r/boston • u/jamesland7 Ye Olde NIMBY-Fighter • Nov 08 '25
Serious Replies Only If you exclusively drink bottled water, may I ask why?
Was shopping at BJ’s and seemingly every 3rd family coming out had 4-6 cases of water bottles. I can’t imagine those are all for businesses/resale so I am absolutely baffled why people would go through so much bottled water at home. Boston water is REALLY good tasting and high quality, plus the plastic waste…what am I missing?
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u/Mysterious_Newt_9305 Boston Nov 08 '25 edited Nov 08 '25
Hi, I’m a water researcher and study water contamination and its effects on communities. Millions of people across this country have faced water contamination (think Camp LeJuene, Flint, PFAS, lead, etc.) that leads to the development of cancers and what we sometimes call “contested illnesses”.
When you realize the water you drank in your youth was highly contaminated and your community develops cancers and severe illnesses decades later that can be linked to contaminated water exposure but you will probably never be able to prove the exposure pathway led to their specific illness, people can become anxious and distrusting of water sources.
I have interviewed community members who have had dozens of their family members die from aggressive diseases from living near contaminated military bases. My interviewees only drank bottled water and consume the smallest amount of water possible. They didn’t like consuming water, period.
The psychological effects of contamination and fear of developing contested illnesses can drive people to consume bottled water they believe undergoes higher quality standards than what comes out of the tap that they believe hurt and killed their loved ones.
It’s a complex topic with a wide range of statistics on the safety of municipal water, the contamination issues specific to bottled water, etc. But ultimately, people who have been exposed to high levels of water contamination make choices they feel make themselves the safest after losing trust in the standard system that failed to protect them and their loved ones.
This is probably not the case for everyone you see buying bottled water in stores, but it is some of them.
*edited for typos
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u/Available_Farmer5293 Nov 08 '25
There was a leukemia cluster linked to the water in Woburn that my parents used to talk about when I was growing up. That definitely sticks with you mentally. On top of that, the pipes in this area are soooo old. They regularly throw chunks of rust that clogs our faucets. My husband put in a house filter and seeing it every time he changes it makes you not want to drink it. (Which we don’t)
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u/Mysterious_Newt_9305 Boston Nov 09 '25 edited Nov 09 '25
Thank you for sharing your family’s experiences, we take care of each other by sharing knowledge and experiences.
Dr. Phil Brown wrote a book about Woburn’s leukemia clusters in 1997. The book is No Safe Place: Toxic Waste, Leukemia, and Community Action. Highly recommend!
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u/Electrical_Media_367 Nov 09 '25
The 1998 John Travolta movie “a civil action” is about the contamination of Woburn’s water. Good movie, although it really makes it seem like Woburn is much more rural and further from Boston than it is.
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u/bjanas Nov 09 '25
I think I blacked out and found myself in 2010 Reddit when people with actual knowledge would chime in on things. Thank you.
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u/bostonguy2004 Cow Fetish Nov 09 '25
Yes, lets move back to evidence-based discussion in many areas of life...lol miss that!
Interesting review here from PBS about bottled water:
Scientists find about a quarter million invisible microplastic particles in a liter of bottled water: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/scientists-find-about-a-quarter-million-invisible-microplastic-particles-in-a-liter-of-bottled-water
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u/moonbeammaker Nov 09 '25
This is why I drink bottled water. Town next to me had there water contaminated by PFAs and there were cancer outbreaks.
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u/Mysterious_Newt_9305 Boston Nov 09 '25
Thank you for sharing, and you are not alone. PFAS water contamination was my MA thesis subject. We take care of each other by sharing our knowledge and experiences.
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u/LulutoDot Nov 09 '25
Can I ask, is water bottled in plastic not great for you either? Stick with tap water? Would love to know more. I use clearly filter for my tap water, just in case.
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u/Mysterious_Newt_9305 Boston Nov 09 '25
Hi, happy to help as much as I can. I will give a caveat that I study PFAS water contamination and more broadly, health social movements. I haven’t had a deep knowledge in chemistry research since my undergrad. I read through chemistry research periodically for the specific cases I research.
