Guardian: We sampled tap water across the US and found arsenic, lead and toxins

[Manny]

A nine-month investigation by the Guardian and Consumer Reports found alarming levels of forever chemicals, arsenic and lead in samples taken across the US.

Quite why the Guardian felt the need to test the water in a foreign country is unclear. I’d always assumed the US to be a country where it wasn’t advisable to drink the tap water anyway, but that in itself isn’t unusual. Do you guys over the pond drink the tap water, or do you filter it or drink bottled?

Here’s the article anyway.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/31/americas-tap-water-samples-forever-chemicals

Apparently, there’s issues in Hawaii too: https://twitter.com/empirefiles/status/1467656513623773187

[AvHdB]

Interesting articles.

Hawaii because of it geological makeup does not surprise me. Also a problem in the NorthEast is radon, while natural a serious issue. I suspect and this is not mentioned if you sample from the first outflow as opposed to waiting a minute you will get two different levels from a sample. The article was more or less a Consumer Reports undertaking.

I drink and cook with purified water.

[Contrarian]

A nine-month investigation by the Guardian and Consumer Reports found alarming levels of forever chemicals, arsenic and lead in samples taken across the US.

Quite why the Guardian felt the need to test the water in a foreign country is unclear. I’d always assumed the US to be a country where it wasn’t advisable to drink the tap water anyway, but that in itself isn’t unusual. Do you guys over the pond drink the tap water, or do you filter it or drink bottled?

Here’s the article anyway.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/31/americas-tap-water-samples-forever-chemicals

Apparently, there’s issues in Hawaii too: https://twitter.com/empirefiles/status/1467656513623773187

California tap water tastes so bad that you'd be crazy not to get some bottled water. Same thing with Las Vegas.

Up north WA and OR have fairly clean good tasting tap water. Most people around here just get a Brita filter jug to be safe.

[Markje]

Too bad that a civilized country like USA still has not got something as simple as drinkable tap-water.

In Netherlands, water from all taps (including toilets) are more clean than most bottled waters.

[Steveboy]

So dirty chemical infested tap water and chlorinated chicken ...

Aaaa sorry I forgot If you survive those two there is a good chance of getting shot going to the petrol station

Welcome to the USA

[AvHdB]

In the United States by 1930 lead piping was not used anymore. But most welds in the copper piping was/is lead based solder. I suspect in many industrial cities, Flint, Michigan being an example had older lead piping. Today most but not all plumbing is with plastic tubing, so called polyvinyl chloride or PVC.

[AJ]

Too bad that a civilized country like USA still has not got something as simple as drinkable tap-water.

In Netherlands, water from all taps (including toilets) are more clean than most bottled waters.

Eh. For what its worth:

The  U.S.standards imposed on.public drinking water are more stringent than bottled.water.

The average home filtration spike about.here typically  has more chance of introducing harmful things cells removing them

Overall  there are huge misconceptions that the media plays on.

The average  public tap here is by far more safe to drink from.than any regular off the shelf bottled water ( there are exceptions but they are just that, exceptions)

Most of the few real  issues , are distribution related not source water.
And the majority of distribution issues are not from.thevwatercsupply firm. Private or public, but  from homes with ancient plumbing, not brought up to long standing standard, and either leacd lines or lead jointed lines.

Im.not denying there has been cases of tainted public water, there has been of course.
There also is a quite loose standard for bottled drinking.water.

As small.example.

Total.coliform.or fecal coliform testimg in public water supply at customers tap has to be zero.
No exceptions . Zero tolerance
It is tested routinely snd per both state and federal epa regulations.
It even the indicator organism.of total coliform show in even a 1 count, biological orders must be issued until testing shows zero.

(Total coli...  could be several.indicator organism,fecal.would be exactly what it sounds like)

The FDa covers bottled water,
 And in most.food and in drinks ,is an allowable trace amount of TC and FC.
(Vs zero tolerences in epa regs)

So long story but most bottled water companies are bottling local tap water without doing anything,
Brcause as long as their own process is not adding colifirm or other hazards,
 they are bottling a product that's already met a much higher standard(on all possible contaminants)
than they need to meet.

Some do filter for specific things related to taste only,and the filter has a high probability of adding  pathogens actually.

