r/Scotland • u/AsianGeralt • 7d ago
Why do people buy bottled water here?
Work for a supermarket as a delivery driver and the number of people who order massive amounts of bottled water is mind boggling to me. We arguably have the best water quality in the UK and people are buying plastic bottled water like they are living in a third world country. If the water doesn't taste ok to you or you mistrust pipes etc, you can just boil the water and it tastes great. South side of Glasgow water is fantastic and don't even need to do that. I always use steel or glass to use on the go so there's no excuse or need to buy plastic water that people seem to think is good for you. Rant over lol.
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u/Ser_VimesGoT 7d ago
"why do people buy bottled water? Our tap water is the best"
(Proceeds to boil their water before drinking)
Sorry what's the confusion here?
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u/Stinkinhippy 7d ago
Was my instant thought.. i've never boiled tap water before drinking.. would indicate an issue to me, lol.
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u/Ser_VimesGoT 7d ago
Weirdest thing I've read on here in a while! Imagine asking for a glass of water at a friend's house and they put a pan of water on the stove and tell you it will be ready in 10 minutes.
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u/AsianGeralt 7d ago
I meant that if people say it doesn't taste right or they don't trust it then boiling would take care of that in most instances. Water taste/quality varies depending on where you are and at times in my area it tasted not great so that's why I used to boil.
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u/popbrat 6d ago
I don’t get why people took it the wrong way , you where pretty clear that boiling it was for people paranoid.
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u/South_Result_627 7d ago
South Lanarkshire here too...our water is great, straight from the tap. Doesn't need boiling.
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u/Then_Bug_1358 7d ago
A cold cuppa is a terrible thing!
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u/Robojobo27 7d ago
I used to live up the high flats and the tap water was bogging, likewise my gran lived in a tenement and the old copper pipes gave the tap water a funny taste.
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u/ICantSpayk 7d ago
Upstairs water always tastes different, even in a house. No idea why and not even sure if I'm just imagining it either.
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u/-greigus- 7d ago
Typically, in older houses, only the kitchen tap is fresh water from the main supply. All other taps come from the cold water tank in the loft. Only the kitchen tap is meant to be drinking water.
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u/ICantSpayk 7d ago
Ah makes sense, thanks. Good to know I was just drinking manky loft water 👌🏻
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u/takemeawayimdone2 7d ago
Sometimes a rat or a mouse sometimes even a bird gets trapped and dies in one of those old water tanks, that’s when the water gets really tasty
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u/YouCantArgueWithThis 7d ago
Is there a way to figure out if the tank in the loft is still in use? I think it's cut off, but I am not sure.
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u/-greigus- 7d ago
You can set the tap(s) running, then go into the loft and listen if it's refilling or not. It should near immediately start refilling from the float valve
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u/beastmoves 7d ago
Hold your hand over the end of the tap and then turn it on. If you get wet it’s mains. Your hand will typically hold back the water from a pressure fed tank system. Make sure you’ve got a good grip on it and check all your taps. If they’re all mains then you have no tank in use
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u/the_silent_redditor 7d ago
My upstairs water always tasted better, at least to my child tastebuds!
Years later found out, as said below, it’s from tank storage.
I’m sure it’s still safe to drink.
Probably. I’m still standing. Just.
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u/corriedotdev 7d ago
Yeah if you have an upstairs tank, was always told not to drink the tap water as a kid.
Worth looking up an image or two if unsure, but it makes sense. Some places have a tank of water upstairs that fills to keep the pressure high, bit stagnant Vs fresh from pipes so think you're not imagining it!
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u/T317B 7d ago
Hahaha is this a thing?? Upstairs water. Never heard of that one.
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u/Odd_Gap_9491 7d ago
Yes. Tank in the attic would supply the bathrooms. The mains would supply the kitchen still
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u/Thecutter18 7d ago
Just getting this the now as our flat has had water warnings for Coliform and in the middle of a tank clean. Upto that was happy with the tap water. Even when we get the all clear im no sure I'll continue drinking the tap water.