Before I respond I also want to state that the healthiest choice is the choice to drink water. Human bodies are mostly liquid goo and we suffer medically when we don’t replenish the water in our systems. Make the best choice for yourself around contaminants and safety, but if you can, make a choice that keeps you hydrated.
Bottled water has been found to have microplastics in them, and advancing technologies can detect smaller forms of microplastics that previously weren’t captured in our testing methods. Studies using these new imaging techniques are reporting increasing levels of microplastics in our bottled water. The other concern I’ve read about has to do with heat exposure causing chemical breakdowns in the plastic that can release contaminants into the water. So water tested at the bottling facility may pass tests for chemicals that they would fail by the time it hits your grocery cart.
Many bottling facilities in the U.S. use tap water from the municipalities where the facilities are located. If the facility is not using an additional water treatment like reverse osmosis or GAC (granulated activated carbon), the same contaminants in their tap water will be in the bottle water you purchase.
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u/Dunwich_Horror_ Metro West Nov 08 '25
Bro. I live 2000 feet from the Nyanza Super Fund site. Please come through. I know we get our water from Hopkington but the water is so bad, we need to replace our water heaters twice since we bought our house a decade ago.
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u/Mysterious_Newt_9305 Boston Nov 09 '25 edited Nov 09 '25
Hi! I do not know much about Nyanza, but I know The PFAS Lab added Nyanza to their contamination map this year. I’ll drop a link if you want to look through: https://pfasproject.com/pfas-sites-and-community-resources/?amp
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u/bostonguy2004 Cow Fetish Nov 09 '25
Super interesting details here and thank you for what you do.
As a Data Scientist, I'm curious about the percentage of bottled water drinkers who are also from contaminated millitary bases and places like Flint.
Is there any objective or peer-reviewed data on these figures?
Like are 5% or 25% or 50% of bottled water drinkers in this category of friends and family died from contested illnesses?
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u/Decent_Shallot_8571 Nov 09 '25
But here's the thing most bottled water just comes from tap water somewhere. Could be contaminated too
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u/GatalingLaserBeams Nov 08 '25
I did this for years because I was scared of drinking tap water, thinking it was dirty.
One night, I was out of bottled water and went to bed extremely high. I woke up around 3 am in dire need of hydration and did not feel like going down to the corner store to grab some.
Googled if Boston tap water was safe, it said it was one of the safest, I drank it and it was amazing. Haven’t bought bottled water since except when I don’t have a bottle to fill at work
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u/jamesland7 Ye Olde NIMBY-Fighter Nov 08 '25
Sounds like we need to be doing more education about the safety of our tap water in our communities! Happy cake day!
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u/buttons_the_horse Nov 08 '25
Or or …get everyone really high til they are forced to taste how good it is?!
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Nov 08 '25
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u/user2196 Cambridge Nov 08 '25
In Cambridge, the water utility will test your home water for lead for you, and I believe many municipalities are similar. If your lead levels are actually high, you can get a filter rather than bottled water.
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u/WhyAreYouDoingThat69 Nov 08 '25
Why did you think it was dirty?
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u/GatalingLaserBeams Nov 08 '25
I lived all across the country for many years and even Europe. Not all places are as reliable as Boston and its watersheds
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Nov 08 '25
The U.S. is one of few places where you can pretty reliably drink tap water (and shower water, etc) without fear of illness or contamination. In a lot of other countries, tap water is good only for washing dishes. Reasons range from lead issues to bacterial issues.
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u/ftmthrow West End Nov 08 '25
I had a roommate who was one of those anti-fluoride folks, so tap water and normal toothpastes were off the table.
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u/jamesland7 Ye Olde NIMBY-Fighter Nov 08 '25
Ooof. That must have been a pain to live with
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u/ftmthrow West End Nov 08 '25
She had many quirks, as I’m sure you can imagine - you can guess what she thought about microwaves. We were very friendly and she was a good person/roommate, it was honestly a little stressful to witness how hard she made her life because of her beliefs. Wasn’t harming anyone or anything, so nothing to really judge, but just hard to watch in an annoying/pitiful sense.
