Forever in a landfill ....

Whether it is 'green' or not to drink bottled water, you must be nuts to pay those kind of prices.

Do I CARE? What am I going to do, stop drinking water? My municipal source is filthy as hell. It's gray (not in that it's been used to wash dishes. It is the color gray, and tastes the way it looks). Actually...there is plenty of water in beer...back to the olden times we go!

Whoah... that's definitely sitting in the uncanny valley, for me.

I hate when people with unusual situations take offense at general comments. People should generally just drink their dang tapwater, but no one is going to insist you drink it if it is unsafe or just plain nasty, no one is talking specifically to you.

http://www.brita.com/us/support/filter-recycling/

Of course, I don't know about the undersink filter we use.

Well Evian is just water from some source that may or may not be good (http://consumerist.com/264428/evian-water-rejected-by-china-for-contain…)

But filtering is a solid scientific technique that can remove even bacteria and viruses from contaminated water. You need to look at the filter, what is in it and what it does. My experience is many carbon filters remove chemical taste including chlorine from the water. They actually remove the chlorine pretty much entirely - I tried an under sink one once and had to remove it as bacteria quickly formed in the plumbing after the filter and before the tap. Replacing it with a filter that screwed on the tap fixed that.

I was going to post essentially what Stephanie posted. We use Brita filters and I send them back all the time, since there is not a drop off collection point nearby. I also send my #5 plastic, things like yogurt and cottage cheese tubs, the lids from peanut butter jars (some of them, not all), etc.

Since she beat me to that, I'll just pimp for closing the circle by suggesting that people check out Preserve and maybe consider buying some of their stuff. I use the toothbrushes and razors, and have bought the flatware to have on hand at work (when I'm not unemployed) so I don't have to use a disposable fork at the company pot luck. All of the products of theirs that I've used have been great, and are highly recommended.

http://www.preserveproducts.com/products/index.html

We use a britta filter but we change it about once every 18 months. All drinking water is passed through an acid-based purifier (stomach) before entering the blood stream.

I used to buy bottled water, for traveling to visit my girlfriend before we got married. For a wedding gift, my wife and I got a Brita Filter Pitcher. It's been the best thing and I no longer buy water. I'm glad to know there's a place to recycle the filters. But like Greg, we replace it once every 4-5 months it seems.

I was not exaggerating when I said 18 months! Our water that comes out of the tap is very very clean. The filter does nothing. Having the britta does two things; Lets us run the water for a moment to get past the leaded high test stuff in the faucett the put a lot of clean water in a container (instead of doing that with every glass) and it makes nice cold water because the britta is in the fridge.

The filter is just where our friendly bacteria live, and they seem to like us.

I should note that our filter isn't there because we're concerned about the quality of our water. It's there because our water comes from the river and is thus very susceptible to seasonal taste variations (decomposing leaves in spring and fall and algae blooms in the summer). It's also on a separate tap, so it only gets used when flavor matters. I don't think we've replaced it since we put it on its own tap two years ago.

Every year a certain number of people living in Minneapolis (usually newcommers) switch from tap to bottle because they think the water went bad. Many don't switch back.

I have a pitcher with a filter. I have had the same pitcher and the same filter for 7 years. Now, I live in a place where we have a filter from the faucet (new) and a pitcher that we pour said water into (from one of the towns with high-rated water quality.) When I make coffee, it goes through another filter.

If bacteria make through that gauntlet, they deserve to make me sick.

It isn't just bacteria that filters remove. In fact, with chlorinated tap water, that's the least of your worries. The filters remove heavy metals, organics such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, etc., and chlorine. Some even remove viruses.

We use a Pur filter on our bar sink for all drinking water. It makes the water taste great.

Plastic bottles leach organic plasticizers into the water. Some of these have adverse effects on weight gain.

Bottled water is one of the most serious environmental threats that exist.

I used to live in a place that had terrible-tasting water (I've never worried about the safety of my water, in this country at least). I got a Britta filter, and it was just fine. Personally, I'd rather buy a pack of filters than lug gallons of water up to my apartment anyway.

I moved about 18 months ago, and I haven't even bothered to change my filter since. The water tastes fine straight from the tap, but I use the pitcher to store water in the refrigerator.

I have wondered though: does anyone know if filters also remove fluoride from the water? My teeth really need the fluoride, so I might just buy a cheap pitcher with no filter.

I once called Britta about fluoride and they told me that their filter does not remove it.