The Problem with Bottled Water

00:26:34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcHWQnoE95w

Sintesi

TLDRThe video explores the bottled water industry, questioning the high prices and health claims associated with it compared to tap water. It features blind taste tests revealing that many bottled waters are essentially repurposed tap water. The host discusses the commercialization of water, the safety of tap water in America, and the misleading marketing tactics of bottled water brands. The video also highlights the importance of access to clean drinking water and promotes the Team Water initiative aimed at raising funds for communities lacking clean water.

Punti di forza

  • 💧 Bottled water can be 2,000 times more expensive than tap water.
  • 🔍 Many bottled waters are just repurposed tap water.
  • 🚰 Tap water in America is generally safe to drink.
  • 📈 The bottled water industry is worth $350 billion annually.
  • 🌍 Access to clean drinking water is a global issue.
  • 🧪 Health claims about bottled water are often misleading.
  • ♻️ Bottled water contributes to significant plastic waste.
  • 💡 Convenience drives the popularity of bottled water.
  • 🤝 Team Water aims to provide clean water access to those in need.
  • 🔬 Testing tap water can reveal contaminants, but it's mostly safe.

Linea temporale

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The video begins with the host expressing disbelief at spending $200 on a bottle of water and introduces a quest to explore the bottled water industry, including taste tests and the legitimacy of health claims made by various brands. The host questions the value of bottled water compared to tap water, highlighting the significant price difference and the need to understand what consumers are actually paying for.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The host conducts blind taste tests, revealing that they prefer tap water over expensive bottled options. They discuss the commercialization of water, emphasizing the importance of access to clean drinking water and the efforts of a movement called Team Water to raise funds for those in need. The video transitions into a deeper examination of the bottled water industry and its practices.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The narrative shifts to the history of bottled water consumption, noting a decline in public water fountains and a rise in bottled water sales due to health concerns and marketing strategies. The host highlights how major brands like Aquafina and Dasani often use tap water, which is then filtered and sold at exorbitant prices, leading to a surge in bottled water consumption.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    The video continues to explore the environmental impact of bottled water, with statistics on plastic waste and the sheer volume of bottled water sold. The host emphasizes the convenience factor driving consumer choices while also critiquing the misleading marketing tactics of bottled water companies, which often present their products as superior to tap water.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:26:34

    Finally, the host addresses health claims associated with bottled water, such as alkalinity and mineral content, debunking many of these claims with scientific evidence. They conclude by advocating for the appreciation of tap water, encouraging viewers to support initiatives for clean water access, and reflecting on the importance of demanding better water systems rather than relying on bottled alternatives.

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Mappa mentale

Video Domande e Risposte

  • Is bottled water really better than tap water?

    Not necessarily; many bottled waters are just repurposed tap water.

  • Why is bottled water so expensive?

    Bottled water can be up to 2,000 times more expensive than tap water due to branding and convenience.

  • Is tap water safe to drink in America?

    Yes, for most Americans, tap water is safe, though there are some contaminants.

  • What are the health claims associated with bottled water?

    Many claims, like alkalinity and added minerals, are often overstated or misleading.

  • What is Team Water?

    A movement to raise funds for clean drinking water access for communities in need.

  • How can I check the quality of my tap water?

    You can use resources like the Environmental Working Group to check contaminants.

  • What are the environmental impacts of bottled water?

    Bottled water contributes significantly to plastic waste and environmental degradation.

  • Are there any benefits to drinking mineral water?

    Mineral water can provide beneficial minerals, but tap water often contains minerals too.

  • What should I do if I don't trust my tap water?

    Consider using a water filter to improve tap water quality.

  • How did bottled water become popular?

    Bottled water gained popularity in the 1990s as people shifted from sugary drinks to healthier options.