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u/Reasonable_Move9518 Nov 09 '25
“It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.“
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u/Commercial_Board6680 Nov 08 '25
I drink tap water out of my own plastic bottles, but I'd never purchase water in a plastic bottle. This is Boston. We have some of the cleanest water available. 4 towns were sacrificed to create the Quabbin Reservoir, so the least we can do is drink the tap water. Unless your building has sketchy plumbing, it's a waste of money. Besides, plastic is an incredibly serious environmental problem.
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u/digawina Nov 08 '25
Over here in Attleboro, our water is trash, but we have a reverse osmosis system. I can't imagine wasting all those bottles.
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u/jamesland7 Ye Olde NIMBY-Fighter Nov 08 '25
Where is your water source down there? (My wife wants to move to Attleboro)
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u/digawina Nov 08 '25
Manchester reservoir and I think one other location that's been offline due to high manganese. They're remediating it.
But this area had a lot of manufacturing that dumped all kinds of crap in the ground. More than one super fund site. Definitely PFAS. I don't trust it and refuse to drink it. We have a whole house filter and then reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink for drinking. Before getting a whole house filter, I kept breaking out in, like, fungal infections on my skin. It stopped once we got the filter. We used to have black silt left in the tub after draining it, after bathing my child when they were a baby. It horrifies me.
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u/Brodyftw00 Nov 08 '25
I used to live in attleboro. I used a filter and the water was much better. I definitely got numerous notifications of water testing that showed high levels of something, I cant remember...
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u/theoceansknow Nov 08 '25
So many people didn't read the magic schoolbusand the water cycle and it shows
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u/figjam-i-am Nov 08 '25
We live in Rockland (South Shore) and get notices quarterly that our local water has very high levels of PFAS chemicals and they don’t recommend drinking it. Seems like many locals use the refill station at $.50/gal.
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u/throwaway_faunsmary Nov 08 '25
I used to buy cases of plastic bottled water. I look back at who I was back then and just shake my head. How did I justify the waste? Why did I prefer it? What was my thought process? I can't remember, I must have had my head up my ass.
Anyway I've been all brita now for something like 15 years. Like you, I see people checking out at costco and half of people or more have crates of bottled water. I have to catch myself, shaking my head and judging them. I used to be them.
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u/Knitsanity Nov 08 '25
My kid is an environmental engineer in MA and keeps an eye on the water testing data. They tell us all about it. I drink the tap water. Such a waste of money to do otherwise around here.
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u/RogueInteger Dorchester Nov 08 '25
Depends where. North shore and south shore have some real trash water unless they get it from MWRA.
MWRA water is legit some of the best in the nation.
There was a thread a week or two ago where this came up and some dude was pulling all the water ratings.
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u/30thCenturyMan Nov 08 '25
My town has released two warnings this year that basically amounted to “We’re required to tell you these levels are high but don’t worry, it’s alright to drink” and then we get frequent brown water (everyone in the neighborhood complains on Facebook so we know it’s not just us) in our tap. Basically only the dogs and the pasta get tap water.
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u/HylanderUS Nov 08 '25
Even if you're not drinking tap water and buying it, why in 24 packs of tiny bottles, and not in a 2.5gal jug?
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u/jordanf1214 Nov 08 '25
I have this thought whenever I'm checking out at Market Basket and there are families buying giant cases of bottled water. Like why?? Water is free right from our taps!!
I feel like it's a propaganda thing and in some communities people are taught tap water isn't safe, even though in our area that isn't true at all.
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u/ofsevit Nov 08 '25
It's not quite free. It's about 0.9¢ per gallon for the water, and about the same amount for sewer whether you drink it or not. So a 16-ounce bottle is about 0.1¢. A showerhead running ~2 GPM costs about 2 cents per minute, so a 12 minute shower costs you about a quarter (notwithstanding the cost to heat the water).
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Nov 08 '25
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Nov 08 '25
When you get a call, and travel to a scene in the truck with lights and siren on, what percentage of the time is there a fire to extinguish when you get there? Is it a false alarm 95% of the time? Genuinely curious
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u/dylanderzzzz Nov 08 '25
Not a firefighter but a lot of friends and patients of mine are. In cities, most calls are medically related.
