I FEEL IT IN MY BOTTLED WATERS
If I was ever to meet the person who shelled out $60,000 for a bottle of the world’s most expensive water, I would like to think I would take great pleasure in throwing it in their face.
Or maybe use it for brushing my teeth. Or perhaps do the washing up in it?
That is correct. A bottle of Acqua di Cristallo Tributo Modigliani (left) will set you back $60,000.
Not for a massive lake of it, but for a 1.25mL bottle.
This water is a mix sourced from Fiji and France, with a dash of Icelandic Glacier chucked in for good measure.
Do you ever stop and think “I wonder who came up with that idea?”. I do all the time.
Who came up with chicken salt? Why do they call them Pizza Shapes when, although delicious, they taste nothing like a pizza? And what is Equal Sweetener actually made of?
My constant ponderings keep my mind active and means that I do not have to do Sudoku like my mum. And when I saw a fridge at my local shops that had a big sign on it, my mind went into overdrive!
It said FINE DINING WATER.
I had to read it twice. It took a while to connect to be honest, and then the penny dropped. Water was not just something one drinks to stave off dehydration. It is now a fashion statement. And me? I think it is a crock of shite.
I recall when bottled water started appearing in shops years ago. Who would buy water when it was free from the tap? It seems that many of us would, with half a billion dollars spent in Australia alone on the stuff.
I am one of those who on occasion drink bottled water. I cannot tell a lie. But when I think about it, I have to ask myself why? Do you know why you buy water?
At last check there were well over 3600 different brands of bottled water available and Australian catering suppliers Source Direct has upped the ante when it comes to flogging fancy water.
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51 Responses to this article
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kim at allconsuming April 25, 2012
Dear GOD woman did you actually research this? Respek.
Basically you could replace “water” with “salt” and the same arguments apply. Break down the mineral components of fancy salt (think Peruvian, Himalayan) to bog standard table salt and what you get is … salt.
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boomerangjane April 25, 2012
Thank you Mrs W for educating us tap water drinkers on what we’re missing. I have a small obsession with pretty bottles, and am guilty of forking out $4 on a bottle of water once for it’s prettyness. Now I’m trying so very hard not to take out a mortgage on my home to purchase one of those beautiful $60,000 bottles. But even I can see that with only 1.25ml of water, they may well be taking advantage…just a little.
Kim at all Consuming, I appreciate your salty sentiments. But as Mrs W did the unthinkable and researched bottled water, I have done some deeper research myself on salt. Even read an entire book dedicated to why table salt is SOOO bad for you, but why Macrobiotic Dirty Salt (speckled grey in colour) is EXCELLENT for you. There is a huge difference – subtle – but life threateningly different when investigated between them. Although Himalayan pink salt can be good for you…the trick is knowing which ones have been sourced correctly, and which ones have the fraudsters getting in on the act and colouring the fake bad salt to look like the good stuff. But, probably more information than you wanted or needed on salt or water
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Veggie Mama April 25, 2012
I went out for dinner once and they asked did I want sparkling water or Noosa water. No mention of the Noosa tap it was coming from.
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Nikki @ Styling You April 25, 2012
I buy nice bottles of a certain brand of water then fill the empties from the tap
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Wendy April 25, 2012
I worry about the great pacific ocean dump where the bottles that are not recycled end up
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Deb April 25, 2012
I so agree Wendy. I saw the most shocking sight last week after that big dumping of rain in Sydney. In a certain bay that I was driving around were hundreds HUNDREDS of what I thought were seagulls just floating and bobbing along on the still water – No No No – to my absolute disgust it was floating water bottles – I mean hundreds of them. I will try my hardest to never buy another bottle of water if this is what is going to happen to them.
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Mrs Woog April 26, 2012
That is just shocking. I am a re-filler (unless I am caught short)
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cranky old man April 25, 2012
My tap water tastes awful. When it is run through a filter it tastes as good or better than the bottled stuff, Thats because the bottled stuff is filtered tap water.
Cranky Old Man
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Fiona April 25, 2012
Great article! Annie Leonard has some more on this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0 I hate paying for water!
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Steph April 25, 2012
Apart from a week when the water supply in my suburb was contaminated with E-coli, it’s tap water all the way here. I like my kids to get that extra dose of fluoride, too, yo.
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Desire Empire April 25, 2012
Human nature being what it is, there will always be a market for silly products that ‘enhance’ status.
Carolyn -
Kelly Exeter April 25, 2012
This makes me *quite* stabby. A Water List? Really?!!
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Simonek April 25, 2012
you cant cure stupid,my dad used to say that for every silly person born into the world there are 4 people born that will take advantage of that person…. human nature.
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Kek April 25, 2012
These products are obviously aimed squarely at people with more money than sense.
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Sarah Boggs April 25, 2012
I use tap water put it in a bottle chill it and it tastes a bloody sight better than bottle4 water you buy . It was bad enough when we used to pay a penny to go to the loo
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Née Say April 25, 2012
I wonder if Beyonce refills her Bling water from the tap 100 times like I do with Mt Franklin? ;P
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Alex April 25, 2012
I was recently asked at a restaurant if I would like “still, sparkling or Sydney tap?” I frowned and asked why they didn’t have any Brisbane tap to hand, or Melbourne.
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Lucy April 25, 2012
When living in Paris, I was always given the choice of ‘plate, gazeuse ou municipale?’ Flat, sparkling or municipal water… somehow in French is still sounded chic asking for the ‘eau municipale’.