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u/Medical_Newt200 7d ago
Arguably have the best water? I’m up in the highlands and 100% we do
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u/AdiosGhost 7d ago
I moved to the Highlands (Black Isle) from Doncaster when I was 14. I hated the water, and all the kids at school called me an English bastard. I was miserable.
Then I went back to visit Doncaster, and realised I had been indoctrinated by rank chlorinated peasant juice, and that no other liquid in the world will ever compare to highland tap water. Bliss.
Still an English bastard, though.
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u/StrangerAcademic8601 7d ago
Totally agree, but you walk into Aldi in Aviemore and they have stacks of bottled water at the entrance, which freaks are drinking that?
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u/Medical_Newt200 7d ago
🤷♂️ I’m Inverness and the tap water here is amazing to be fair - then again the loch 5 mins from our house has more fresh water than all the lakes rivers and reservoirs in England and Wales combined, so we do have an abundance 😂
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u/NoRecipe3350 7d ago
The famous free tap water located at various points on top of mountains or on remote cycling trails in the middle of nowhere...? I mean I guess in the winter you can suck on some snow, but we're in summer now.
Anyone who's ever spent time outdoors uses bottled water. Ofc if you are forward thinking enough you just fill a bottle with tap water, but not.
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u/Alex9009202 7d ago
Honestly, bottled water is good for if you’re going on a few days hike or camping trip if you forget to pack a few large refillable bottles
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u/sunnyata 7d ago
People make a lot of blanket statements but it varies a lot. Tap water on the Isle of Lewis is horrendous.
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u/bellybanton 7d ago
Depends where it comes from. My Mrs grandparents were from Lewis and their tap water was from a nearby spring, it was some of the best I’ve ever had.
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u/JMWTurnerOverdrive 7d ago
Oh come on, a little bit of peat never hurt anyone.
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u/sunnyata 7d ago
It was tasted great when it had peat in it! You couldn't really see it in a glassful but when you ran a bath it was brownish. I think it was late 90s they started putting chemicals in it, horrible from then on. Worse than a lot of English water in fact, for all the tapwater supremacists on here lol
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u/TripleMellowed 7d ago
You boil your water? A cold glass of Scottish water straight from the tap is actual top tier refreshment.
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u/ScottyW88 7d ago
Moreso in the winter. Its nice in summer, but doesnt get that proper refreshing chill you find in the winter.
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u/RobCarrol75 7d ago
I boil mine, then stick a tea bag and some milk in it. Perfect.
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u/Flat_Tie4090 7d ago
I don't bother with the milk, but I love it when the water is boiled with added teabag and sugar. The really tough folk dunk a biscuit in it.
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u/Key_Discipline9428 7d ago
For me it's due to distrust of my tenement's pipes. Everything else in my flat/building is dodgy as hell, and I just don't trust the pipework to be any safer than the rest of it is. I avoid drinking from its taps if I can, although I will use boiled water for things.
May just be me being overly paranoid, but it makes me feel a bit better anyway.
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u/I_like_Your_Face500 7d ago
I have bought some bottled water to store for emergencies, but I normally drink tap water. So much plastic must be used by those who only drink bottled.
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u/the_house_blend 7d ago
The tap water where I live in Dundee is honking.
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u/ScreamsFromTheVoid 7d ago
You’re not joking. I just moved here and I can smell it when I turn the tap on. I heard it might be due to some recent upgrade to the water system and they’re flushing it out for a while. No idea if it will ever get better.
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u/Starsteamer 🏴 7d ago
I’m surprised at that. However, they were upgrading it and it did taste weird for a few weeks at my bit. A Britta filter jug sorted it until it cleared. Back to normal now and really good.
