Bottled Tap Water

[OnDaGo]

I was at the Toronto Green Living show yesterday and saw this glass refillable Tap Water bottle... The said they were trying to get them into restaurants. Basically they buy an empty glass bottle (it is a thick hard glass made to be reused) and refill it with tap water.. so if you order water they can put a bottle on your table just like bottled water but without the cost.. I thought it was a great idea.. Anyone know of any restaurant using these?

[Harters]

Yes, I know a couple of places that do this. Most, of course, leave jugs.

[queencru]

Don't they already do that by giving you pitchers or carafes? I fail to see how this is new. I've seen it in plenty of restaurants, from low end to high end.

[Ruth Lafler]

A "green living" show is about as oxymoronic as a "real simple living" show. The best way to live green and/or simple is to buy less stuff!

[KTinNYC]

How would anyone make money if they did that?

[Ruth Lafler]

Exactly.

[small h]

This is a lovely example of a solution in search of a problem.

<(it is a thick hard glass made to be reused)>

As opposed to what? Thin delicate glass made to be discarded? I've never seen a glass bottle that disintegrated after use.

[fourunder]

I've never seen a glass bottle that disintegrated after use.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apparently, you've never dropped one....;0)

This is really nothing new. Restaurants have be reusing old wine carafes for water vessels for years. I can remember as far back as in the 70's employing this practice. I still see today, some casual places putting the water carafes on the table when you are seated and given menus......in fact, they even have lemon slices inside the carafes.

[small h]

Whoops! My bad.

<I've never seen a glass bottle that disintegrated after use unless I knocked it on the floor, as I do pretty frequently, when I'm not knocking other things on the floor, like coffee mugs or salad plates.>

Ok, fixed.

[johnb]

So apparently what this is is nothing more than a "pitcher with a narrow neck", presumably so the patrons can be trusted to refill their own glasses without spilling the water???

[Splendid Wine Snob]

If a restaurant really cared about the environment, then they would get used glass bottles (which exist in abundance), throw them in a dishwasher, and voila! You have your tap water container for the masses.

What about the REUSE portion of the equation? Why buy brand new containers? It seems completely pointless. The restaurant will also save money in the end.

SWS

[deelicious]

bottles really dont clean out all that well in a dishwasher. Pitchers seem to be much more hygenic.

[Splendid Wine Snob]

Whatever. Pitchers, bottles (with a wide neck). Same thing. My point is why would you purchase these bottles when there are thousands lying around, ready to be used for tap water?

And my glass bottles at home in my conventional dishwasher seem to come out VERY clean :)

[mogo]

Because a bottle with "Tap Water" emblazoned on its size would be ever so much cooler than an old bottle or pitcher. How will the world know of your eco-friendliness otherwise? And then nobody will pat you on the back. Tragedy!

[Paulustrious]

They were going to use green bottles but Perrier threatened to sue them. I also heard Dansani may sue them as they had intellectual property rights on putting tap water in bottles.

[morwen]

Does that mean Dasani or Perrier can sue me because I put tap water in my green bottle in my home? As long as the bottle isn't shaped like a trademarked bottle and isn't being passed off as a brand name I think they'd have to do a long stretch to win that one. But I agree with Ruth, just put a damn pitcher or carafe on the table.

[deelicious]

I just wonder if all restaurants would clean out the bottles well enough time and time again! I would be worried....

[Ruth Lafler]

You mean, clean it out with water from the tap? As long as no one is drinking from the bottle, how can something get dirty by filling it with something you use to clean it?

I don't see the point of filling a bottle with tap water. What's wrong with filling glasses from a pitcher? Are they trying to put busboys out of work? And why buy a special bottle? Why not just put a pitcher on the table, which, if you're worried about cleanliness, is easier to clean. If you must have a nice bottle, as Splendid Wine Snob pointed out, why not just reuse one of the many empty bottles generated in restaurants every day? Even if they aren't as sturdy as the special "tap water bottle" it doesn't matter, because if it breaks, you just grab another empty out of the discard pile and run it through the dishwasher.

The makers of the product are just creating a need so they can fill it. Manufacturing and selling more stuff when people already have something that will do the job is not eco-friendly.

[Snarf]

The Miller has been doing it for a while. I'm not sure where they get their bottles. Makes a lot of sense as it saves labour on constant refills.

[OnDaGo]

oh here is the URL: http://www.tapwater-bottle.com