We have fairly decent water here. But a few years ago I started buying bottled water for myself. It's not expensive and very refreshing. I love water. I may drink 6 bottles a day in the summer. So, I thought I would save money and just drink tap water. Well, I don't drink near as much water when I am drinking tap water, that is what I learned! So, it's back to bottled water for me. When I drink tap water, I also want sodas and other stuff. But a nice cold bottle of water, is hard to beat. It is the healthier option for me.
Bottled water is useful when you are out or in a foreign land where the tap water is not safe such as India or Nepal where hotels tell you not to drink the tap water. Personally I use a water filter and if I can't it will be a bottle or boiled water cooled down. I've had tummy bugs from tap water before and it's not worth the risk. I have a water bottle with a filter I carry around, so I use that which is a better choice.
Since 1995 when we experienced dirty water in the tap, we had been buying drinking water - mineral or distilled. It was so expensive during that time but we had to endure instead of risking our health with dirty tap water. But now the water company is always saying that tap water is 100% safe and even cleaner than the purified water that we buy. However, there is no guarantee to that so we had bought our own water purifier so as not to be dependent on water delivery for our drinking water.
When I'm at home, we just fill wine bottles with tap water and put them in the fridge. When they're cold, they're pretty refreshing to drink. When I'm out of the house, I just buy bottled water. I haven't noticed which is more refreshing though.... I think they're just the same. I think I've read a study somewhere that states that bottled water isnt really cleaner than tap water. If that's the case, then I'd stick mostly to tap water.
We buy those cheap purified water that's 5 gallons each, and they're 3 containers for around $3. We have those large containers delivered to our house for free as well. I think that's cheaper than buying individual bottled mineral water.
Living in Hawaii we have clean water and I drink tap water most of the day and make many soups, cold drinks where you just add your dry powders. I also buy bottled water to have for the hurricane season locally they tell us to keep prepared. I like to carry bottled water when it's a hot day too.
I will drink tap water over bottled water because it is cheaper. You can go online and see how good your tap water is. Mine is not that bad and it is almost as good as my filtered water. Now I just buy aluminum bottles and fill them up. That saves me so much money.
I use mostly tap water as i am not a fan of plasric bottles. And there are no guarantees that bottled water is healthier than what comes out of my tap.
I will sometimes drink tap water when I'm downstairs, but I always keep bottled water in the house. I use the tap water to make my tea and coffee, as well as for use in cooking, but that way the water is always boiled. I don't drink the tap water up here, and also try not to feed it to the cats. I think the pipes in this house need to be replaced, and the water up here has a strong metallic taste. Even if the pipes are safe, the water doesn't taste good, so I tend to keep at least 3 bottles up here at all times.
Well, tap water is already treated in such way that is often culturally assumed to be drinking water, especially in developed countries. Usually it is potable, although water quality problems are not uncommon. You can install Household water purification methods such as water filters, boiling, or distillation can be used when tap water's potability is doubtful.
As much as I know it sounds odd I do understand where you are coming from. I think there is a certain taste you could get used to and even if it's not the taste then maybe it's just something else like the certain conditions of the bottled water like feeling the plastic bottle or something similar. It does sound like it can get very expensive though so hopefully you will find a good compromise soon. I myself always just keep the plastic bottles and refill them using my filtration dispenser.
I am usually not picky with water but for health reasons, I mostly go for bottled water. Of course when you are not at home, you can't just get water from anywhere. Bottled waters are the safest to drink. Restos sometimes give you tap water as service water, which is fine as long as there's ice to go with it. I try to avoid making a habit out of it, though.
I drink tap water if we do not have bottled water at home. However, I prefer to boil the water for tea and put that in the fridge.
I live in the city so our water is filled with all kinds of bad chemicals. Bottled water is the only thing we can drink here, and with me being a compulsive water drinker it gets pretty expensive. I think we'd be able to drink it if we bought a purifier for the sink but those are pretty pricey too. But bottled water still tastes better than faucet water so I guess I can't complain.
We have the five gallon refill bottles that we just refill at the local Kroger. Sometimes we buy bottled water like when the refill machine breaks down or something. My mother doesn't mind drinking tap water, but my father absolutely hates it. I don't really have a preference. If there's no bottled water around, I'll drink tap water. When it comes to making tea, coffee, lemonade or other such drinks we just use tap water instead of bottled water.
I'm always buying bottled water to drink as tap water is disgusting to some degree. We actually are planning to get a filtration system for our house so we can have our own purified water. That would only be for the kitchen or maybe connected to another part so we can have pure water to drink. We don't care so much about cooking or washing up with regular tap.
To save money, I only drink tap water. I live in a city but I have a Brita water pitcher with a filter, so I put it inside that first. It has definitely cut down on the clutter of empty water bottles inside my car and home.
I don't really care where I get the water from because of the simple fact that if there is ever a time when bottled water is not available, your not going to skip out on drinking water from the tap. So the only difference there for me is spending money. You can get plastic bottles for cheap rather than spending money on watered bottles. I can boil my own water from the tap, and make my own water bottle for cheaper than any company that produces watered bottles. I don't take it that seriously though. Water is water, and if tap water was not classified as drinkable water according to federal regulations, I would not drink it. Water is water.
I don't see the need for bottled water unless there is contamination in some area. When I drink water, I get it straight from the tap. Sometimes there is a glass or something in the refrigerator with water so that it's nice and cold when I want a drink. When I want to take it with me, I use a Tupperware or Rubbermaid container to put it in. I think that most bottled water has a bad after-taste whereas my tap water doesn't. I guess it's really all in what you get used to.