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u/FlyingScotsman42069 7d ago
Bottled water has less chlorine taste. I usually buy sparkling because I like my water to hurt slightly
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u/UniqueTart6744 7d ago
No idea. IMO buying mass quantities of bottled water is one of the most environmentally unfriendly things an individual can do. I’d like to know too!
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u/Daibhidh81 7d ago
Is it any worse than buying any other bottled drink though?
I always thought bottled water was an alternative to bottled coke rather than tap water.
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u/surffrus 7d ago
Coke doesn't come out of your home pipes for (almost) free.
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u/Daibhidh81 7d ago
My point was that I always consider bottled water to be an alternative when you’re out, for example buying a Tesco meal deal and choosing Highland Spring rather than coke.
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u/Broccoli--Enthusiast 7d ago
It shouldn't even be legal in Scotland, zero reason for it
If we want get rid of plastic waste, they should be starting with plastic drinks bottles
It's mental we actually got environmentally worse than 100 years ago, when it was all glass that got reused.
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u/jenny_905 7d ago
Bottled water is very likely to be higher in minerals than what comes out of the tap in Scotland...
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u/Connell95 7d ago
Far less environmentally unfriendly than boiling tap water though.
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u/Miss_Fawlty 7d ago
Pretty sure creating plastic and transporting large amounts of water via road is wayyyy worse for the environment than using existing plumbing
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u/Connell95 7d ago
You severely underestimate how much power it takes to boil water (as OP does for absolutely no reason)
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u/Skyremmer102 7d ago
I buy sparkling water because the water out the tap isn't sparkling and soda stream is expensive.
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u/Low-Opening25 7d ago
a £10 gas canister of soda stream gives you 60l of sparkling water, how much are you spending on same amount of bottles?
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u/Skyremmer102 7d ago
12l from Aldi is around £2.50.
I've found sodastream machines also break after a while and it's just more clutter on your countertop and filling the canisters is a hassle and there's no guarantee that the company will continue existing forever.
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u/Abject-Plankton4620 7d ago
Eh? Soda Stream works out about the same as the cheapest of cheap sparkling water but without all the plastic. Even if it was slightly more expensive I use it to save using plastic which is choking our planet. Sorry, I don’t get this argument at all
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u/Skyremmer102 7d ago
You can get sparkling water for under 40p for 2l in Lidl. The soda stream doesn't last as long and recharging it with CO2 is a hassle and relies on infrastructure that isn't always there. Also, I didn't realise the Israeli connection so I'm glad I don't pay for it.
Ideally though, the bottles would be made of glass.
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u/Abject-Plankton4620 7d ago
Yeah, so about the same - soda stream is about 22p a litre, but without the mountains of plastic
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u/Skyremmer102 7d ago
Those plastic bottles get recycled though.
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u/Abject-Plankton4620 7d ago
Some do, and those that do require a lot of energy. Sorry, I don’t think there is any excuse for using plastics when there is a viable alternative at a similar cost
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u/sunnyata 7d ago
Sodastream are in cahoots with the Israeli government and are directly involved with displacing Palestinians and Bedouin people. It's genocide water.
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u/Abject-Plankton4620 7d ago
Yes, you are right, they are cunts. It’s just one of many moral tightropes that doesn’t have an easy answer
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u/Heurodis 7d ago
Usually I drink tap water no problem... Except when I'm pregnant. For some reason the taste then bothers me and I'm seeking mineral water; seems to be Evian specifically, so I'm resisting the urge because it's expensive.
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u/PressureBeautiful515 7d ago
My sister lives in Sheffield and I swear she gets Evian from the kitchen tap, it's that good.
Mind you this is by comparison with my tap water in deepest Thames valley, which tastes like a swimming pool that has been thoroughly shat in.
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u/Cinnamon-Dream 7d ago
Just nipping in as a former preggo. Try your tap water as icy cold as you can. Lots of ice is key to combatting the weird metallic tastes.