Due credit-
 if you purchase distilled water like sold for infants if it is labled as distilled,
 it has gone thru a distillation process and filtration that reduce minerals etc etc.
However it still.only had to.mert the fairly loose food standard,so can contain a trace amount of frcal as well.as all sorts of things and pass fda inspection testing for sale.
(It

However that's not the average bottle of drinking water a consumer grabs at the grocer or at the convenience store, the plain bottled waters out number distilled 30 :1

I'm a class A  certified public water operator  and class 1 wastewater.
(So certified for serving and oversight of public safety operations exceeding populations
serving  over 1 million,
it takes 7 years working in that job capacity (with oversight)  and already holding all the other  epa classifications, to apply to even take the exams.)
I'm not saying that to impress in anyway ,haha  havn't done that job in years, but just pointimg out I dint google this and have real world experience working for the largest public water utility world wide in both the USA and europe.
Home office - France)
I actually enjoyed lybworkmin every country and do commend the europe standards as they are stringent (so is the.operator.testing)
It just was never my passion,and was done as a side bar.

Anyway 90% of what i've seen in the media over such has been sensationalist poop at best.(in most civilized countries)

The trace amount of the same often naturally occurring  *triggered dangerous  item of the day* is much much  higher in every day life ,and food, of most people than is present.in.their public drinking.water in europe or the USA.

[AJ]

In the United States by 1930 lead piping was not used anymore. But most welds in the copper piping was/is lead based solder. I suspect in many industrial cities, Flint, Michigan being an example had older lead piping. Today most but not all plumbing is with plastic tubing, so called polyvinyl chloride or PVC.

Most is still copper, it simply hasnt been lead.joined in decades.
That was almost always a home plumbing issue and homes were long long ago supossed to.be brought up to standard by the homeowner.

Any home sold in areas with that ancient plumbing stadardcshould have bern hed ip.at home inspection level.until the issue corrected, unfortunately that doesnt happen in poor areas  as the residents dont fix thier plumbing period.
And inspectors dont enforce.it.

The issue in flint very  familiar with.
Its one of the few with merit.

That said  here us why and you decide:

Flint public water supply  typically sourced  and treated surface water.
This was supplemented by deep.well.supply as well.
That's typical and standard practice.of many many places

 Those sources of water are almost always on one side or.the other of the longeliers index .
This means they will either leave slight calcium.and other mineral deposits  (everyone.loves to buy bottled mineral water eh? But doesnt like their.tap.to get deposits)
Or it will be ever slightly corrosive to leach off minerals .

The case in flint was they lost a percentage of  the one source and the blend had to be upped from the alternate source.
The water  leaving the plants was still good and met standards despite media hyperbole.
This change in source only effected whether the water.was slightly depositing or corrosive.

Msny public waters are one wsybor the other and completely safe.

If in a poor ancient plumbing area that the homes  hsve lead pipes or lesd seamed/joints and are not up to standard by the homeowners, and introduce a  non-depositing water  and that can have
that home.plumbing lead introduce itself,you'll have lead at the customers tap.
(From.that customers pipes)


That same  natural water in  any area built or plumbing improved after the 20s 30s, is perfectly safe and is the standard honestly across most of europe and America.

They key here is also.lack.of public recognition of how it works.
If you let the water stand in the plead pipes is the.story.
If you gitbup.in the morning and ran your water 4 minutes , there.would br zero issue.


So ,  water testers fur public water supply are supposed to be testing the water delivered,not the customers questionable plumbing.
So they run the water  the appropratecsmountbif timevto be getting the water delivered from the plant

The media threw those guys under the bus for doing exactly what the stat epa regulations requires them.to do.

The blend used was something the flint city oversight would know could cause the home plumbing issue to.increase.
And they did the typicslmrequired notification that if you live in an older home with not up yo standard plumbing you should fix your plumbing.or run your water.

And before folks jump on this remember there is also secondary testing specifically done for lead for this very reason  and is done by the state snd local water supply at the customers home  y testing after ax24 hr rest and no purging).They are then informed of the results  whether its a health hazard and if so ,how to correct their plumbing or if unable to afford it how to apply for aid.

Mpdtbpeople refusedctestingborvthrew awaybthecredultscor dintvwsntbsnyone in thier home to put in new pipes(out if inconvenience or shady goings on)

So theirs plenty of blame to go around.
The city, the state, the feds, the homeowners.

