Christine Dabney > writes:

>On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 16:40:53 -0500, Julia Altshuler
> wrote:

>>peculiar about what she ate, offered her water. The guest wouldn't
>>drink it because it wasn't bottled water! This was water from a safe
>>municipal supply, but it wasn't good enough. I noticed the
>>inconsistency. Surely the soup at the restaurant used the same
>>municipal water, but at the restaurant it didn't matter.

The soup water was likely boiled during cooking. That makes a
difference.

>I wish I could agree with your opinion, but I can't.

>I have a very good friend who is vegan, and believe me, it is not
>about the person, at least in his case. He is very concerned about
>what is in our food supply, and in our water for instance.
[snip]
>As far as bottled water, there is a lot of controversy as to whether
>some bottled water is just tap water, at least some brands. And some
>tap waters are absolutely horrible as far as what is in them.

That seems perfectly reasonable to me. I've lived in too many places
to think that municipal water is safe just because it tastes like it.
When I'm on a trip and want water, but I'm in a new town or a gas
station convenience store, I'll buy bottled. No way I'm drinking what
comes out of a strange tap in a place that might not be clean, when I
can spend 99 cents on a bottle that's likely to be somewhat safer.
(Although I've read two good articles about Ozarka brand which make me
steer clear of it.)
Still, I get teased about buying bottled water, because some people
just have this notion that water is "free" and "clean" just because they
don't see chunks in it.

Stacia