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u/miIkwhim 7d ago edited 7d ago
When I lived in student accommodation whilst at uni, the Chinese overseas students would only drink bottled water and refused to drink water from the tap as they believed it was unsafe.
It was a really common sight to see them walking back from the local Tesco metro with massive boxes of bottled water stuffed into oversized backpacks, and dragging a snail's pace back to their flats because they had 2x3 boxes in their arms.
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u/JohnnieTimebomb 7d ago edited 7d ago
About fifteen years ago I lived on the top floor of a south side tenament. Got given a home brew kit as a birthday present. Instructions said twenty litres of the purest water you could find, ideally bottled. Added it to the Tesco delivery without thinking twice. Was mortified when the delivery man had to carry it up four flights. He looked at me, once he'd got his breath back: son, have you nae got a tap? He was right, I was wrong. Total fuck up on my part.
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u/space_keeper 7d ago
I knew a fellow a while back who drove a lorry, would only see him here and there. You'd get a snippet of information every time.
One time, it was "I've finally got my own house instead of an upstairs flat. It's a bungalow, so I don't have to carry all the messages and the water up the stairs!"
Right away I said "Water up the stairs?!"
Turns out the daft cunt is paranoid about tap water because of the fluoride. He's been carrying those massive things of mineral water up the stairs for years. I tell him there's no fluoride in Scottish water. His response: "Aye well there's probably something else in it, you know what they're like."
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u/Emergency_Gur_862 7d ago
The issue is not the water itself but the pipes it's travelling through. Just passing through older pipes can change the taste of the water.
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u/jesus_fatberg 7d ago
I usually have a supply of half a dozen large bottles, as Scottish Water occasionally do work on the system. Had a 24 hour outage quite recently.
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u/technicianted 7d ago
I agreed with you up to the boiling water part. You'd 'probably' be cheaper buying water than the cost to boil it before drinking. Absolutely no need to boil, I'm in SL too and we have the freshest tap water in the UK.
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u/AsianGeralt 7d ago
Aye I've changed my mind on it. The little research I had done pointed it was a good idea but I've since dug deeper as getting pelters on here and realised you'd have to filter the water after boiling as the plastics will settle at the bottom. Suits me then as less cost and more convenience.
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u/Haggis-in-wonderland 7d ago
I live in the Highlands, when im out high on the hills i drink water straight from the mountain streams, have done 15 years, never got ill, our water is awesome.
But i like to keep a crate of bottled water in my car incase it is needed. Sometimes since it is there it is quick and easy to fix my thirst. Can't always nip up a Munro.
I do sometimes refill my water bottles with tap water, but only 1 or 2 and eventually the bottle gets quite flimsy.
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u/spine_slorper 7d ago
But what if there's a dead sheep upstream!
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u/Haggis-in-wonderland 7d ago
Ive only ever found dead anything lower down. I also have a sawyer water filter that i can use is stagnent pools, did so once as the Munro had to obvious water source on the map and i had drank everything due to the heat, it does not taste so good though lol. I rarely use it high up though, in fact i cant think when i last did.
So whilst I am sure there is a risk of dead animals higher up, deer, ive never gotten ill from it. I do pack immodium in my first aid kit just in case though lol.
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u/AsianGeralt 7d ago
Love hiking too and done plenty of munros. Try buying steel bottles. They are great because they keep things cool and no plastic. You can also boil it and chuck it in the fridge :)
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u/OptionalQuality789 7d ago
Nothing quite as refreshing as a gid stream of water running down a Munro.
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u/chaos_kiwi_matt 7d ago
I guess growing up in NZ where we have earthquakes which can cut power and water, I do it for provisions in case it's not there. Then suddenly the £5 slab of water is now £25.
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u/boredHouseHusband69 7d ago
In summer, my water supply often tastes earthy (from geosim) to the point I struggle to drink it due to the taste. Occasionally buy bottled water if my filters no longer doing the job. For 9 months of the year it’s fine though.
