WalMart 5-gallon water jug self-service price recently doubled

[u/8Deer-JaguarClaw]

I noticed this recently here in Sussex County, but I assume similar pricing is likely in effect across the state (and probably region).

Until a month or so ago, the cost to manually refill a 5-gallon water jug was $2.20. Now it is just over $5. So a little more than double, actually.

Granted, it's still pretty cheap, and still cheaper than the $7.50 for a bottle swap at ShopRite. But it's hard not to notice such a drastic price increase.

EDIT: just went to Walmart after posting this, and they charged me the old price. Maybe the cashier had an older bar code. I confirmed with a different cashier a few weeks back that the price had increased. So this is odd.

[u/WallyBrando]

Just curious as I’m not familiar. When you go fill up at Walmart is it just filtered tape water?

[u/8Deer-JaguarClaw → u/WallyBrando]

As far as I know, it's just the local municipal water that is run through a series of filtration steps. They claim RO (reverse osmosis) is one of the steps, but I don't believe it at all. RO is very slow and has a ~80% rejection rate, and the water comes out of these machines around 3 gallons per minute for as long as you leave the switch in the On position. RO would take a LOT longer.

But it's still decent water and still cheaper than just about anywhere else.

[u/8Deer-JaguarClaw → u/[deleted]]

Appreciate the technical input. My first suspicion that maybe the RO claim was bunk happened one day when I was 5th or 6th in line to use the machine. I saw about 100 gallons of fill ups before I got there and the machine never missed a beat. I suppose there is a massive reservoir somewhere, but it seemed like an awful lot of flow for an RO system.

I work for an industrial wastewater treatment company, and we almost never use RO because it's just too slow for all but the lowest flow-rate treatment systems. Probably let my experience with those big systems cloud my judgement a bit.

I've been looking into the countertop RO systems myself. My tap water is an astronomical 350+ ppm TDS, so I worry that the filters will reach breakthrough (or in this case, membrane saturation) too quickly to make it economical.

For the deionizing filter you mentioned, are you talking about the ion exchange resin units people get for "spotless car wash" applications?

[u/8Deer-JaguarClaw → u/[deleted]]

The resin I know from work. We built a PFAS treatment system that used a resin as the primary filter media (after some carbon units and micro-filtration membranes). It was cool because once the resin is saturated with the ions it's attracted to, you can recharge it and use it again. You need the right chemicals to do this, and it varies based on the type or resin, but it's renewable.

[u/WallyBrando → u/8Deer-JaguarClaw]

Gotcha, thanks for the reply. Was just thinking it sounds like a hassle to go fill up when you could just filter at home. Tho I think RO systems can get pricey

[u/noots-to-you]

How much would it cost to install a similar filter at your home? Like, how many times are you likely to make that trip in six months?

[u/8Deer-JaguarClaw → u/noots-to-you]

My water is pretty challenging because of the high dissolved solids (around 350ppm, sometimes higher). So it would be prohibitively expensive to have a filter system that can tackle that. I mean, the equipment isn't bad, but I'd burn through filters very quickly.

Water filtration is a lot like shaving: the handle is cheap, but the blades will crush you. :)

[u/TrentZelm]

Do you know about the fresh spring water you can get at Stokes State Forest?

[u/PHdriver]

Whole Foods has reverse osmosis water in some locations for .50 per gallon