I'll tell ya what's wrong with tap water....it's full of chlorine in almost every city in the USA. I can't stand it, I get physically ill if it passes my lips. Though it never does, because I can smell it in advance and don't drink. I can even smell all the free chlorine when flushing a toilet in town, and it makes me nauseous....even more than what I flushed...ooo, lets not go there!

At home I have pure spring water. Lots of people with well water do great too, but there are many places in the US where well water is contaminated with stuff you can't taste or smell. But most municipal tap water supplies are loaded with chlorine. When I travel, I fill my water jugs and canteens with water from home.

But when that runs out on a trip......what to do but buy bottled water (at least I buy the 2-3 gallon jugs, and it's purified water, NOT spring water!) And I re-use any water bottles or jugs that I buy. When visiting friends in town, if I can I bring my own Brita filter, which seems to remove the chlorine to the point it doesn't make me ill.

In any case -- I felt I HAD to answer Ladyfisher's question from the article, since it was wide open. And Google up "Nestle Waters" -- both their website, and news articles about their environmental impact, it's terribile. I don't buy 'spring water' when mine runs out, I buy 'purified water.' In other words, tap water with the chlorine removed. SO my question is......when I travel around the USA for both fishing and business......>>>

Why, in the USA, are there not numerous convenience stores where one can fill one's canteen with purified tap water for pennies? It seems the third world countries have us beat there. Sure, most soda fountains have a 'water' tab that does indeed filter most of the chlorine out, otherwise your Coke or Pepsi would taste terrible. But just try to put your own canteen up to it at the I-25 Flying J truck stop in Cheyenne WY! I've been 'required' to pay a dollar for a quart, AND use a disposible soda cup that I then have to throw away. Numerous times.

End of rant. ahem, sorry. Rampant development of our natural water sources to bottle spring water in plastic bottles is a BIG environmental problem, from a water supply, fisheries impact, and a plastics standpoint. Buying water imported from Fiji is absurd, kind of like buying organic apples from New Zealand. But I felt I HAD to answer the question, "what's wrong with tap water?"

DANBOB