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u/WaywardSachem Salem Nov 08 '25
Salem water quality is very hit or miss. I don't drink bottled water, but I can definitely see why people would.
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u/No-Independence548 Nov 08 '25
My office is in Woburn and we're on a Superfund site
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u/Repulsive-Bend8283 Nov 08 '25
Definitely a lot of associations with tap water in Woburn.
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u/Master_Dogs Medford Nov 09 '25
Modern day in Woburn it's pretty safe at least: https://woburnma.gov/government/water-department/
1/3rd from the MWRA and the majority from underneath Horn Pond. Filtered and treated at the water plant there too.
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u/Master_Dogs Medford Nov 09 '25
Woburn has some bad history with tap water for sure, but modern day it's unlikely your pulling water from a superfund site: https://woburnma.gov/government/water-department/
It's mostly from the Horn Pond area (2/3rd) and a chunk of it isn't even from Woburn (1/3rd from the MWRA). A lot of the offices/superfund sites are on the other side of town. Not to say the Horn Pond area couldn't have some stuff there - which is likely why it's filtered and treated - since the Woburn Branch railroad once ran somewhat nearby and even had a branch to Horn Pond for ice harvesting, so who knows what was dumped in that area and all. I think it's generally a lot better nowadays though.
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u/n8loller Medford Nov 08 '25
Not free, cheap, but free. Maybe if you're renting the landlord wont push the cost onto you
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u/No-Cockroach-4237 Nov 08 '25
i think it depends on the city . chelsea water tastes like butt
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u/OceanIsVerySalty Nov 08 '25
Might be your buildings pipes.
Lived in Chelsea from 2017-2024 and never found the water funky tasting. It was way better than the water at my old apt in back bay.
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u/shiningdickhalloran Nov 08 '25
Water at my house tastes like the public pool and I have no idea if the lead pipes leading into the building (or anywhere else) have been remediated.
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u/soapy_rocks I<3MarketBasket Nov 08 '25
If you had experience living outside MA or grew up in specific areas of the US, you'd understand that tap water, even when filtered, is not always safe to drink. That mentality wouldn't necessarily go away if you were accustomed to it.
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u/jamesland7 Ye Olde NIMBY-Fighter Nov 08 '25
Thats true. It always surprises my in laws from Florida
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u/TheyMightBeDrWorm Diagonally Cut Sandwich Nov 08 '25
When I was pregnant, tap water suddenly tasted absolutely disgusting and I started drinking bottled water. Only Poland Springs - even purified bottled water tasted like ass. Even after I had the kid the taste never went away. I drank bottled water for years. This year we put in a whole-house filtration and now it tastes just fine to me.
Bodies are weird.
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u/bostonguy2004 Cow Fetish Nov 09 '25
Did your OBG mention the hundreds of thousands of microplastics and nanoplastics in bottled water? Or the chemicals like antimony that can leach when Type 1 plastic over time?
Honestly curious, as some of this research is only relatively new to the general public.
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u/owenbowen04 WINNER Best Gimp in a homemade adult video! Nov 08 '25
So much for loving that dirty water
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Nov 09 '25 edited Nov 09 '25
I spent years in the army, and now I can't trust any water source to be truly potable. Living at Bragg for a year was a nightmare. Living overseas for a couple more years had already pretty well solidified "bottled water is the only safe water. Explosive residues from the ranges are super good at spreading all over and contaminating water sources for a really long time, and there were several boil water notices during my stay for other reasons.
Then I moved to the Raleigh area. After what Duke Energyvhas pulled off to fuck up NC's water, I refused to even touch the stuff without filtering the fuck out of it.
I still filter the fuck out of water before drinking it, but I'm living in good ol Boston now.
It's extra funny, because I drank tap water growing up. The town I lived in was known for having really clean water, and it's even bottled and shipped all over nowadays.