The officials tried desparetly to throw the samplers under the bus.
I will let you decide if  its more likely the guys and gals  who generally care about public safety , decided as a group without any guidance or influence from.superiors.
with a routine job of thousands of samples to take and deliver   ,all faked taking those normal  samples and drove somewhere else to fill the bottles over the course of daily testing for years.never uttered a peep.to anyone and never broke rank  between them.all or went public

Or is it more likey they took their samples  for years just like they had always done, and  were well.aware of the change in source.water since they also do that secondary testing of the customers plumbing..and have to know why to do it properly .

I know occums razor says the public officials knew well the issues and playing dumb on an issue that ultimately is their fault and the customers fault.
Has little to do with the water, everything to do with home code enforcement not being enforced and officials throwing everyone they can under the bus when they knew full well the root issue , why, and that's it's common in every single city world wide with older plumbing that isnt updated.


Yes another blend that deposits minerals can aleave the scenario(and did prior in flint) but was no longer available .


Send  any number of brands of bottled water  thru the plumbing in flint homes and you'll have equal or worse health  issue if it sits over night.
 Thats the bottom.line noone addresses in the press and never will as it's not *interesting. *

[AJ]

A nine-month investigation by the Guardian and Consumer Reports found alarming levels of forever chemicals, arsenic and lead in samples taken across the US.

Quite why the Guardian felt the need to test the water in a foreign country is unclear. I’d always assumed the US to be a country where it wasn’t advisable to drink the tap water anyway, but that in itself isn’t unusual. Do you guys over the pond drink the tap water, or do you filter it or drink bottled?

Here’s the article anyway.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/31/americas-tap-water-samples-forever-chemicals

Apparently, there’s issues in Hawaii too: https://twitter.com/empirefiles/status/1467656513623773187

California tap water tastes so bad that you'd be crazy not to get some bottled water. Same thing with Las Vegas.

Up north WA and OR have fairly clean good tasting tap water. Most people around here just get a Brita filter jug to be safe.

Taste better,  not safer

 The latter is Marketing.hype.

[Contrarian]

A nine-month investigation by the Guardian and Consumer Reports found alarming levels of forever chemicals, arsenic and lead in samples taken across the US.

Quite why the Guardian felt the need to test the water in a foreign country is unclear. I’d always assumed the US to be a country where it wasn’t advisable to drink the tap water anyway, but that in itself isn’t unusual. Do you guys over the pond drink the tap water, or do you filter it or drink bottled?

Here’s the article anyway.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/31/americas-tap-water-samples-forever-chemicals

Apparently, there’s issues in Hawaii too: https://twitter.com/empirefiles/status/1467656513623773187

California tap water tastes so bad that you'd be crazy not to get some bottled water. Same thing with Las Vegas.

Up north WA and OR have fairly clean good tasting tap water. Most people around here just get a Brita filter jug to be safe.

Taste better,  not safer

 The latter is Marketing.hype.

Hmmmm. 

Bottled water I get from Iceland tastes pristine. I certainly hope it's safer! Same goes for Arrowhead.

I'm going to be getting a local artesian bottled water soon. Will report back on it.

[AJ]

A nine-month investigation by the Guardian and Consumer Reports found alarming levels of forever chemicals, arsenic and lead in samples taken across the US.

Quite why the Guardian felt the need to test the water in a foreign country is unclear. I’d always assumed the US to be a country where it wasn’t advisable to drink the tap water anyway, but that in itself isn’t unusual. Do you guys over the pond drink the tap water, or do you filter it or drink bottled?

Here’s the article anyway.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/31/americas-tap-water-samples-forever-chemicals

Apparently, there’s issues in Hawaii too: https://twitter.com/empirefiles/status/1467656513623773187

California tap water tastes so bad that you'd be crazy not to get some bottled water. Same thing with Las Vegas.

Up north WA and OR have fairly clean good tasting tap water. Most people around here just get a Brita filter jug to be safe.

Taste better,  not safer

 The latter is Marketing.hype.

Hmmmm. 

Bottled water I get from Iceland tastes pristine. I certainly hope it's safer! Same goes for Arrowhead.

I'm going to be getting a local artesian bottled water soon. Will report back on it.

That's a moving goal.post.

You moved from.tap water being filterd at home, to bottled water.

So.yes bottled water  could be* safer, yet ,that would totally depend in testing.standards and initial source.

Your average bottled water does not have to.meet as stringent of standard as public water supplies.

