I can understand it for 3rd world countries but it is a bit silly in the western world. Look for comedian Jim Gaffigan’s routine on bottled water – “do you have any air back there, how much is that?”
Wait… then again you can go to oxygen clinics.

Why do they care whether or not people drink the tap water?

The eco-marxists have now blacklisted water bottles. Funny though, since water bottles get recycled. Doesn’t matter. They want us all to go back to 1800 and live off the land so we don’t “taint” mother earth with our mere presence.

Another funny thing. They don’t want us to go back to 1800 in any other way, though. If you know what I mean. They want us to think like progressive marxists, but live like cave men.

They don’t. The “Water” budget has $200,000 left that must be spent by July (whenever). If they do not spend the money this year, their budget will be reduced by $200,000 next year. Can’t have that. Must spend $200,000 this year on something. Promote tap water? Why not?

Think I am kidding? I am not. This is how it works. Spend the money or lose it. Great incentive for frugality, huh.

Here in Central Florida, UCF had to put out a disclaimer when the tap water didn’t pass standards. And we got updates regularly on the status.

Of course, most of Florida has the exact opposite problem, where we have aquifers that are allegedly running dry and so the trick is to limit consumption. I think.

Re: bottle recycling, plastic water bottle are just blow-molded thermoplastics, right? What’s the issue with recycling them? From a materials perspective, at least.

Not that I am on the anti-bottled-water bandwagon. Recycle the bottles. (They’re so convenient for toting water, I reuse them for years filling them from the tap. But our water tastes OK.)

Every day brings fresh evidence that government in America, at all levels, is out of control, metastasizing like cancer.

Personally, I don’t buy bottled water every day, but sometimes it’s just convenient to be able to buy it. I like Aquafina. I don’t care if it’s tap water, it tastes better than what comes out of our local water systems.

Metaphor for all of government: It tastes like crap, but you really have no choice to use anything else.

lorien1973 on June 23, 2009 at 11:39 AM

Metaphor for the Obama administration. It tastes like crap, but if you package it right…..

Also, when they clear lines or do some work around campus, such as flushing the system, they announce that while the water is unpleasant looking, it still remains within the government mandated levels of drinkability or whatever the -ese is.

It’s brown, just chug it down!

Tap water is a bargain and Minneapolis has done much to improve it. Promoting that fact isn’t wasted if more taxpaying citizens start taking advantage of good, cheap drinking water right in their own homes.

starfleet_dude on June 23, 2009 at 12:04 PM

Do you have like a set number of statements like this you have to make a week? Sort of like a quota?

The very small town of Torrington, Wyoming has water that is drinkable as well. However, a short walk around town reveals a strange, white chalky substance on the houses and trees.
From the sprinklers.
The water has so much crap in it that, while it won’t kill you, cannot be helping anyone.
Even if the water in Minneapolis were totally wonderful. It is absolutely retarded and wasteful to spend one dime advertising it.
There are no other sources for sprinklers, showers, and the like, except the municipal water supply. If people don’t want to drink it – and who would – then they are not going to.
The only people advertising is going to cause to drink it are either new-comers or visitors.
Residents are going to see -and smell- that it’s still the same old crap.

Tap water is a bargain and Minneapolis has done much to improve it. Promoting that fact isn’t wasted if more taxpaying citizens start taking advantage of good, cheap drinking water right in their own homes.

starfleet_dude on June 23, 2009 at 12:04 PM

Cept they are paying for someone to sell something to them. It’s like having a cover charge to talk to a used car salesman.

Besides that . . . what is up with these websites? I mean the bandwidth, servers (mass killer ones), and the site construction and maintainance shouldn’t cost that much. Maybe they should start calling Rackspace or something.

Of course they could get a lot more if they bought them directly from Brita.

- The Cat

P.S. That’s including sales tax.

Our local Fox News affiliate reports on a program that practically cries out for the descending Monty Python foot:

Brought to you by the Department of Putting Things on Top of Other Things.

Changucopia on June 23, 2009 at 12:14 PM

I bet they drink corporate water. Now where did I put my ipod?

Nope.

Too simple for government to think of.