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Sottotitoli
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Scorrimento automatico:
  • 00:00:00
    (cork pops)
  • 00:00:01
    - Wow, that was fun.
  • 00:00:03
    (upbeat music) (water pouring)
  • 00:00:04
    I paid $200 for this bottle of water.
  • 00:00:07
    I can't believe I did that. Why did I spend $200 on this?
  • 00:00:09
    Anyway, we have a lot of bottles of water
  • 00:00:12
    around us right now,
  • 00:00:13
    more than I've ever seen in one room in my entire life.
  • 00:00:16
    That's because I'm currently on a quest
  • 00:00:18
    to figure out what the deal is with all of this,
  • 00:00:21
    all these different brands and their promises
  • 00:00:23
    and their branding and their messages
  • 00:00:25
    and their advertisements.
  • 00:00:27
    - [Announcer] Natural spring water.
  • 00:00:29
    - [Announcer] It's Earth's finest water.
  • 00:00:31
    - (gasps) I'm gonna be doing a bunch of blind taste tests
  • 00:00:34
    to see if I can tell the difference
  • 00:00:35
    between cheap versus expensive water.
  • 00:00:37
    And then I wanna do a deep dive on the water itself.
  • 00:00:41
    What's actually inside this? Where does it come from?
  • 00:00:44
    How is it treated?
  • 00:00:45
    Are any of these health claims legitimate?
  • 00:00:47
    And who are the companies who are selling it to us?
  • 00:00:50
    Making $350 billion annually
  • 00:00:53
    in the global bottled water industry?
  • 00:00:55
    Can we trust them?
  • 00:00:56
    Oh, and what's Jennifer Aniston doing
  • 00:00:58
    rolling out of bed like this, deer in the headlights,
  • 00:01:00
    clutching a bottle of Smart Water?
  • 00:01:05
    And most importantly, is the stuff inside of this bottle
  • 00:01:08
    better than the stuff I get
  • 00:01:10
    for basically free out of my tap?
  • 00:01:13
    (water running)
  • 00:01:14
    Is it healthier? Is it less toxic?
  • 00:01:16
    Is it cleaner or purer in any way?
  • 00:01:19
    'Cause it is a lot more expensive?
  • 00:01:20
    I could refill this bottle of Fiji water
  • 00:01:23
    for the next nine years with tap water
  • 00:01:26
    and it would cost the same as this one bottle.
  • 00:01:28
    Bottled water is insanely more expensive than tap,
  • 00:01:31
    and I wanna figure out what we're paying for.
  • 00:01:33
    Speaking of tap, I'll be putting the microscope on that too.
  • 00:01:35
    Tasting it, looking inside
  • 00:01:37
    to see what's going on with tap water in America.
  • 00:01:40
    - There's a pretty significant gap between what is legal
  • 00:01:43
    and what is safe.
  • 00:01:44
    - Water is the most important substance on Earth,
  • 00:01:47
    which is why me and a bunch of creators
  • 00:01:48
    are trying to raise money to help people
  • 00:01:50
    who don't have access to clean drinking water get access.
  • 00:01:53
    It's part of this movement, Team Water,
  • 00:01:55
    you'll see a bunch of other creators doing this this month.
  • 00:01:57
    It's with a reputable and vetted organization,
  • 00:01:59
    so please consider donating.
  • 00:02:00
    And with that, let's get started with our first taste test.
  • 00:02:03
    (upbeat music)
  • 00:02:11
    First up, this, which I don't know what it is.
  • 00:02:14
    I'm about to taste it.
  • 00:02:15
    It's nice on the nose.
  • 00:02:18
    Tastes like water. Okay.
  • 00:02:20
    Here goes B.
  • 00:02:23
    Okay.
  • 00:02:27
    Mm. I like that one the most for some reason.
  • 00:02:29
    I just like that one the most,
  • 00:02:31
    but they all just taste like water. (laughs)
  • 00:02:34
    All right, my winner for this one is C.
  • 00:02:37
    What was it?
  • 00:02:38
    - Tap water. - No way! Ah!
  • 00:02:42
    Oh God.
  • 00:02:43
    Oh, this is truly blind, by the way.
  • 00:02:45
    This is a blind taste test, totally unprimed.
  • 00:02:47
    We did all this work behind the scenes to make sure
  • 00:02:49
    that like, I don't know which one it is,
  • 00:02:51
    and I immediately was like, "Ooh, that one feels nice."
  • 00:02:55
    Wow, that is amazing.
  • 00:02:58
    Okay, we'll do another one in just a sec.
  • 00:03:00
    (calm music)
  • 00:03:02
    - Putting water into a bottle is a profoundly symbolic act.
  • 00:03:05
    You're taking this thing that's a universal human need.
  • 00:03:09
    We could argue is a universal human right,
  • 00:03:11
    everyone should have access to clean fresh water,
  • 00:03:13
    and you're commercializing it, you're commodifying that.
  • 00:03:15
    - At the core of this story is the strange reality
  • 00:03:19
    here in the modern economy
  • 00:03:21
    where we interact with corporations all the time
  • 00:03:23
    and we want to trust them,
  • 00:03:25
    but we don't totally know if we can.
  • 00:03:27
    Because sometimes they're hiding things,
  • 00:03:29
    and in this case, they are.
  • 00:03:30
    I'm talking about this right now
  • 00:03:32
    because this is what happens every day
  • 00:03:33
    when we're on the internet.
  • 00:03:34
    Like right now, your information is being bought and sold
  • 00:03:38
    on an open market that is a key economy in the modern age.
  • 00:03:41
    Your name, your birthday, your address,
  • 00:03:43
    what you do on the internet, what you like, where you live.
  • 00:03:46
    All of it is valuable
  • 00:03:47
    so that people can market things to you
  • 00:03:50