Do they meet the public water standsrds ?possibly in some cases, certainly not I others, do yiu know the testing standards 9f the company? Of the oversite agency?
If not your just hoping.
They do not have to.meet it,they have to.meet much lower standards.
Those they do.meet.

To think any firm.will go an extra mile to.make less margin would seem silly.
They have no need to thevpublics perception is they are already safer.
So.why up.their game?
You think ABC bottled water company  is going to go on a public information campaign to.inform your tap water is  medically safer as it meets an epa standard their product doesn't have to meet?
It serves them no good to State they only need to meet fda standards which allow a certain amount if trace fecal matter.


So if anyone feels mouse poop being allowed in trace
Amounts is safer than not allowed at all
Ok.


As far as in home filtration like Britta.

Please understand no.public watercsupplybwitll ever allow their samplers to take a public water supply.sample ftom.a home,a tap,or a pcontsiner  with any such filter.
It is absolutely forbidden as it assures a failed test.this woukd require issuing a boil order for the general.area
Ask yourself why.

Im.not saying it's unsafe to drink  water filtered in this way, it is safe.
Its certainly generally  less* safe  than directly from the tap.

I've run those tests many times.
Public water testing protocols  across all states dint exlude testing from.these type filters on a whim.

It's introducing a perfect media and incubator for pathogen organisms,but it does remove some things that might make the water taste better to the individual.

I havf no dog in this fight, i, diont get a cut from.your water bill nor have any stock.in them



 

[Contrarian]

Wait a second, you are claiming that tap water is safer than water filtered by Brita? What about water filtered by Zero?

Now I am really curious how you can make these claims. It's very difficult to read your posts because there are A LOT of spelling errors....

[2tallbill]

Too bad that a civilized country like USA still has not got something as simple as drinkable tap-water.

In Netherlands, water from all taps (including toilets) are more clean than most bottled waters.

There is more to it that that. The US used copper pipes with lead solder for 50 years
before that we used galvanized pipes, ditto for hot water heaters. If you run your tap
water for 15 seconds, the water has far less impurities. Now we use pex. Who knows
what health risks we will discover with pex in 20 years.

The water in Oregon and Washington coasts has a lot of toxic pollutants that they don't
even test for from the Fukushima Daiichi tsunami disaster.

[Contrarian]

Too bad that a civilized country like USA still has not got something as simple as drinkable tap-water.

In Netherlands, water from all taps (including toilets) are more clean than most bottled waters.

There is more to it that that. The US used copper pipes with lead solder for 50 years
before that we used galvanized pipes, ditto for hot water heaters. If you run your tap
water for 15 seconds, the water has far less impurities. Now we use pex. Who knows
what health risks we will discover with pex in 20 years.

The water in Oregon and Washington coasts has a lot of toxic pollutants that they don't
even test for from the Fukushima Daiichi tsunami disaster.

The part I put into bold face really got me curious.

I found an interesting article, with this email in the comments section. 


https://www.wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/11782


https://geroldblog.com/2015/04/11/fukushima-forever-the-pacific-ocean-is-dying/

[AJ]

Wait a second, you are claiming that tap water is safer than water filtered by Brita? What about water filtered by Zero?

Now I am really curious how you can make these claims. It's very difficult to read your posts because there are A LOT of spelling errors....

Yeap, I'm not  going back to.correct my typos.
The message.isnt important enough.

I stated that the epa standard that tapmwater must meet is a higher standard than bottled water.
Bottled water only has to.meet a
much lower fda standard.

In the case of total coliform and fecal coliform , the Epa standard is zero across all states.
The fda standard allows some to be present .

That does not mean it is present, it means if it is during testing they can still sell it to you to drink.

As far as home filtration.

If I wanted to introduce bacteria into my tap  drinking water  I would add  a filter.

You can shoot the messenger,
or research why public water supply testing procedure protocol expressly forbids  a sample taker from obtaining their required routine samples from.a customer  home with such a  filtration system
Those samples are taken from random homes and businesses in the supplied areas.

 I assure you this is not because the extra filtration insures a good sample that would  not be representative of the supplied water.
It is from a long  known and validated history of getting  samples test positive for total  coliform in areas where all the  30.other (filterless).homes tested the same day  tested zero .

Filtration at that level helps taste and odor.