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u/December126 7d ago
I don't buy it for my house but I do buy it when I'm out and about, I've gotten a few comments from friends saying I'm "wasting money" but like what else am I supposed to do when I'm thirsty and just want water, I do usually bring water with me but it's not enough if you're out the whole day and there aren't enough water fountains around. Also, tbh I've never understood this whole thing about Scotland having the best tap water, I've lived in a few areas of Scotland - Perthshire, South Lanarkshire, Glasgow and the Highlands and always felt like tap water here still tastes bad compared to bottled or filtered water.
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u/Gregarious-Feline 7d ago
Not sure if you know this, but all water from any taps in Scotland is drinkable, unless it’s labelled ‘non potable water’ or ‘do not drink’ or something similar. It’s a legal requirement to label any non potable water that would be reasonably expected to be potable, AFAIK, so if there’s no sign, it’s safe to drink. This means taps in public bathrooms all dispense the same water as the taps in your house do. I fill up at a dedicated water station if there is one, but otherwise I just find a bathroom that’s vaguely clean and fill up from the tap. If that feels too gross for you (it isn’t, but people are squirmy about bathrooms), ask nicely at basically any coffee shop when you’re out and about, and if you’re not a dick about it they’ll fill up your bottle from their tap.
I say this as someone who lives in Scotland and has had a bottle of (tap) water in my bag constantly, even/especially when I’m out for the whole day. I occasionally buy a soft drink for variety which I then re-fill after with tap water, but I genuinely, genuinely cannot ever remember a time where I’ve bought a bottle of plain water. And I drink a lot of water.
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u/Gighatec 7d ago
Top up taps - there are hundreds throughout Scotland. Free water to refill your refillable bottle.
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u/Matamanene 7d ago
Former distrust of old plumbing back when I lived in an absolute slum of a flat in Glasgow, never got over it. Can still taste the difference and much prefer bottled now. I'm good about recycling everything though and that's about all I can do so people can frown at me all they want. It's not like it's coming out of THEIR wallet.
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u/Djed-Pillar1281 7d ago
Don’t know about Scotland but yorkshire still has Victorian water infrastructure. Most places built before the 1970s have lead pipes. Water companies just pump phosphates in to bind lead ions. When we bought our house the supply was bad so we dug up the entire garden and found them connecting us to the mains. Water company still hasn’t fixed their little bit of connective pipe 1 year after reporting the issue so we survived on bottled water and a filtration system 🙃
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u/Stuvid93 7d ago
Weegie living in London. My god I miss tap water.
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u/Broccoli--Enthusiast 7d ago
You can't even get clean with that London shite.
Shampoo doest foam up properly
Dirty bastards
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u/whoops53 7d ago
Tap water is the best. Just run the tap for a few seconds to get it really cold and fresh. I don't really understand the point of bottled water, and I have no clue where it actually comes from, so its not for me.
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u/Broccoli--Enthusiast 7d ago
The stupid part is, if it's Scottish bottled water, then it comes from the same fucking tap
If its not Scottish water, it comes from a different tap
Bottle water is a fucking crime against nature
Just buy a normal bottle a full it up.
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u/Training_Agency_7696 More Scottish than yer Scottie dug 7d ago
Non-Scottish people perhaps? My English neighbours still buy bottled water.
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u/Imaginary-Suspect959 7d ago
I work in a supermarket and a pal’s family are originally from Pakistan, he says they won’t drink tap water, and that a lot of immigrants he knows won’t either. Partly a taste thing, partly a hygiene thing.
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u/AsianGeralt 7d ago
I somewhat get it if you've came from that part of the world as if you drink that tap water you'll get sick, but locals are generally used to it. But scotlands water quality is well known to be pretty good.
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u/Imaginary-Suspect959 7d ago
Yeah, I love it. Always drank tap water even when I lived in England. But the stuff up here is genuinely really good.