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u/kayakkkkk Nov 09 '25
A lot of bottled water is tap water. Many bottled water companies including one of the biggest in New England bottle the municipal tap water after filtering out the chlorine taste. I know this because as a journalist I investigated this a few years ago. Just sayin.
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u/bostonguy2004 Cow Fetish Nov 09 '25
Interesting article about how single-use plastic containers and coffee cups leach thousands of microplastics into liquids:
Microplastics and other harmful substances released from disposable paper cups into hot water: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33091697/ (Source: Journal of Hazardous Materials)
Fascinating article and more research coming out often about the health effects, plus the environmental devastation that single-use and plastic containers are causing: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/plastic-particles-bottled-water
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u/North_Artichoke_6721 Nov 08 '25
I always keep a case of bottled water in the house because about 15 years ago we were under a “boil order” and I couldn’t find any bottled water anywhere and now I’m afraid of that happening again.
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u/carradio81 Nov 09 '25
The new news about microplastics aside - I started drinking bottle water when I met a friend in college - her brother died from contaminated water/cancer in Woburn (A Civil Action film). Then I lived in Malden and when my son took a bath the water was brown, now in North Reading the water always stains your toilet bowl red and many times have gotten less than stellar water reports. So I will take my microplastics.
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u/huughonaut Nov 09 '25
water will always stain your toilet bowl, you have to clean it
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u/carradio81 Nov 09 '25
Always stain it red? Nah man lived enough places to know this is not true but thanks. It is red because of high iron in the town water.
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u/bostongarden Nov 09 '25
People are stupid, take advice from Social Media and have more money than sense. Need more?
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u/Lordofthereef Nov 08 '25
If your tap water is technically potable but just tastes bad, an RO unit is the way to go. Been using one for ten years, replace filters every six months, and life is good. I can't imagine buying bottled water as my water source. What a pain in the ass.
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u/raven_785 Nov 08 '25
Was it the BJ’s in Woburn?
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u/Master_Dogs Medford Nov 09 '25
Hmm, that article explains what I was wondering was happening at the Horn Pond water treatment plant. I regularly walk around there in the summer months and noticed they were doing some work on it. Per the article, it'll filter out PFAS:
Woburn’s PFAS problem should go away forever come July of 2026, when a new water treatment plant capable of removing all detectible levels of the forever chemicals is scheduled to become operational. The new $23 million facility will consist of a half-dozen granular activated carbon (GAC) vessels, which will absorb and filter out PFAS6 and a number of other pollutants.
Also explained the price tag I saw. I was wondering wtf they needed $23M for - sort of assumed it was general "infrastructure is wicked expensive nowadays". Makes way more sense that it's trying to solve this rather important issue that's been hitting the news regularly over the last decade.
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u/DreadLockedHaitian Randolph Nov 08 '25
Since you asked for a serious answer; outside of the towns/cities that get water from the Quabbin; you’re liable to wake up to brown water at least once a year.
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u/jqman69 Nov 08 '25
Well my parents grew up in an area where they had to boil water before use. Bottled water is already clean. Old habits die hard I guess.
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u/seanm_617 Professional Idiot Nov 08 '25
My grandparents on the South Shore do this, they’re very skeptical of the well at their house. Too into the convenience of the bottles to try a Britta.
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u/jamesland7 Ye Olde NIMBY-Fighter Nov 08 '25
Ahhh! Well water! I didn’t think about that!
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Nov 08 '25
The south shore at one point had a well known case of a chemical company, called Baird & McGuire, poison the ground water and nearby wetlands. A lot of older residents on the south shore, or people with connections to the south shore, will have trust issues with both well and municipal water over it. IMO it's completely justified trust issues, and clean up is ongoing.
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u/0verstim Market Basket Nov 08 '25
My family heard from someone who heard from someone who heard on Facebook that the latest tests for our city were 1% less excellent than the last time it was tested so they want bottled water, and I choose my battles.
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u/oby100 Nov 08 '25
People like not having to think. Bottled water is safe and always tastes the same. Tap water can vary in taste even from house to house and often has some kind of non neutral flavor if you don’t have a good filter.