It is not more medically safe,at best it's the same.
that's marketing hype by people selling home filtration systems and cartridges.
There is not a water supply operator that will tell you different.

[B.B.]

Quite why the Guardian felt the need to test the water in a foreign country is unclear.

Usually, when European media does that, it's like a hit piece.  I haven't read it, so no opinion.

Do you guys over the pond drink the tap water, or do you filter it or drink bottled?

Depends on where you live.  When I lived in the Northeast, my house had a well and all the water that entered the house was treated, mostly because of radon but also added a softener.  It was never a problem.  Perfectly safe to drink.

In many places it is more a matter of taste.  NYC had excellent tap water, but in Florida there is a lot of Sulphur,  More of a problem in the past, though.

B/B

[andrewfi]

Wait a second, you are claiming that tap water is safer than water filtered by Brita? What about water filtered by Zero?

Now I am really curious how you can make these claims. It's very difficult to read your posts because there are A LOT of spelling errors....

Home filtration can be liable to be carrying bacteria that are not present in the municipal water supply, or at higher than legally allowed levels. Your municipal water supply will, with the exception of well-publicised exceptions, be potable.

In-home filtering is, in general, designed to cope with particulates and some dissolved impurities that might affect the taste but not potability. You won't catch me drinking cold water from a jug filter and I am wary of under sink units where I am not aware of its history.

I have relatively, but not fully healthy kidneys and thus no concern about short term use of reverse osmosis filtration but, for example, my father had only one kidney and it was not fully healthy. He was advised to not install an RO unit in his Spanish home because these reduce mineral levels and rely upon the homeostasis effect of the body's healthy kidney to keep mineral levels correct.

Years ago I used to sell under-sink water filtration. The filtration units were replaceable and were doped with silver, however, we NEVER sold them on the basis of removing bacteria from water. The silver was to reduce the bacteria levels within the filter. They did make the water taste much better in areas where it tasted unpleasant. We did not sell these units on the basis of making unpotable water safe to drink. Such units (charcoal and sand) are what most people have in their homes.

[AJ]

Sorry about the health issues andrewfi.

Good synopsis

[andrewfi]

I maybe made the kiddleys sound worse than they are. They are at the lower end of the range of function. It ain't an issue. But I'd never install an RO system because of the health issues.

Before posting, to fact check myself, as I often do, I found a page that was supposedly debunking the health issues with RO filtration. It was odd because the debunking took the form of,  'yeah, well the bad stuff is true unless your health is great'.

Bottom line, with RO, if you and all long term users are in pretty much perfect health, particularly in respect of kidney function, then RO is safe. But who can be sure that all users today and in the future will be so well-off? It seems irresponsible for a householder to install an RO filter for drinking water because in most cases the people with poor kidney function will be absolutely unaware of it. Their first inkling that something is wrong might well come from health issues caused by the inappropriate and unsafe use of RO filtration.

[Contrarian]

Wait a second, you are claiming that tap water is safer than water filtered by Brita? What about water filtered by Zero?

Now I am really curious how you can make these claims. It's very difficult to read your posts because there are A LOT of spelling errors....

Home filtration can be liable to be carrying bacteria that are not present in the municipal water supply, or at higher than legally allowed levels. Your municipal water supply will, with the exception of well-publicised exceptions, be potable.

In-home filtering is, in general, designed to cope with particulates and some dissolved impurities that might affect the taste but not potability. You won't catch me drinking cold water from a jug filter and I am wary of under sink units where I am not aware of its history.

I have relatively, but not fully healthy kidneys and thus no concern about short term use of reverse osmosis filtration but, for example, my father had only one kidney and it was not fully healthy. He was advised to not install an RO unit in his Spanish home because these reduce mineral levels and rely upon the homeostasis effect of the body's healthy kidney to keep mineral levels correct.

Years ago I used to sell under-sink water filtration. The filtration units were replaceable and were doped with silver, however, we NEVER sold them on the basis of removing bacteria from water. The silver was to reduce the bacteria levels within the filter. They did make the water taste much better in areas where it tasted unpleasant. We did not sell these units on the basis of making unpotable water safe to drink. Such units (charcoal and sand) are what most people have in their homes.

So a Brita with a charcoal filter in it is a good thing?

[andrewfi]

Not usually.

The problem with them is bacteria. Many, perhaps most, people use the filter cartridges for too long so the filter becomes clogged with crap that you really don't want in your tum tum. The problem is the chlorine in the water that keeps the water potable. Open up an overused filter and you'll slime and other nasties.