    or sell that data somewhere else.
  • 00:03:51
    I'm telling you about this
  • 00:03:52
    because Incogni is the sponsor of today's video,
  • 00:03:54
    I'm a big fan.
  • 00:03:55
    They came to us a couple years ago actually
  • 00:03:57
    to start sponsoring videos,
  • 00:03:58
    and that is when I started using Incogni.
  • 00:04:00
    What I did is I signed up
  • 00:04:02
    and I gave them permission to go out on my behalf
  • 00:04:04
    and to start requesting that my data
  • 00:04:06
    and information be scrubbed and cleaned from these lists.
  • 00:04:09
    I have a legal right to request this,
  • 00:04:12
    but there are hundreds if not thousands of these lists,
  • 00:04:14
    and I don't have time to make those requests.
  • 00:04:16
    I don't even know how I would.
  • 00:04:17
    I even tried once a few years ago and failed.
  • 00:04:19
    Incogni does this for you, just in the background.
  • 00:04:21
    And you just get to watch on this lovely dashboard
  • 00:04:24
    while they go out and make a request on your behalf
  • 00:04:26
    to get your name off of these data broker lists.
  • 00:04:29
    The actual result of that isn't just peace of mind,
  • 00:04:30
    it's also fewer robocalls and junk mail
  • 00:04:33
    and your name not being on people's search sites
  • 00:04:36
    and your address not being out there.
  • 00:04:38
    Less junk mail generally, which is something
  • 00:04:41
    that I have deeply cherished
  • 00:04:42
    since I've started using Incogni's monthly plan.
  • 00:04:44
    Oh, and I forgot to mention
  • 00:04:45
    that they have this new feature, the unlimited plan.
  • 00:04:47
    You can actually just tell them what website
  • 00:04:49
    you want to have your name scrubbed from
  • 00:04:51
    and they will go do it, like custom for you.
  • 00:04:55
    So big fan of Incogi,
  • 00:04:56
    you've all heard me talk about this before,
  • 00:04:58
    like it is a big thing.
  • 00:04:59
    If you are ready to get your privacy in order,
  • 00:05:02
    Incogni might be a good fit for you.
  • 00:05:03
    And luckily they're giving a massive discount
  • 00:05:05
    to people who click on my link,
  • 00:05:08
    which is incogni.com/johnnyharris.
  • 00:05:09
    So you click on this link
  • 00:05:10
    so that they know you came from this video,
  • 00:05:12
    which is very important for me to run a business
  • 00:05:15
    and pay the large team that is behind all these videos.
  • 00:05:18
    And then you use the code johnnyharris, no spaces,
  • 00:05:20
    and you will get 60% off the annual plan.
  • 00:05:22
    Again, the annual plan makes it so that Incogni
  • 00:05:24
    is like constantly in the background doing this for you.
  • 00:05:27
    It's cool, it's a thing that is very needed
  • 00:05:29
    in today's wild, crazy data broker universe
  • 00:05:32
    that we all live in.
  • 00:05:33
    Data is a commodity and we are unwittingly just cogs
  • 00:05:37
    in a giant capitalistic tech machine.
  • 00:05:39
    Anyway, thank you Incogni for sponsoring today's video.
  • 00:05:41
    We got more water to try.
  • 00:05:42
    We got more corporations to talk about.
  • 00:05:44
    Let's get back to it.
  • 00:05:45
    If you go back to the '70s
  • 00:05:46
    and you look how much water we drink out of bottles
  • 00:05:49
    and then you compare it to how much we drink today,
  • 00:05:51
    you'll see that bottled water has had a wild ride
  • 00:05:54
    over the last few decades.
  • 00:05:55
    Like this used to not be a thing, and now it is.
  • 00:05:59
    That's partly because in the '80s and '90s
  • 00:06:01
    we drank so much soda and milk,
  • 00:06:04
    something we've made a video about here before.
  • 00:06:06
    And we realized that that's maybe not the best thing
  • 00:06:08
    to drink all day, every day.
  • 00:06:12
    CDC came out with all this stuff,
  • 00:06:13
    we switched more to water.
  • 00:06:15
    That's actually a great trend.
  • 00:06:16
    It was also in part because of a death.
  • 00:06:19
    The death of this.
  • 00:06:20
    (tense music)
  • 00:06:23
    The public water fountain.
  • 00:06:25
    The public water fountain was our way of saying,
  • 00:06:27
    look, we did it.
  • 00:06:29
    We found a way to make the most important substance on Earth
  • 00:06:32
    clean and free, abundant to everyone.
  • 00:06:34
    (children cheering)
  • 00:06:35
    Let's put it in the middle of our cities
  • 00:06:37
    to celebrate this huge step of civilization.
  • 00:06:40
    They became a central symbol to the civil rights movement,
  • 00:06:43
    access to these water fountains.
  • 00:06:45
    They were a point of celebration.
  • 00:06:48
    But then we went through a phase here
  • 00:06:49
    in individualistic America
  • 00:06:51
    where we cut back on public infrastructure
  • 00:06:53
    and water fountains fell prey to this.
  • 00:06:55
    Pair that with a few contamination outbreaks
  • 00:06:57
    at public water fountains and by the 1990s,
  • 00:07:00
    water fountains had turned from celebrated public offering
  • 00:07:03
    to ugly but functional requirement for schools and offices.
  • 00:07:07
    With my mom, like many parents, warning me
  • 00:07:10
    that this part of the water fountain
  • 00:07:12
    was actually a death trap.
  • 00:07:13
    And then there was the tap, the stuff we have in our home.
  • 00:07:16
    There were a few major highly publicized cases
  • 00:07:19