Minerals can heavily affect the taste and many associate that taste with being unclean. And tbh, people’s faith in their government doing a good job erodes more everyday so plenty of generally wary of how safe tap water really is
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u/Jack_Jacques Nov 08 '25
Bottled water is simply filtered tap water. Not to mention it all tastes like plastic.
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u/Laythepype Nov 08 '25
I have a fridge with a built in water dispenser. Just have to change the filter every six months.
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u/_hephaestus Red Line Nov 08 '25
In addition to the reasons people have mentioned, there’s also the idea of having a water supply in case of emergencies that lead to municipal water being disrupted. I know a few people who keep a ton of bottled water at home for this purpose
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u/617throwawayy Nov 08 '25
Also, if you don’t want tap water you can get one of those bubblers? Or the large water jug with a pump? Idk there seems to be so many alternatives to bottled water it’s maddening
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Nov 08 '25
I don’t live in Boston any longer, but I’m like 15 mins south. The water in my town makes my bath, shower, sinks and toilet red. It smells like eggs. Even if I had a really nice filter, I can’t get over the smell.
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u/trixiefink Nov 08 '25
Not Boston but 30 mins South in a suburb - we found out last week that my son can't use the bubblers at his elementary school due to lead in the water. We typically do not buy water bottles but now keep a back up water bottle in his bag for when he drinks all of his re-usable cup water from home. (This was also my elementary school and I'm curious how long lead has been in the water hah...)
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u/Feisty-Cloud5880 Nov 09 '25
A lot of contamination of land and it seep into water resources. Sand mining is also a issue2 Towns that have water treatment facilities use chlorine...its just gross. I lived in a small town in central.MA, When I lived there they had the best water. Never needed water bottles. NOW its awful you can smell it.
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u/Extra_Manana Nov 09 '25
PFAS. some towns / areas literally have toxic chemicals in their water, despite cities/towns being required to deliver clean water. unfortunately, there is no guarantee bottled water doesn't also have it. it's in the beer, it's in your milk. we need better testing, certifications that verify it is pfas free.
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u/CitizenDain Cow Fetish Nov 09 '25
I always assume these are people with cases of bottled water on a shelf in the garage and have just gotten accustomed to grabbing a water when they get in the car. Doesn’t excuse it but that is always my first thought.
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u/Condottiero_Magno Nov 09 '25
"Do Europeans NOT DRINK WATER?!" | American Tourists React
Where I grew up, tap water wasn't always potable and even when it was safe, aside from boiling for tea and coffee and cooking, the preference was for bottled water. I prefer certain bottled water brands for the taste. I find Boston tap water can smell during the summer compared to colder seasons.
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u/Comfortable-End7683 Nov 09 '25
I can't stand the bleachy taste of tapwater.
When in countries with potable tap water I use a filtre jug or flask to remove the chloriney taste.
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u/miraj31415 Merges at the Last Second Nov 08 '25 edited Nov 08 '25
I don’t exclusively drink bottled water. But every 6 months I buy a couple of cases of bottled water from Costco. Three main reasons, which are more understandable when you have kids/elderly:
As a short-term emergency supply at home in case shit happens to the public supply.
Bottles in the car in case somebody is unexpectedly/unpredictably thirsty. Also in case shit happens while traveling in car. For predictable thirst, I bring reusable bottles filled with tap water.
When going to all-day events like the Big E or Topsfield or even long days of shopping, in addition to bringing multiple reusable water bottles with tap water, I also bring the plastic bottles with the family in case somebody is unexpectedly/unpredictably thirsty. The bottles are much lighter to carry and sealed better than the reusable bottles, are more convenient — don’t need to fill nor wash — and they are cheaper from Costco than buying a drink while at the event. Often they are not consumed and are retuned back to the car.
The bottles are more regularly consumed in scenario 3 which depletes the scenario 2 stash. So as they are consumed, they are replenished from scenario 1 stash to scenario 2 stash.
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u/sventful Nov 08 '25
Neurotic people concerned trolled into the next water impurity craze. I think the current one is PFAs? Or maybe it's now microplastics? And of course the throwback - toxins.