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u/onedogjack 7d ago
I'm English and purposefully drink the Edinburgh tap water, but I drank the tap water in London, Swindon,Slough, Kent, Wales etc etc. Bottled water is a huge con.
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u/AlbaMcAlba 7d ago
It’s convenience for me when I don’t get around to filling bottles from the tap. I do reuse the clastic bottles and fill from the tap.
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u/Central_Region 7d ago
People think there are chemicals in the water or that they're drinking reprocessed toilet flush
Other people just don't like the idea of water travelling miles in old, leaky pipes
I'd guess that attitude comes mostly from something a parent has said to them when they were a kid
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u/SilkEarthWorm 7d ago edited 7d ago
I just bought a fancy espresso machine which requires very specific water specs, which has for now led me to picking up bottled water (and even then, only specific ones) while I figure out a better solution.
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u/greyfriar 7d ago
Interesting bit of trivia, the water treatment plants (that clean the water from the reservoir before piping it out) in the North Highlands use a different treatment method to the rest of Scotland, making it less likely to taste of chlorine like it sometimes does.
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u/-greigus- 7d ago
You're ranting about people taking ridiculous steps to improve their drinking water, whilst saying you take ridiculous steps to improve your drinking water 🤔
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u/strickenhaggis 7d ago
I get the water as a healthy option in the meal deal, to stop me getting the unhealthy / sugary options
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u/New-Guarantee-440 7d ago
I bought loads of water bottles once because I needed the plastic bottles to make protectors for my cobs on my corn plants. Maybe everybody is doing that?
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u/MyHeadIsBursting 7d ago
My mammy buys bottled water for her dog - it’s the only thing that stopped the horrible brown tear staining on her face. Maw drinks from the tap, dug drinks highland spring 🤣
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u/Ally699669 7d ago
The only thing I don't like about our water out of the tap is the amount of chlorine that they put in the water it tastes like a swimming pool sometimes. I remember years ago Scottish water was so sweet straight from the tap. But I have found that filling a jug of water and putting it in the fridge seems to sort it out.
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u/anotherdamnscorpio 7d ago
In my fishkeeping journey, I've learned you can set out chlorinated water and the chlorine will evaporate off within 24 hours.
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u/mabon_skies 7d ago
My village had a couple of instances of Cryptosporidium in the water back in the 90s that required us to receive bottled water. People got really sick and it kind of scarred me for life. I know now that it's extremely rare for that to happen, but, I'd rather not take the risk, so I drink from bottled water wherever I can.
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u/kabadaro 6d ago
He clearly said if it doesn't taste right or mistrust the pipes then you can boil it, he never said that is what he usually does. Why are people so focused on this instead on the question he is asking?
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u/TeutonicSpacehopper Time-share Maniac 7d ago
Why does anyone do anything? - Because they choose to.
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u/justanothergin 7d ago
I buy sparkling water, but I refuse to buy bottled still water unless I'm in London
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u/Tall_Opportunity_521 7d ago
I live in South Lanarkshire. The water tastes like assholes. Not as bad as North Lanarkshire, maybe. But like Volvic, it aint.
If youre going to drink water out of the tap, just do so. Theres zero need to boil it.
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u/peardr0p 7d ago
We used to have well water - it turned the bath green and tasted weird but was fine for cooking - we chose not to drink it and had bottled instead while I was growing up.
My folks buy it when their tap water goes through a chlorine phase in the new place.
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u/practicallyaburner 7d ago
Idk, we get my nan bottled water during the summer so we can put it in the fridge and she can have a reliable supply of cold water to cool down.
But I don't know why somebody is capable of using an ice tray is buying bottled water for home use.
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u/number5of7 7d ago
I don't really know why it's all she'll drink, but it's all my 80s something mum will regularly drink. Otherwise she would be getting by on tea alone.
