The Pub Discussion Board

Not entirely sure, but I would imagine the thinking goes something like this:

"personal" bottle of water use:  Open, drink.
2-liter bottle of water use: Open, get glass, pour, drink
Tap water use: Turn on faucet, get glass, fill, drink

See the similarity in the last two?  Tap water is basically free (not really, but so inexpensive as to be insignificant...), whereas bottled water costs an arm and a leg.  With the convenience factor removed, the taste factor probably isn't enough to make people buy it.

If Neitherspace has seen 2 liter bottles, he's one up on me, though I hardly go about looking at water.  The gallon jugs in question, though were probably (not certainly) distilled water, and you do not want to drink distilled water that has been stored in a porous plastic container like a milk jug...

Net Wolf

i thinn the reason you don't find water in 2lit size alot if at all (i admit i may be wrong about seeing 2lit water) is $$ they can make 3 times as much selling you the water half a liter at a time (yes i know they have 1 liter bottles but most people buy the smaller sizes this time of year)

Personally I buy a couple of 1.5l bottles once a month.  I will drink the water that came with the bottles then refill it with tap water just run through a Brita water filter.  I take a bottle to work with me and keep it at my desk and try my best to drink the entire bottle through out the day.

Why do I buy two bottles you might ask?  I do this because the plastic does break down over time I also like to switch bottles on alternate days.  I can't say for sure if this is helping at all but I figure it can't hurt either.

I also have a flat of 591ml bottles that I keep for when I'm going on a road trip or more often when I wake up in the middle of the night thirsty I will get one out of the fridge drink as much as I feel like having and take the rest back to my bedroom making sure I put the cap back on to avoid accidentally spilling it.

As for the pop manufactures getting into the bottled water business.  I think it is a logical progression for them.  It is likely just filtered municipal water from wherever the bottling plant is, but they are taking in water for the pop and nobody has complained the water is unsafe for that; so why would it suddenly be "bad" when they don't put syrups and carbonation into it?

Storymaster:

Unless it specifically talks about its source ("Mountain Spring Water"), most bottled water comes from municipal sources, and is simply re-processed for safety (and to remove the chlorine) before bottling.  If it mentions that it is spring water or something similar, it has to actually be taken directly from that source.

Net Wolf