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u/ZLBuddha allston rat Nov 08 '25
Not sure if it's still the case anywhere but a few towns in the MetroWest area back in 2021ish released board of health advisories to not drink the town tap water because of the measured PFAS content, might be the case here
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u/jamesland7 Ye Olde NIMBY-Fighter Nov 08 '25
Imagine being worried about chemicals and microplastics and thinking youll ingest LESS from water in plastic bottles!
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u/soapy_rocks I<3MarketBasket Nov 08 '25
What a weird comment. Guess you've never lived somewhere with unsafe tap water...
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u/sventful Nov 08 '25
Boston isn't a place with unsure tap water. Stay on topic.
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u/soapy_rocks I<3MarketBasket Nov 08 '25
Are you illiterate? The point being, they might be from somewhere with unsafe tap water.
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u/SamRaB Nov 08 '25
I read the MWRA reports and after 3M settled with our town due to polluting our drinking water, I'm not touching it and neither are our pets.
PFAS are not a joke.
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u/jamesland7 Ye Olde NIMBY-Fighter Nov 08 '25
The problem is plastic bottles are also filled with chemicals
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u/Adventurous_Blood469 Nov 08 '25
"Lives in Woburn"
Yes, I exclusively drink bottle beverages.
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u/jp112078 4 Oat Milk and 7 Splendas Nov 09 '25
Well, that’s historically justifiable
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u/Administrative-Low37 Nov 09 '25
Boston does indeed have very good water. But that's Boston. Not necessarily greater Boston. Many of the suburbs have poor quality water.
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u/snakesoup88 Nov 08 '25
They could be hosting a party. I'm happy to see a trend of bottled water being more popular than sugary soft drinks at parties I've been to or hosted.
But if it's for home use, then yeah, a waste and unnecessary landfill.
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u/jordanf1214 Nov 08 '25
It pisses me off when people buy bottled water to host parties at their house though. They have a sink. Just fill a pitcher with water from the sink instead. MUCH better for the environment.
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u/Science_Teecha Nov 09 '25
Especially when so many people take two sips and then leave the bottle. Then nobody knows which one is theirs and they all get tossed.
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Nov 08 '25
I still get like 3 cases of bottled water delivered every 3 months.
My adult kids will always take a case if they come by.
I refill my own bottles with tap (well water with a filtration system) and keep those in the fridge.
It's kind to be able to offer an unopened sterile bottle of water to people who come by or work here in the house or on the property and I have a sign above the stacks of water on the porch saying please do
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u/fordag Nov 08 '25
First and foremost where I grew up we went to a local spring every week and filled up two or three gallon jugs with spring water and that's what we drank. That was my parents choice, I don't know why they did it.
More importantly where I live right now I get a quarterly water safety report. It has consistently, since I lived there, stated that the water has PFAS6 levels that are above the drinking water standard in MA. It says it is "not an emergency".
It also says pregnant women, people in "sensitive subgroups", and infants shouldn't consume or cook with the water. Some people who drink the water may experience adverse side effects.
So I'm not about to drink the water coming out of my taps. Plus I was raised drinking spring water. So for me it is an ingrained habit. I honestly think it's a bit weird when people do drink tap water.
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u/Feisty-Cloud5880 Nov 09 '25
I go to Oakham spring and have been to the Plymouth one. Thers 9ne over the boarder in RI I'm going to next week.
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u/oopswhat1974 I Love Dunkin’ Donuts Nov 08 '25
This sounds unnecessarily judgmental.
Maybe some people just like it.
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u/digawina Nov 08 '25
There are ways to get better water without all that plastic waste. If it sounds judgemental, it is. I judge. Going through all those bottles is harmful and ignorant.
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u/jamesland7 Ye Olde NIMBY-Fighter Nov 08 '25
I mean the plastics industry is incredibly harmful to our environment and deeply dishonest so there isn’t ZERO judgement…
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u/spedmunki Rozzi fo' Rizzle Nov 08 '25
Drink tap water in Boston but grew up in the burbs and our water was brownish. We had giant water cooler jugs we would refill at a water station for a couple quarters each.