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Lisa April 25, 2012
I agree Mrs Woog ,I don’t really drink bottled water much but when i do ,i don’t care a fig about the brand ,i like filtered water best ,cause i reckon it tastes like my swimmimg pool,straight from the tap so i have a water filter on my fridge ,the only fancy smancy bottles we have a those coloured bottles you get at the cheapo shops and i have noticed my local posh pizza place has water in old wine bottles,a bit posh me reckons.I like the sound of chocolate water yum.!!!
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Bernadette April 25, 2012
I was once offered the water list in a restaurant in Dubai. I said the wine list would be just fine.
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Julie April 25, 2012
My 9 year old boy only drinks water. He prefers it chilled so we have a massive 5 litre container in the fridge that has its own tap. Chilled Melbourne tap water that he’s friends can’t get enough of when they come over!
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Aeron Winters April 25, 2012
Thanks for the laugh Mrs Woog….a water list. If someone ever asked if I wanted to see it I would probably wee myself laughing so hard. I’m still flabbergasted that when I am out I have to specify when I ask for a glass of water that I want it from the tap, not a bottle. I always carry my own sports bottle when I head out for the day, filled with filtered tap water, only because I can’t abide the chlorine taste. I have, rarely, had to buy a bottled water when I was dying of thirst and my bottle was empty and personally, I found the few I tried to taste much worse than my filtered tap water…perhaps it was because I just opted for the cheapest to quench my thirst.
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Allison April 25, 2012
Apart from the occasional sparkling water craving, it’s tap all the way for me. Just finishing up over two weeks travel in the US and had tap in every restaurant and every city – just fine.
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Simone April 25, 2012
Clearly you don’t live in Adelaide! You can stand a spoon upright in the water from the tap here. Thank the gods above for filters on taps and bottled water.
I’d like to l know what they do to it (apart from packaging) to have it cost $60000 though. -
Allison April 25, 2012
Simone, I must say I haven’t experienced SA tap!
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The Huntress April 25, 2012
I have always been against bottled water – I always wondered where all those little bottles would end up. Finally people seem to have caught on to this and realised that bottled water (in places where we have a ready supply of clean, drinkable water) is not environmentally friendly.
I am guilty of drinking sparkling water when dining out, though. I like bubbles
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Lab Elf April 25, 2012
I prefer tap water to bottled but I always use it from the fridge because the chlorine dissipates when the water is allowed to stand for a while. That is one of the reasons chilled water tastes better. I keep 2 jugs on rotation in my fridge all the time and fill my glass or water bottle from them.
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Kerrie April 25, 2012
Sydney Water have got clever and are supplying cafés with attractive glass bottles with the word “tap” lettered stylishly on the side. Also, as enthusiastic consumers of soda water, we invested in a Sodastream (remember them?) which we fill with “Sydney tap” and fizz, as required.
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Esther April 25, 2012
I use the bobble bottle http://www.waterbobble.com so, while I am still a tragic consumer, I get fresh, non chemically tasting water for about 50cents a litre and it still (strictly speaking) comes out of the tap!!
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Caity April 25, 2012
Toowoomba tap water is undrinkable. UGH! It’s truly awful. Some days just the smell of chlorine and goodness only knows what else from turning on the taps to wash the dishes (or take a shower) is quite overwhelming. We are expected to drink a mix of bore and rainwater and – I’m not quite sure what else!
We drink filtered rain water from our tank, thankyouverymuch, and plain brand fizzy mineral water form the supermarket as a luxury. And buy demineralized water for the iron, otherwise irons last less than 12 months before they gunk up and die. (What does that tell you about the water?!)
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Valerie Parv April 25, 2012
First time I went to LA I recoiled from the first glass of water I tried to drink – smelt, as somebody said, like swimming pool. On later trips, I found it was OK to drink. Now their water hasn’t improved, so what does that say about Sydney water? (I lived in the inner west). My NSW country tap water tastes just fine, but in a town I visited recently, the water had a decidedly muddy taste. Bundanoon has the right idea, banning bottled water and providing excellent street drinking fountains where you can fill your own bottle. Next time I’m asked, I’m ordering “aqua municipale”. Sounds positively “effluent”…er maybe not that.
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Angela April 25, 2012
I live in Adelaide and I like the water. It used to be terrible agree, but not for some time. You should also speak to a dentist about the tooth decay rates of kids who don’t drink tap water.
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Cate April 25, 2012
In one of the uni pracs I taught, we got the students to culture different brands of bottled water and do coliform counts on them (e.coli and other “poo” bacteria). They all tested positive and the one with the most bacteria was the most expensive brand. People often talk about the danger of toxins from plastic water bottles if you leave them in the sun or in your car. I think the bacteria growing in your bottled water is far more dangerous. Once you open the bottle, drink all the water. Don’t leave it sitting around for hours.
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Kim-Marie April 25, 2012
We drank bottled water whilst in Bali. For three of us, we got 8 – 12 bottles per day from the hotel. I felt so guilty drinking it but better than Bali belly. So pleased to come home and drink good old fashioned tap water!
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Donna @ NappyDaze April 26, 2012
Once I was witness to my former CEO’s Gucci ice cube tray – yes GUCCI!! That also left me with no doubt that the water being used in said over expensive ice cube tray was likely the $60,000 variety…
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Mrs Woog April 26, 2012
THAT is complete madness!
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Mrs Woog April 26, 2012
I have a Brita Water Filter machine that chills. I like my water cold. This morning the water from the tap was colder than the chilled version and tasted as sweet as!
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Deborah July 23, 2012
Dear god. A world gone mad. This should be compulsory viewing for those who think water is fashionable: http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-bottled-water/