    of contamination in people's tap water in America,
  • 00:07:22
    and this added to an increase of skepticism,
  • 00:07:25
    a lack of faith in our public water infrastructure.
  • 00:07:28
    People were losing faith in the tap,
  • 00:07:30
    but wait, let's just clear something up right here and now,
  • 00:07:33
    is our water from the tap safe to drink here in America?
  • 00:07:37
    It's kind of an important question.
  • 00:07:38
    The answer is, by and large, yes.
  • 00:07:40
    For most of us it is totally safe.
  • 00:07:42
    There's some geographical variation to this
  • 00:07:44
    and there's some nuance in what safe means,
  • 00:07:46
    and I will get to that.
  • 00:07:48
    But every expert I talked to said.
  • 00:07:50
    - American tap water is among the most tested
  • 00:07:54
    and safest products you're gonna consume in a given day.
  • 00:07:57
    I'm a really big proponent of tap water
  • 00:07:59
    as we should really value and treat
  • 00:08:01
    as a really important thing.
  • 00:08:03
    - Obviously as a water sommelier,
  • 00:08:05
    I really love the opportunity
  • 00:08:06
    to taste waters from all over the world,
  • 00:08:08
    but mostly I try to advocate for having
  • 00:08:10
    fresh, clean tap water available to everybody.
  • 00:08:13
    I drink that mostly myself.
  • 00:08:14
    - Yes, it's safe, but what matters is what people think.
  • 00:08:18
    And into the 1990s,
  • 00:08:19
    people really started to lose faith in the tap
  • 00:08:22
    and public water fountains really started to disappear.
  • 00:08:26
    Here's what's so annoying is that I'm at the airport
  • 00:08:28
    and I've got this, it's empty.
  • 00:08:30
    And I can't find a water fountain anywhere.
  • 00:08:32
    There's water bottles everywhere I look,
  • 00:08:35
    but no water fountains.
  • 00:08:36
    So it's like even if I want to do this,
  • 00:08:38
    there's just not infrastructure for it.
  • 00:08:39
    What happened to the old days when water fountains were like
  • 00:08:41
    at the center of everything?
  • 00:08:43
    It's annoying.
  • 00:08:44
    So here come the corporations.
  • 00:08:45
    It's the 1990s and we're drinking fewer sugary drinks.
  • 00:08:49
    That's good.
  • 00:08:50
    And the companies who make those sugary drinks
  • 00:08:52
    see an opportunity.
  • 00:08:53
    They already have big facilities
  • 00:08:54
    where they bottle stuff and ship it all around the country.
  • 00:08:57
    And they're now getting in trouble
  • 00:08:59
    and under a lot of scrutiny
  • 00:09:00
    for how much sugar they're pumping into the economy.
  • 00:09:03
    Pepsi launches their brand Aquafina in 1994
  • 00:09:07
    and Coke launches Dasani a few years later.
  • 00:09:10
    For all of life's thirst-worthy moments.
  • 00:09:13
    Great tagline, guys.
  • 00:09:14
    Nestle, who now is owned by another company
  • 00:09:17
    but kind of makes everything,
  • 00:09:19
    also got into the bottled water game.
  • 00:09:21
    Now, bottled water had existed before this.
  • 00:09:23
    They didn't like invent this stuff,
  • 00:09:25
    but it was kind of niche.
  • 00:09:26
    It wasn't like health food stores. It was very esoteric.
  • 00:09:29
    Now it was going mainstream
  • 00:09:31
    and all these brands we're using a clever little trick.
  • 00:09:34
    - A lot of times bottled water is bottled tap water.
  • 00:09:37
    - Taking a bunch of tap water,
  • 00:09:38
    running it through some extra filtration, bottling it,
  • 00:09:41
    and selling it for 2,500 times the cost.
  • 00:09:46
    Seriously, 2,000, even if you took away price of the bottle
  • 00:09:49
    and the cap and the all of it, all the production costs,
  • 00:09:53
    it's still around 2,000 times more.
  • 00:09:56
    And we bought it.
  • 00:09:58
    Like, bottled water started to surge.
  • 00:10:00
    And today there's $352 billion worth of bottled water
  • 00:10:05
    that is sold in a half a trillion plastic bottles,
  • 00:10:09
    more plastic bottles than you and I can ever imagine.
  • 00:10:12
    A few years ago,
  • 00:10:13
    Reuters did a great 3D visualization of this.
  • 00:10:15
    The moment you land on this page, the bottles start falling,
  • 00:10:18
    starting to count up the number of plastic bottles
  • 00:10:21
    that have been used since you opened the page,
  • 00:10:23
    kind of anxiety inducing.
  • 00:10:25
    Then it shows you how many bottles are consumed in a day
  • 00:10:27
    and then in an entire year.
  • 00:10:29
    I mean, it's pretty nuts. It's a lot of plastic.
  • 00:10:31
    For now, I'm gonna try to stay focused
  • 00:10:32
    on the central question to this video,
  • 00:10:34
    which is why do we pay a price that's 2,000 times greater
  • 00:10:37
    for this than the stuff that comes outta the tap?
  • 00:10:40
    But first, let's do another taste test.
  • 00:10:42
    (upbeat music)
  • 00:10:48
    Okay, round two, what do we got here?
  • 00:10:50
    I guess we've got some saltine crackers,
  • 00:10:52
    which apparently there are like water sommelier,
  • 00:10:55
    like people who taste water.
  • 00:10:56
    It's a whole thing that I learned about
  • 00:10:58
    during the reporting for this story.
  • 00:11:00
    And these crackers are how they cleanse their palate
  • 00:11:02
    between water tastings.
  • 00:11:05
    Humans are interesting creatures. My palate is cleansed.
  • 00:11:08
    I'm ready for my next round.