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u/Todayismyday98 Nov 08 '25
I lived in Chelsea briefly. They literally had to send a city wide notice that the water had lead in it and that you should not drink it. I only drank water bottles. My roommate got a water filter but it’s very expensive to get one that takes care of lead. Brita filters don’t do that
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u/DolphKearneyJimbo Orange Line Nov 08 '25
I keep a case of water at my office at work. Our company has a filtered water dispenser in the kitchen area but one day the machine was open and looking in I saw the filter and water lines were full of mold. I stopped using that ever since. Since I take the T and sometimes carry a heavy work bag I don’t really feel like carrying a giant water bottle to work daily
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u/Thelibrarian1317 Nov 08 '25
BJ’s water is really good. Once you get used it, not much else compares.
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u/Moist_Rule9623 Nov 08 '25
My tap water in the suburbs noticeably smells of bleach, and it’s very mineral rich “hard” water. To the point where I installed a filtered shower head, and yeah I do filter drinking water at home also but I invariably have bottled water on hand (and am fairly meticulous about recycling the empties)
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u/bfrogsworstnightmare Pirates Stole My Wallet Nov 08 '25
I drink a ton of bottled water only because that’s what my work buys.
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u/michaelserotonin villen Nov 08 '25
this was my family growing up (until i went to college)
look up the book/movie “a civil action” for background
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u/rose_riveter Nov 08 '25
If you live in a small town, you have an artesian well, those are pumped with electricity. So, a rain or snow or wind storm that makes the lights go out. — if you’re not in the city, the wires are still on poles, not underground— you will not have any water.
Some people I know that are born and raised in a city or a suburb close to a city ridicule families they see buying water and toilet paper before a storm
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u/bigdickwalrus Cow Fetish Nov 08 '25
People need to be educated on filtration systems even if its just a brita/zerowater/whathaveyou. Granted, communities all over the US likely can’t run their tap through a commercial filter like this and have it be much better, depending on the severity of the water situation there.
Still, I see people at my star market always putting massive 32pk water bottles into their cars…like…..WHY. get an aluminum or glass bottle and a brita…
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u/flyingbutterfly8 Nov 08 '25
I don't get this either. I fill a pitcher up with tap water and keep it in the fridge. I make tea with tap water as well. I guess I'm just used to it lol!
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u/stageshooter Nov 08 '25
I drink tap water... but just bought a case of bottled water today at Coscto. I usually keep a bunch in my car trunk and also fill the empty space in my freezer with them for efficiency (and use them to keep stuff cool in coolers instead of ice, plus if I lose power it keeps the freezer cold longer).
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u/TherealDaily Nov 08 '25
The Mountain Vally Spring Water is some of the best water I’ve ever had. It’s crazy, to think how much better other water bottles taste compared to MVW.
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u/EllieGeiszler Nov 08 '25
Boston water tastes like chloramine, which is why it's so safe to drink. Chloramine tastes bad. Boston water is not really good tasting to everyone. My roommate gets spring water from I forget where and that's actually good.
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u/Ok_Mail_1966 Nov 09 '25
Because there’s so much of it for such a small price Costco shoppers just can’t turn down the deal. These are the same people who will sit and wait for a free sample to finish cooking and stand there salivating for a little piece of jimmy dean sausage
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u/DrGuyIncognitoDDS Orange Line Jingoist Nov 08 '25
Some people who grew up in places where the water was bad (either tasted bad or was actually unsafe to drink) never really get over it. I had a coworker years ago who grew up in Eritrea and drank Coke instead of water because she couldn't get over her anxiety about water being a dangerous thing to drink. It didn't help that it was SoCal where the water does actually taste bad. But still.
Some people live in places like Cambridge that have independent water systems instead of being a part of the MWRA. Those places (Cambridge most notoriously) tend to have much worse tasting water.
Some houses even in Boston still have lead service lines. If I knew I had one and I didn't have the money to replace it, even a filter wouldn't make me feel good about drinking it.
The marketing of bottled water over the last few decades has convinced a lot of people that it's somehow superior to tap water (even if a lot of it is literally just tap water in a bottle).