A filter can remove the chlorine from the water which means that the water is susceptible to picking up bacteria as soon as it is filtered, or passes through an overused filter. The chlorine is what keeps the bacteria in municipal water at safe levels. Different areas need different levels of chlorine. In the UK at least, that can be a factor that's influenced by the age of the water pipes. All pipes get leaks and this also allows for contamination. So older pipes tend to need more chlorine.

Remove the chlorine and unless you use the water right away it can become contaminated. It is why bottled water is good for only about 3 days after opening.

So, a jug filter is OK as long as the filter cartridge is changed before it is overused AND if all the water is consumed immediately after filtration. That applies to under sink units too. DOn't leave the water hanging around. My parents though, and I am sure they are similar to many, would filter a jug of water and then use it over the rest of the day. Sitting in the kitchen, I am not saying it is a route to immediate death, but it is less safe than doing the same with municipal tap water. The chlorine takes quite a while to pass from tap water, so it can stand safely, but we don't usually bother, we just run the tap for the water we need, when we want it.

By the way, look at how dogs and cats drink water. Notice how they will often not drink water straight from the tap? They wait a few hours before drinking. That's because often they do not like the smell and taste of the chlorine so they wait for the nasty smell to go away.

[Manny]

Open up an overused filter and you'll slime and other nasties.

If you've watched Clarkson's Farm, there's a bit where he opens his water filter and it's full of fecal matter.

[AJ]

So a Brita with a charcoal filter in it is a good thing?

Andrewfi is a wealth of knowledge and generally researches things well,He also seems to.have some background in home filtration systems

You already had a class A water operator  , having the highest public water certifications possible, and has been in charge of millions of peoples health in  tap water. ,
tell you they aren't particularly safe as opposed to public tap water.

Are they safe? Sure.

Are they safer than just drinking from the tap?
Generally no.


That's two people with no reason to mislead you ,and with some levels of experience telling you that if you see that claim,its simply  generally not true.

I have to say I wish I could market so well that it takes convincing someone otherwise. They have done a good job of convincing the public that their city water is unsafe

 
If you want to google info, or have others research it thats cool too.

A lot of homes with.groundwater wells are indeed contaminated above public drinking water standards.

However many of those same home well tests  would pass the fda  bottled water requirements.

I knew of one bottled.water  distributer that absolutely used public water supply not only as a  source ,but fundamentally the end product as all they did was bottle it

I inspected thier plant many times, and we billed them for the water used obviously.
Back then if I recall it was like a dollar per 1000 gals ,and they were bottling and selling for 70 cents for 16 oz?
 I used to chuckle a bit when in someones home testing see a  case of this brand on the countertop.

[Contrarian]

So a Brita with a charcoal filter in it is a good thing?

Andrewfi is a wealth of knowledge and generally researches things well,He also seems to.have some background in home filtration systems

You already had a class A water operator  , having the highest public water certifications possible, and has been in charge of millions of peoples health in  tap water. ,
tell you they aren't particularly safe as opposed to public tap water.

Are they safe? Sure.

Are they safer than just drinking from the tap?
Generally no.


That's two people with no reason to mislead you ,and with some levels of experience telling you that if you see that claim,its simply  generally not true.

I have to say I wish I could market so well that it takes convincing someone otherwise. They have done a good job of convincing the public that their city water is unsafe

 
If you want to google info, or have others research it thats cool too.

A lot of homes with.groundwater wells are indeed contaminated above public drinking water standards.

However many of those same home well tests  would pass the fda  bottled water requirements.

I knew of one bottled.water  distributer that absolutely used public water supply not only as a  source ,but fundamentally the end product as all they did was bottle it

I inspected thier plant many times, and we billed them for the water used obviously.
Back then if I recall it was like a dollar per 1000 gals ,and they were bottling and selling for 70 cents for 16 oz?
 I used to chuckle a bit when in someones home testing see a  case of this brand on the countertop.

Not sure why you made two answers to the same question, however thank you and I believed you the first time. 

[Contrarian]

Open up an overused filter and you'll slime and other nasties.

If you've watched Clarkson's Farm, there's a bit where he opens his water filter and it's full of fecal matter.

(Attachment Link)

That's grotesque! You need an icon for vomiting.