  • 00:11:09
    Perfect. Here we go.
  • 00:11:11
    First up, we've got this,
  • 00:11:12
    and I don't know what it is, but I'm going to taste it.
  • 00:11:16
    Tastes like water.
  • 00:11:18
    (gentle music)
  • 00:11:20
    Hmm, okay. Maybe a little more minerally.
  • 00:11:25
    I don't know, I don't know. Let's just...
  • 00:11:28
    Hmm.
  • 00:11:29
    I like to C the most. What is it?
  • 00:11:31
    - Dasani. - Dasani. (claps)
  • 00:11:33
    Nice job, Dasani.
  • 00:11:34
    Tap water that has been repackaged and sold to me
  • 00:11:36
    for 2,000 times the price.
  • 00:11:38
    Good on you.
  • 00:11:39
    I mean it all tastes the same.
  • 00:11:40
    If I'm just being honest it all taste the same.
  • 00:11:42
    There's no noticeable difference for me.
  • 00:11:45
    But hey, let's keep going.
  • 00:11:48
    Okay, so am I about to tell you
  • 00:11:50
    that the big greedy corporations
  • 00:11:51
    tricked us all into buying their bottled water?
  • 00:11:54
    No, actually, the easiest, quickest answer
  • 00:11:57
    to this whole thing is a lot of us buy bottled water
  • 00:11:59
    because it's convenient.
  • 00:12:01
    Like we want to drink more of this than sugary drinks.
  • 00:12:04
    It's really easy to put it in our car or whatever.
  • 00:12:06
    It's easy to throw away.
  • 00:12:07
    And so having a single use disposable plastic bottle
  • 00:12:11
    is a habit that a lot of us convenience minded people
  • 00:12:14
    have developed more and more every year.
  • 00:12:16
    That's at least what like the market research says.
  • 00:12:18
    But that doesn't mean there aren't shenanigans
  • 00:12:20
    going on here.
  • 00:12:21
    When there's billions of dollars,
  • 00:12:23
    hundreds of billions of dollars to be made in an industry,
  • 00:12:25
    the corporations start to get a little bit misleading.
  • 00:12:30
    That's what I want to shine a light on next,
  • 00:12:32
    go into the bottle and really tell you what's going on here
  • 00:12:34
    to go into the stories
  • 00:12:36
    that these bottled water companies tell us,
  • 00:12:38
    and if any of them are true.
  • 00:12:40
    (calm music)
  • 00:12:43
    First up, let's look at this.
  • 00:12:46
    (majestic music)
  • 00:12:50
    ♪ Hello world, hear the sound of that beat ♪
  • 00:12:54
    (beach goer screaming)
  • 00:12:55
    - So, let me just super clarify
  • 00:12:57
    that despite all of these images and beautiful stories,
  • 00:13:02
    most bottled water that is consumed in America,
  • 00:13:04
    over 60%, is bottled tap water.
  • 00:13:07
    It's tap water, it's gone through some extra filtration
  • 00:13:09
    and purification is then put into a bottle
  • 00:13:12
    and sold to you for 2,000 times the price.
  • 00:13:14
    Okay? That's most of it.
  • 00:13:15
    That's like Dasani, Aquafina.
  • 00:13:17
    The secret got out in 2004
  • 00:13:19
    when these guys were trying to get into the UK.
  • 00:13:21
    They launched their big campaign of Dasani
  • 00:13:24
    and then people found out
  • 00:13:25
    that it was just filtered London city water repackaged
  • 00:13:28
    and they were very angry.
  • 00:13:29
    And then someone tested the water
  • 00:13:31
    and it came out that there was illegal amounts
  • 00:13:34
    of cancer causing contaminants in Dasani's water
  • 00:13:37
    and the ruse was up.
  • 00:13:39
    Not only was it tap water, but it also wasn't clean.
  • 00:13:41
    Dasani had to cancel the launch
  • 00:13:43
    and recall like hundreds of thousands of bottles
  • 00:13:45
    and it was bad.
  • 00:13:46
    - Most people assume,
  • 00:13:47
    especially 'cause of the marketing around bottled water,
  • 00:13:50
    that it would be significantly cleaner than tap water.
  • 00:13:54
    And then in most cases, that's just not the case.
  • 00:13:57
    - Again, if you are a consumer of bottled water
  • 00:14:00
    because it's convenient for you,
  • 00:14:01
    then maybe this is not that surprising or worrisome.
  • 00:14:04
    But don't be deceived that this stuff and this stuff
  • 00:14:07
    is coming from anywhere but the tap.
  • 00:14:10
    Okay, but now you're asking, what about spring water?
  • 00:14:12
    - [Announcer] Natural spring water,
  • 00:14:13
    it may be the best tasting water on Earth.
  • 00:14:16
    - Spring water.
  • 00:14:17
    This sounds delicious, right?
  • 00:14:19
    It comes from a spring, just groundwater untouched.
  • 00:14:23
    There is a place called Poland Spring.
  • 00:14:24
    It's up in Maine
  • 00:14:26
    and it was a wonderful spring for a few years
  • 00:14:29
    until this company sucked it dry like decades ago.
  • 00:14:32
    And now they get their water not from Poland Spring,
  • 00:14:36
    which has been sucked dry by them,
  • 00:14:38
    but from a bunch of other groundwater
  • 00:14:40
    that they classify as a spring.
  • 00:14:42
    People who are suing them say, this isn't a spring.
  • 00:14:44
    They say that it's a, quote,
  • 00:14:45
    "man-made gravel pit collecting groundwater"
  • 00:14:48
    that then has to be super purified and filtered
  • 00:14:51
    to make it drinkable.
  • 00:14:52
    Anyway, there's been a bunch of lawsuits,
  • 00:14:53
    you can read about it in our citations.
  • 00:14:55
    Which gets us perfectly to this beauty.
  • 00:14:59
    Man, the storytelling in this bottle is immaculate
  • 00:15:03
    and it is a true story in some ways.