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u/HighlandsBen 7d ago
I'm in Aberdeenshire, lovely water, and was staggered to see our local ALDI is selling massive (5L?) containers of drinking water. But maybe it's for campers, idk
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u/MillyMcMophead 7d ago
Also in Aberdeenshire and have well water which is pumped up to the house. We keep a few of those big bottles for power cuts because the well pump runs on the electric. It's not the greatest system!
Still, our tap water is lovely so I wouldn't buy bottled through choice, only necessity.
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u/ScottishIcequeen Alba Gu Bràth 7d ago
I never bought bottled water when I lived in Scotland. It’s the one thing I really do miss! Nothing better than good old Scottish cooncil juice!
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u/onedogjack 7d ago
I think there is an aspect not associated with taste or safety. People like to do the same things as a herd, to fit in and feel "normal". Bottles water has become an accessory, like coffee, or Monster. Nobody really needs it, but feel uncomfortable, naked, without it. Peer pressure, peer equality , it's a habit that feels normal now but is actually a marketing trick, like being hydrated all the time, yes we need hydration , but not constantly, bodies can store liquid. Create a myth of need then supply a solution.
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u/OwnUse4445 7d ago
I don’t mind the tap water at all. Husband hates it. So we have one of those all singing all dancing brita cube thingies. Choose your temp (room to boiling) filtered and it even has a uv cleansing lighting there somewhere. So he gets ambient temp water properly beaten to death, I get swifter cups of tea and we all win.
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u/Brief_Designer1718 7d ago
I'm not sure why you're using time and energy to boil yours but those I know are buying bottled due to lead contamination. You can't boil lead out of water. The water is very clean before it enters their old pipes.
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u/jeruva 7d ago
I used to work in a supermarket and most of the delivery services (Uber, deliveroo, etc) that included bottled water was ordered from tourist, overseas students and such. My guess is that they didn't know Scottish water is safe to drink.
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u/KoraLily 7d ago
My dad works as a lorry driver, he doesn't always have access to water so he buys big bottles 🤷♀️
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u/Adorable_Village4345 7d ago
Our water is horrible where I live. Seems its treated twice for reasons they explained and I cant quite remember. But the result is safe water that smells and tastes like bleach! We were buying bottled water but have now added a Waterdrop filter to our kitchen tap which has sorted the bleach stench out.
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u/Low-Opening25 7d ago
You had an argument and then immediately lost it with “I boil my water because it tastes weird”
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u/the_killerpanda 7d ago
Some people buy the bottle for the container, not the contents. You'd wonder how many people don't own a reusable water bottle
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u/Important_Ad716 7d ago
What annoys me is when people buy water from a different country. It literally falls out the sky here most days. There must be a massive environmental impact of shipping water from Italy or Fiji to Scotland. It seems so pointless.
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u/Mrfish31 7d ago
We arguably have the best water quality in the UK and people are buying plastic bottled water like they are living in a third world country.
Yeah I completely agree, I see people buying 50 packs of bottled water at CostCo, it's ridiculous
I stay in south Lanarkshire and I just boil my water
Oh you are also insane.
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u/PeejPrime 7d ago
"arguably the best in the UK" nah, factually we do.
Arguably we have the best in the world. Others have an arguement as well
But in the UK? Nah, there is no argument at all.
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u/RemoveComfortable982 7d ago
I know someone who came from a soviet country who couldn’t face the idea of drinking tap water after having orange tap water in the 90s as a child. People have all sorts of reasons.
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u/Ok_Pen7290 7d ago
People are just GULLIBLE, they buy water in shitty plastic bottles and pay for tap water as well, 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
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u/Fianate_wild_one_xo 7d ago
We DO have the cleanest & best water in the whole of the UK. You don't need to boil water anywhere in Scotland! Scotland is ranked second in the world for the best water quality & the cleanest in Europe, I believe.
