Aquafina - Bottled Water Review

Quick View: Leave it to PepsiCo to bottle tap water and leave it to me to BUY it. Aquafina Bottled Water has been proven to be plain ole tap water. We pay for the plastic bottle. Sheesh. Don't be fooled though because Coca Cola's Dansini water is also tap water.

About Aquafina Bottled Water

This comes from Reuters News Agency: NEW YORK (Reuters) -- PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry. According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world's No. 2 beverage company will include the words "Public Water Source" on Aquafina labels.

Aquafina Bottled Water comes in a variety of sizes from 1 liter bottles to 25 liter industrial jugs. You can get the water at any machine that sells Pepsi products for a buck or so. It also sells at convenience stores and almost anywhere bottled water is sold. I think I pay around $1.29 for a one liter bottle. The water tastes like, well, water. It is not flavored and nothing is added. In fact, studies show that some important chemicals in tap water have been REMOVED from this water leaving me with tap water that isn't as good for me as my own sink water. The water has a blue label with visions of mountains and streams but the water has never seen a mountain or a stream. It comes from a municipal water plant just like the stuff your water comes from. (If you don't have well water.)

PepsiCo says that they "purify" their water in an eight stage process. The tests performed on the water showed that the water was missing the chemicals that we actually need in our bodies. I am not sure I like that kind of purification. However, it is easy to grab a bottle and drink it on the go and, if that gets people drinking more water, I suppose it's a good thing. However, their water will now have to be clearly labeled telling exactly where it came from. And more water bottlers will be following suit. If you're going to BUY water, buy it from a spring or somewhere that you can't get right in your own home, unless you just want the convenience of a bottle of tap water.

Pepsi and Coke are raking in millions by filling pretty plastic bottles with simple drinking water. That's just wrong. I thought I was drinking something pure and clean and I am just drinking the same stuff I could get from my kitchen or bathroom sink. While I have no issues with the taste – most water tastes OK – I do have issues with being mislead. I will read labels better and choose clear spring or mineral water and shun the "drinking water" that I can get in abundance at home for free.

My Viewpoint

PepsiCo, who makes Aquafina Bottled Water, got snagged and now they have to clearly label that they are tap water. I am sure the others aren't far behind. The bottled water craze is a multi million dollar business and we consumers are being ripped off! I don't mind drinking tap water but I don't want to be mislead by the company telling me it is anything but what it is. I won't drink Aquafina Bottled Water again. There is nothing wrong with it, but I don't like to be baited and switched. Same does for Dansini. I will pay for water I can't get at home and not for a plastic bottle of tap water. 1 star for misleading the public.