  • 00:15:06
    Fiji Water says that it is from the island of Fiji,
  • 00:15:09
    that it is natural artisan water.
  • 00:15:12
    It has natural electrolytes and it's the smarter choice.
  • 00:15:15
    As tropical rain slowly filters through volcanic rocks
  • 00:15:17
    it gathers electrolytes in minerals
  • 00:15:19
    that gives Fiji water its signature soft, smooth mouth feel.
  • 00:15:23
    How smart is that?
  • 00:15:24
    They call themselves Earth's finest water,
  • 00:15:26
    untouched by man until you open the bottle.
  • 00:15:29
    Okay, so what's the deal here?
  • 00:15:31
    This water does come from an aquifer on an island
  • 00:15:35
    in the country of Fiji, which is a South Pacific island
  • 00:15:39
    that is very far away from any other country.
  • 00:15:42
    Water is their largest export and the company that does this
  • 00:15:46
    has caused all kinds of drama with the government
  • 00:15:48
    and it's a big thing that like,
  • 00:15:50
    I almost went down that rabbit hole
  • 00:15:51
    because I could make a whole video about Fiji water
  • 00:15:53
    and the drama with the Fijian government.
  • 00:15:55
    This precious aquifer water goes into the bottle right here
  • 00:15:58
    on the island of Fiji and then gets put on a ship
  • 00:16:01
    and shipped thousands and thousands of kilometers.
  • 00:16:04
    Like it's 8,000 kilometers to the port of LA.
  • 00:16:08
    (tense music)
  • 00:16:10
    And the whole idea is that this water is different.
  • 00:16:12
    It is special.
  • 00:16:13
    It comes from this volcanic aquifer
  • 00:16:16
    and therefore it is extra special.
  • 00:16:18
    And they really wanted you to think that in the early days
  • 00:16:20
    when they came out with this ad campaign.
  • 00:16:23
    "The label says Fiji because it's not bottled in Cleveland."
  • 00:16:27
    (scoffs) Super snarky.
  • 00:16:29
    But then watch what happens.
  • 00:16:30
    The city of Cleveland water authority fires back
  • 00:16:33
    by taking some of this Fiji water
  • 00:16:34
    and running a bunch of tests on them.
  • 00:16:36
    - Catch me outside. How 'bout that?
  • 00:16:38
    - Tap water authorities have to run like 100 tests a day
  • 00:16:41
    or something on their water to make sure it's safe.
  • 00:16:43
    They did that on Fiji water
  • 00:16:44
    and found that it had a significant amount of arsenic,
  • 00:16:48
    which is like a heavy metal
  • 00:16:49
    that causes cancer if you have too much of it
  • 00:16:51
    and is not good.
  • 00:16:53
    It's comes naturally in a lot of water,
  • 00:16:54
    but you don't want too much of it.
  • 00:16:56
    Fiji water had less than the legal limit,
  • 00:16:58
    but they still had a presence of arsenic, says Cleveland,
  • 00:17:01
    and then they come out and say, our water in Cleveland,
  • 00:17:04
    the tap water that you just made us feel bad about,
  • 00:17:07
    basically has zero arsenic, Fiji.
  • 00:17:09
    So much for your artisan water.
  • 00:17:12
    Total slam dunk by Cleveland.
  • 00:17:13
    Don't pick on Cleveland.
  • 00:17:14
    All of this for water that, yes, tells a good story
  • 00:17:17
    and has beautiful images,
  • 00:17:19
    but ultimately costs way more,
  • 00:17:21
    thousands of times more than the tap.
  • 00:17:22
    And as we've seen, requires a lot of energy
  • 00:17:25
    and transportation to get onto store shelves.
  • 00:17:28
    Okay, but does it taste better? Let's find out.
  • 00:17:32
    (upbeat music)
  • 00:17:36
    All right, here we go. Round three.
  • 00:17:39
    Okay.
  • 00:17:42
    Hmm. Definitely more minerals, maybe.
  • 00:17:48
    Kind of rusty or like minerally. I don't know.
  • 00:17:50
    I am not into that for some reason.
  • 00:17:52
    I guess I'm into B, what is it?
  • 00:17:54
    - Tap water. - No (bleep) way!
  • 00:17:56
    I swear to the Lord above that this is an actual experiment
  • 00:18:01
    and I actually prefer this.
  • 00:18:02
    I don't know, maybe 'cause it's familiar,
  • 00:18:04
    but it just tastes nicer
  • 00:18:06
    and it doesn't have any microplastics.
  • 00:18:08
    Tap water, coming in strong.
  • 00:18:10
    All right, let's keep going.
  • 00:18:11
    (upbeat music)
  • 00:18:14
    Okay, now let's talk about health claims.
  • 00:18:15
    'cause more and more you see water
  • 00:18:17
    that isn't just about purity,
  • 00:18:18
    but it claims to like be better for you.
  • 00:18:21
    Like it's ionized alkaline water.
  • 00:18:23
    There's so much alkaline water these days.
  • 00:18:25
    Alkaline pH.
  • 00:18:26
    This Icelandic spring water
  • 00:18:28
    says that it is naturally alkaline.
  • 00:18:30
    Alkaline just means that the pH number is high.
  • 00:18:33
    It meaning it's not very acidic.
  • 00:18:35
    The lower the number, the more acidic,
  • 00:18:37
    the higher the number, the more alkaline.
  • 00:18:38
    Core hydration, perfectly balanced pH.
  • 00:18:41
    Alkaline. pH.
  • 00:18:42
    Perfectly balanced hydration, ionized sport water.
  • 00:18:46
    PH of nine plus. Proprietary electrolyte formula?
  • 00:18:50
    It's built for all day hydration
  • 00:18:52
    for the athlete in all of us.
  • 00:18:53
    Wow.
  • 00:18:54
    Makes you think like there's something real special
  • 00:18:56
    in this bottle.
  • 00:18:57
    These waters claim something more than just hydration.
  • 00:18:59
    I'm gonna go through each of the claims real quick.