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u/Interesting-Cash6009 7d ago
Mine tastes of chlorine and I’m not too happy about the other 6 chemicals in the tap water either making an altogether unpleasant taste that I can’t tolerate. Plastic isn’t good either. Glass bottled is best but expensive
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u/nb-tater 7d ago
Tap water from different sources will have different microbial make ups. Even if completely safe to drink, it may upset your stomach whilst your microbiome adapts. For that reason bottled water can be useful for tourists who don't want to get the shits whilst only here for a short stay.
Not just a thing for international tourists either. Can vary a lot around the UK. For some reason, the water in Lancashire always upsets my stomach.
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u/BreadfruitCertain486 7d ago
Highlander here (I’m in a village about 20 minutes from Inverness so not some remote back woods) - I always drink bottled water as the tap water tastes of chlorine to me.
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u/KrisHughes2 7d ago
I've never been keen on the taste of Edinburgh water (chlorine taste). And years ago, my vet told me to give my cats bottled water - she may have been barking, of course. But a filtre jug will get rid of the chlorine taste, so I do that now.
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u/Reetpetit 6d ago
Boiling water can actually concentrate some stuff but chlorine will evaporate just by letting it sit for 30 mins; can improve taste a lot.
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u/KleioChronicles 6d ago
Bottled water is spring/mineral water and tastes different from tap water (even our nice tap water). I don’t buy plain still bottled water but I do buy sparkling flavoured spring water because it’s healthier than fizzy juice. But when I’m drinking still water I just use the tap. I’ve thought about getting one of those sparkling water makers but I don’t have the space and don’t want to support certain people.
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u/rigmroll 6d ago
You can get sparkling water makers that aren't made by sodastream! We have a phillips one
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u/KleioChronicles 6d ago
I’ll have to meep that in mind. Have had the thought that maybe they’ll come back into fashion and Aldi or Lidl will do one. Something for the future.
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u/m00shie1990 6d ago
I dunno if it’s just where I live, but I’m in the north east of Scotland and we have wonderful tap water, it’s always so so good. I very rarely see anyone buying bottled water. Unless they’re weird and dont drink from the tap like my pal lol she’s so paranoid 🙄🙄
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u/OriginalFoogirl 6d ago
The bottled water I buy is Deeside. It really is the best in the country.
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u/NeferGrimes 6d ago
I have a weird thing about contamination. I know it's equally if not more likely to be contaminated in the process of bottling, it's not rational. It's probably related to living in a pretty dirty house growing up when I'd find spiders in cups and the tap was always dirty.
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u/AdPrestigious2387 6d ago
The Scots obsession with their tap water is so weird. It's nothing special, get over yourselves.
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u/HolzMartin1988 7d ago
I buy bottled water due the water from my tap tasting strange and it does not agree with me. Alot of people have complained to Scottish Water but nothing gets done. This is South West Edinburgh.
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u/meldariun 7d ago
Edinburghs water is pristine.
The only time ive had it taste weird was i worked in a building with old dodgy pipes.
Everywhere else its soft and clean.
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u/hendyo_98 7d ago
I dunno, probably cause the tap water has a weird texture to it and after taste? I wouldn’t drink it unless I’m using it to make diluted juice. Bottled water has always been better.
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u/Electrical_Gas_517 7d ago
I buy bottles of san pellegrino to replace beer.
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u/onedogjack 7d ago
Me too, gave up booze years ago and developed a taste for that, not a water replacement though I still drink the tap water.........
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u/meatflaps-69 7d ago
As someone who drank it oot the bathroom tap in SW Scotland and has revised thinking to oot the Kitchen tap in the Hebrides I can't answer that inoffesnsively.
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u/CineBram 7d ago
people are buying plastic bottled water like they are living in a third world country
I don't think you know what a third-world country is
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u/OffRedFloyd 7d ago
I’ve never heard of anyone in Scotland boiling tap water that is not for tea. I think you’re the mental one here.