. If you don’t like the tap water, buy a Brita. Really, it’s not that tough.
Check out water conservation related to wildfires in the cross-country bicycle ride documentary SOUTHERN TIER.Episode 1-2 on Vimeo.http://www.vimeo.com/3877208Southern Nevada Water Authority – Doug BennettFire Ecologist Northern Arizona University – Dr. Pete Pule
Sadly, the companies that make bottled water are very powerful in Italy. Now many cities are trying to privatize the water supplies to those same companies who make bottled water, and that will make things ever worst. There are people that try to fight this, e.g. Beppe Grillo, but politicians don’t really care; corruption is our biggest problem and water companies pay very well.Ps. All the water in Italy is sold in bottle, no boxes here.
I agree with Francesco. We have a big problem with the bottled water in Italy. Is a matter of habit and lack of information. Hope to see more posters like this.
there are a lot of ways to prevent all the pollution from bottles like a airto water machine http://www.mygvbiz.com/jameshampton this is one of the best ive ever seen
Even in the US a lot of bottled water is delivered in 5G bottles which are 100% recycled. Bottled water is heavily regulated and tested. When was the last time you had your tap water tested? You never know what lies between you and the public water source, so as the article demonstrates… trust but verify.
Stupid title, typically American, as well……… In other words, ignorant.
Many Euros customarily drink bottled water as per the established and centuries old tradition of same containing a wide variety of mineral which is altogether beneficial. While certain established mineral waters are an acquired taste as it were…., others are simply easy on the palate while containing light mineral content. They’re worth the extra money for those who sense their benefits.
I purchase several cases of two established mineral waters and routinely consume a good 1.5L per day. There are clear (aforementioned) benefits in so doing. My two primary USsA municipalities provide a very good water and I am thankful for same. Nevertheless, I have a rather extensive pre-faucet total filtration system and use that for any generally consumed water in various form be it light drinking, teas, cooking, etc. It’s the residual lead and chlorine I am keeping in check most often.
I drink Fiji and Mountain Valley. Both have proven to be superior to any tap water. Would someone please tell me why everyone keeps making ALL bottled water out to be of no use? and when they are going to start being specific and stop making people who buy a bottle of water feel guilty because they didn’t buy the bottle of Pepsi which creates thousand times more pollutants while processing.
Well John, sorry you took offense to the title of the article. I certainly took offense to your generalization of my country’s intelligence. Perhaps if you practiced your English you would understand the title was not harmful, and you would acquire the added benefit of being able to write postings that are intelligible. Ciao
If you worry about the chlorine it is with reason.However n neutralize chlorine in bath water or any tap water with a few drops of Peroxide.Borax will neutralize florine or floride in tap water you bathe in.
There have been many studies on the toxicity of florine and chlorine in water.it causes many health problems. You can research online all the studies on flouride and chlorinated water.
The best drinking water in the world, it’s the new york city tap water.It comes from the cleanest source has a clean distrubution system and is constantly tested (at great expense to the taxpayer).Yet many new yorkers refuse to drink it. Instead they drink bottled water… freaking television advertisements have people so convinced bottled water is better.So most of this great water, it just getting flushed down toilets and bathed in.
Oh and Jacqueline, tap water faces much tighter regulations than bottled water, which when tested consistantly contains more bacteria. Admittingly the trace amount of chlorine can taste funny…but getting rid of that is as simple as leaving a big open glass bottle of it in the fridge over night (evaperates it).
That plastic the bottle is made out of, it leaches into the water. Why did you think coke tastes better out of a glass bottle (beer too). Now the question is, how much of that plastic does your system safely pass…all or just most of it…
Yeah, bottled water sucks.
Ross. sorry to disagree with you but NYC water “was” the best until sometimes in the mid eighties when the then Mayor Koch let the water company mix the water from the Neversink lake to the one from the Hudson river. Croton Point Reservoir and the treatment plant in Yonkers is where all the water for NYC goes thru. They add chlorine (disinfection), alumina (clarifier) and fluoride (good for your teeth they say) to it. The water tastes like ****. What was wrong with the water from the lake originally? NOTHING. NYC water is not what it used to be. Believe me. Someone is laughing all the way to the bank selling us bottled water. Go upstate NY and drink the water there, from the lake. Then you tell me what you think
i like to keep my immune system on it’s toes and never drink pussy bottled water.
first, the water out of a tap is easy to take care of by some sort of the many filter systems that are on the market, everywhere.
second,bottle water is not regulated as strickly as tap water, both having much to loose restriction for the water they we use, consume and pay a good price for.
third, the PLASTIC, THROW_AWAY BOTTLE is the main problem, it leaches into the water so no mattrer the restrictive measure used they become ineffectual by that simple FACT. They maybe 100% recycle-able, at times, HOWEVER the processes takes time, many are just thrown away in the garbage, which ends up in a landfill and the expense to process the bottles can be used to cleaning our earth based water systems which do a great job, when working properly, replensihing itself.
AND LASTLY!!! A PERSON DRINKING BOTTLE WATER, PAYS MORE FOR IT THAN FOR HIGH COSTING GASOLINE. By doing so you just feed a bunch of people who TRULY do not care what you are drinking just so long as you are!!! THIS ALSO IS APPLIED TO BOTTLE SODA AND JUICES. The bottles yes but the same goes for the contents of HIGH SUGAR.
yes a couple of spelling mistakes but you get the point, so do not need the obvious pointed out to me, lol.
I live in Southern Italy. I can guarantee you that the water coming out of my tap isn’t fit to drink. Nitrates are out the roof, but mainly, it is salted. I would have to install an expensive and powerful reverse osmosis filter in order to drink it. (I tried using a cheaper model and after several hours it barely produced enough water to fill a glass). Many places around here are in the same situation. I can’t even use my water to cook with. Believe me, I would if I could. I can perfectly understand people here buying bottled water. I get mine from a fountain where the water is drinkable, but I have to drive a few kilometers to get it… Not sure whether the fewer recyclable bottles I use ecologically outweighs the gaz I spend to get the fountain water. That would be an interesting issue to measure. And I think that people here simply don’t trust their tapwater, even when it is good, because in very many cases, it isn’t.
This is sad to see. Thankfully I live in Austin, TX where we have many stringent regulations on our water and are consistently ranked as having one of the 5 cleanest sources of drinking water in the country.It’s a Colorado River resevoir and the lake is unbelievably clean, you can sometimes see 20ft down on a calm day. Beautiful city with great water, what a deal.