  • 00:19:01
    I'll put all of the studies in the sources.
  • 00:19:03
    Let's first start with the one claim
  • 00:19:05
    that actually has some merit behind it, which is minerals.
  • 00:19:08
    (adventurous music)
  • 00:19:11
    When we drink water from nature,
  • 00:19:13
    it comes with minerals in it.
  • 00:19:15
    Minerals like calcium and magnesium.
  • 00:19:17
    And minerals are good for us.
  • 00:19:19
    They're good for our bones, they're good for our heart.
  • 00:19:21
    They help our body function better.
  • 00:19:23
    So some studies link mineral water
  • 00:19:26
    with better health in some of these areas.
  • 00:19:28
    Now the catch is a lot of your tap water
  • 00:19:30
    is often hard or has minerals in it
  • 00:19:32
    and you're getting minerals from a bunch of other stuff
  • 00:19:35
    that you eat if you have a varied diet.
  • 00:19:37
    But if you're somebody
  • 00:19:38
    who wants to include more minerals in your life,
  • 00:19:40
    having mineral water,
  • 00:19:42
    whether it's added in like a lot of this stuff has for taste
  • 00:19:44
    or it's from a natural spring
  • 00:19:46
    that has a bunch of minerals, that's great.
  • 00:19:47
    That's actually scientifically good for you.
  • 00:19:50
    People also use minerals for taste.
  • 00:19:52
    Like minerals are the one thing that really affect
  • 00:19:54
    what your water tastes and feels like in your mouth.
  • 00:19:56
    So minerals, they're legit.
  • 00:19:57
    They've always been a part of water
  • 00:19:59
    and they should always be a part of water.
  • 00:20:01
    Okay, what about alkaline?
  • 00:20:02
    This the word alkaline.
  • 00:20:04
    Essentia. Essentia, number one ionized alkaline water.
  • 00:20:08
    Alkaline just means not acidic.
  • 00:20:11
    And the theory and kind of inference behind this claim
  • 00:20:14
    is that you body needs to retain a certain alkalinity.
  • 00:20:19
    It can't be too acidic.
  • 00:20:20
    And that by drinking this water you will have, as some say,
  • 00:20:24
    perfectly balanced pH.
  • 00:20:26
    Is this more than water?
  • 00:20:27
    Does the alkalinity make a big difference?
  • 00:20:30
    (sighs) I wish it did. It does not.
  • 00:20:32
    At least according to science.
  • 00:20:34
    Or in other words, the Mayo Clinic.
  • 00:20:36
    They say for most people alkaline water
  • 00:20:38
    is not better than just plain water. (chuckles)
  • 00:20:40
    Oh, that's great. Just like so straightforward, Mayo Clinic.
  • 00:20:43
    Dietician from the Cleveland Clinic says that,
  • 00:20:45
    "Science does not support these claims."
  • 00:20:48
    It is marketing hype.
  • 00:20:49
    And to top it off with a third,
  • 00:20:51
    the British Journal of Sports Medicine
  • 00:20:53
    concludes that the claim of alkaline or ionized water
  • 00:20:56
    having positive health effects "have a flimsy rationale
  • 00:20:59
    and no rigorous experimental support."
  • 00:21:03
    Okay, but what about electrolytes?
  • 00:21:04
    Electrolytes is a word we've been hearing since the '90s
  • 00:21:07
    when it comes to like hydration.
  • 00:21:10
    That seems legit. And indeed it is.
  • 00:21:12
    Electrolytes are minerals, like salt,
  • 00:21:16
    that hold onto water.
  • 00:21:18
    And when you are sweating a lot,
  • 00:21:19
    they do indeed help you replenish
  • 00:21:21
    your hydration level quicker.
  • 00:21:22
    That's why they're like the special ingredient
  • 00:21:24
    in sports drinks like Gatorade.
  • 00:21:26
    But the reality is that most of us
  • 00:21:28
    aren't sweating like these guys,
  • 00:21:31
    super sweaty like NFL and volleyball players
  • 00:21:34
    who are just like sweating.
  • 00:21:35
    Like they are sweating, those are real athletes
  • 00:21:37
    who are sweating all the time.
  • 00:21:38
    They need to replenish way faster.
  • 00:21:40
    I go on a 45 minute jog once a day or something and I sweat.
  • 00:21:44
    I don't need a ton of electrolytes to replenish.
  • 00:21:46
    I have the rest of the day to do it.
  • 00:21:47
    So it turns out that electrolyte infused water
  • 00:21:50
    doesn't confer any extra special benefits than the hydration
  • 00:21:55
    of just regular water, including the water from the tap
  • 00:21:59
    out of my old whiskey bottle.
  • 00:22:01
    And that is the upshot of all of this.
  • 00:22:03
    All of this water that has been story told
  • 00:22:05
    and packaged to us is really not
  • 00:22:08
    that much different than this,
  • 00:22:09
    The stuff that came out of my tap.
  • 00:22:11
    Now again, there's some nuance depending on where you live
  • 00:22:14
    that might not be the case.
  • 00:22:15
    But for 90% of Americans, you're not getting much else
  • 00:22:18
    out of this other than convenience,
  • 00:22:20
    which if that's why you're buying it, go for it.
  • 00:22:22
    It is a psychological paradox
  • 00:22:25
    that people are so willing to mistrust their tap water
  • 00:22:28
    and so willing to buy into the hype
  • 00:22:30
    of water that is sold to them with a story
  • 00:22:32
    and pay 2,000 times the price for it.
  • 00:22:34
    And that's kind of what's going on with all of this.
  • 00:22:36
    (calm music)
  • 00:22:38
    Let's finish this video by talking about tap water.
  • 00:22:41
    Finally, is your tap water safe and clean?
  • 00:22:44
    I've said a million times that yes it is.
