Jul
8
Cost of Bottled Water : By the Gallon
July 8, 2009 | Comments Off
While green activists suggest that tap water is perfectly safe for human consumption, the reality is that it doesn’t taste as good as other waters. All that chlorine, and in the case of my town the sediment, doesn’t make the drinking experience any better. For many years I settled for that water that comes in 1 gallon jugs. Some of it is from underground springs, but most of it is from the same tap — just filtered.
Recently we had to replace our refrigerator with a newer, more efficient, better features one from the Sears Outlet (50% off, and the top choice as per a recent issue of Consumer Reports - quite a good pick). The old one wasn’t cooling enough, spoiling food in the process. And its age was beyond the recommended one for repairing it (also according to Consumer Reports).
Good thing most new refrigerators come with a filter. And I must say the one we got filters it quite nicely. More economical than many other types of filters too. No bad taste at all. Even the ice cubes look clearer (although not as clear as a clear ice machine).
How much can we expect to save? Filter cartridges cost $35 with free shipping from Amazon.com
– good for 400 gallons according to them. That makes the filter cost per gallon at less than 9 cents. From our previous calculations, tap water costs 1 cent a gallon. And we consume around 1.5 gallons a day. We have seen the price of those gallon jugs increase from 0.25 to $1.19 – not fun.
| Bottled 1 Gal Jugs | Filtered at the Fridge | |
|---|---|---|
| Water | $0.01 | |
| Filtering | $0.09 | |
| Cost Per Gallon | $1 | $0.10 |
| Yearly Cost | $547.50 | $54.75 |
That is almost $500 bucks I will save every year! In three years even the cost of the full fridge will pay itself!
The hauling cost
One of the problems of buying bottled water lies on having to carry it from the supermarket to the home. Sometimes we did trips to the supermarket just because we ran out of water at home. In the process we filled the shopping cart with other things that we might or might not have needed. Then we had to carry it into the home, store it, and remember to replenish the fridge.
vs.
Amazon.com
delivers the filter cartridge.
The environmental cost
All of that materials used in the plastic bottle require energy and cause carbon emissions. Transporting it also creates carbon emissions. Then disposing of it creates another problem. Either you recycle it (as we do), or you fill a landfill.
vs.
Only a filter cartridge to dispose. Still some environmental impact – hopefully less than the plastic containers.
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