  • 00:22:46
    And now I'm going to throw a little gray area
  • 00:22:48
    and nuance at you and you will be potentially unsatisfied
  • 00:22:52
    with the answer as I am kind of unsatisfied with the answer.
  • 00:22:54
    But I promise it'll all make sense.
  • 00:22:55
    I'm going to empower you with knowledge here.
  • 00:22:57
    In the United States,
  • 00:22:58
    over 90% of the municipal water sources
  • 00:23:01
    our community-based water treatment
  • 00:23:03
    that comes outta the tap is clean, which is amazing.
  • 00:23:06
    The stuff that comes outta the hose and the shower
  • 00:23:08
    and goes into the toilet and the tap.
  • 00:23:10
    It's all abundant, clean, safe drinking water.
  • 00:23:14
    Okay, but watch what happens when I go to this website,
  • 00:23:17
    Environmental Working Group.
  • 00:23:20
    If you type in your zip code here, not my real zip code,
  • 00:23:22
    you will see a bunch of data about your tap water.
  • 00:23:26
    All of this represents the different contaminants
  • 00:23:29
    that are in your water.
  • 00:23:30
    It's basically impossible to have water
  • 00:23:32
    that has zero trace contaminants.
  • 00:23:35
    But this group,
  • 00:23:36
    this Environmental Working Group has come along and said,
  • 00:23:38
    yes, this stuff is legal, but it's not ideal.
  • 00:23:41
    We could do better.
  • 00:23:43
    If we had a better water system we would not have
  • 00:23:45
    this much arsenic, 0.109 parts per billion.
  • 00:23:49
    They want us to have 0.004.
  • 00:23:52
    The government is okay with us having 10.
  • 00:23:55
    And you can see that I'm like 1% of that.
  • 00:23:58
    So I'm still well below the legal limit
  • 00:23:59
    but EWG says that we can do better.
  • 00:24:02
    - There's not a black and white here.
  • 00:24:04
    There's not a yes, you're safe, no, you're not.
  • 00:24:06
    Figuring out how high you are above the guideline,
  • 00:24:10
    that does matter.
  • 00:24:11
    The higher it is, the higher the risk.
  • 00:24:13
    - See how this is kind of an unsatisfying answer?
  • 00:24:15
    Like yes, the water in America is super clean
  • 00:24:17
    in 90% of the jurisdictions,
  • 00:24:19
    but according to EWG, there's still a way for us to go.
  • 00:24:23
    And the point they're trying to make,
  • 00:24:25
    and I think one that is very compelling,
  • 00:24:26
    is that this will only happen,
  • 00:24:28
    we will only get to this like near perfect water
  • 00:24:30
    if all of us are bought in to having a better water system.
  • 00:24:34
    Instead, we spend thousands of times more on this stuff,
  • 00:24:38
    this corporate storytelling about health claims
  • 00:24:42
    and purity that are often overblown
  • 00:24:44
    and sometimes totally misleading.
  • 00:24:47
    So we invest our money in buying their bottles
  • 00:24:50
    instead of demanding better tap water.
  • 00:24:52
    So I will be walking away from this story
  • 00:24:54
    with a deeper appreciation
  • 00:24:55
    for the miracle of abundant clean drinking water.
  • 00:24:59
    I will be walking away with more skepticism
  • 00:25:01
    towards all of these claims of alkalinity and minerality
  • 00:25:05
    and increased performance.
  • 00:25:07
    And I think ultimately I'll be feeling a deep sense
  • 00:25:10
    of gratitude at the fact that I even have access
  • 00:25:13
    to clean water.
  • 00:25:14
    There are a lot of people in this world
  • 00:25:15
    who do not have reliable access to clean water,
  • 00:25:18
    and that is what Team Water is all about.
  • 00:25:20
    Me and a bunch of other creators are teaming up this month
  • 00:25:23
    to raise awareness and money to bring clean drinking water
  • 00:25:28
    to communities that don't have it.
  • 00:25:30
    We're trying to raise $40 million
  • 00:25:32
    and luckily the biggest creators on the platform
  • 00:25:34
    are doing this as well, so I think we can actually do it,
  • 00:25:37
    but it's gonna take a huge effort.
  • 00:25:39
    We have between now and the end of the month to do this
  • 00:25:43
    and all of that money will go to Water Aid,
  • 00:25:45
    which is a reputable, vetted nonprofit organization
  • 00:25:48
    that provides clean water access
  • 00:25:50
    to people who don't have it.
  • 00:25:51
    So this is a way to have a little bit of money
  • 00:25:54
    go a really long way.
  • 00:25:55
    Please consider donating to Team Water.
  • 00:25:57
    The link will be in the description.
  • 00:25:58
    Thank you for watching this video
  • 00:26:00
    and I'll see you in the next one. (snaps)
  • 00:26:01
    (calm music)
  • 00:26:04
    (crew laughs) (Johnny growls)
  • 00:26:09
    - It's really funny. - Thanks.
  • 00:26:11
    Just cheesy. I love it.
  • 00:26:12
    Like yeah, we should just use this as fodder.
  • 00:26:15
    I'm gonna get a filter for my tap water now.
  • 00:26:16
    - [Staff] I was gonna say, how is our tap?
  • 00:26:18
    - [Johnny] It's good, it could be better.
  • 00:26:20
    I'm gonna get a filter. - All right.
  • 00:26:24
    - [Johnny] For under my sink and just do that
  • 00:26:26
    to feel like I'm 100% good.
  • 00:26:30
    But we're pretty good. - I should see what mine is.
Tag
  • bottled water
  • tap water
  • taste test
  • health claims
  • water safety
  • Team Water
  • environmental impact
  • water industry
  • consumer trust
  • water quality