Water is incapable of preventing dehydration

[Humanicide]

Now see here boy - back where I comes from we don't need none of that thar fancy water stuff.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/8897662/EU-bans-claim-that-water-can-prevent-dehydration.html

EU - new and improved; now almost as stupid as America!

[Umbrage]

They're simply doing this to stop pollution. Trucks that drive the bottles from the manufacturer to the stores, people who drive to the store to buy the bottled water, empty plastic bottles that remain. I hate the EU but I'm ok with trying to get less people to drink bottled water (as long as the tap water doesn't contain fluoride of course) Europe is the biggest consumer of bottled water, particularly the southern EU countries.

For the most part drinking bottled water is stupid anyway. I enjoy it every now and then (it's handy to bring a few 0.5 liter bottles with you when you go hiking in summer) but there's no reason to drink the stuff every day instead of tap water. For most people it's a mere status symbol.

[Humanicide]

They're simply doing this to stop pollution. Trucks that drive the bottles from the manufacturer to the stores, people who drive to the store to buy the bottled water, empty plastic bottles that remain. I hate the EU but I'm ok with trying to get less people to drink bottled water (as long as the tap water doesn't contain fluoride of course) Europe is the biggest consumer of bottled water, particularly the southern EU countries.

For the most part drinking bottled water is stupid anyway. I enjoy it every now and then (it's handy to bring a few 0.5 liter bottles with you when you go hiking in summer) but there's no reason to drink the stuff every day instead of tap water. For most people it's a mere status symbol.

The bottled water part I agree with, more people should adopt a thermos. It's incredibly wasteful.

But the point is, this may discourage people from just drinking water altogether. Which is pretty dumb.

[Parasite]

I overheard two people talking about their favorite type of bottled water, they actually got into to details and went through and talked about all the options for bottled water at the store.

[lafindumonde]

A lot of US municipal water is full of junk you don't want. Plastic probably isn't better though. If I had a nice well I would never touch the stuff.

[fallot]

This is really some amazingly pointless semantics, yes drinking water regularly does not give you a quality that would prevent you from becoming dehydrated in a situation where you subsequently lacked water... but seriously. But yes, bottled water is a curse that should be shunned everywhere tap water is safe enough to drink.

[Nimbostratus]

For the most part drinking bottled water is stupid anyway. I enjoy it every now and then (it's handy to bring a few 0.5 liter bottles with you when you go hiking in summer) but there's no reason to drink the stuff every day instead of tap water. For most people it's a mere status symbol.

There are countries where bottled water is the healthiest option.

“The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are: highly-paid, highly-pensioned officials worrying about the obvious qualities of water and trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true."

“If ever there were an episode which demonstrates the folly of the great European project then this is it.”  

This is the crux. The consumer is a baby and momma knows best.

[istaros]

A lot of US municipal water is full of junk you don't want. Plastic probably isn't better though. If I had a nice well I would never touch the stuff.

Tap water is much safer than bottled water.

[Umbrage]

For the most part drinking bottled water is stupid anyway. I enjoy it every now and then (it's handy to bring a few 0.5 liter bottles with you when you go hiking in summer) but there's no reason to drink the stuff every day instead of tap water. For most people it's a mere status symbol.

There are countries where bottled water is the healthiest option.

Sure, in countries like Mexico. But in the EU? Where?

[Humanicide]

A lot of US municipal water is full of junk you don't want. Plastic probably isn't better though. If I had a nice well I would never touch the stuff.

Tap water is much safer than bottled water.

Depends on where you are. In most of the USA, that's correct. But in places like Florida, you'd rather die of thirst than drink the tap.

Bottled water usually has that nasty side effect of those chemicals from the plastic seeping into it. Yum!

[istaros]

A lot of US municipal water is full of junk you don't want. Plastic probably isn't better though. If I had a nice well I would never touch the stuff.

Tap water is much safer than bottled water.

Depends on where you are. In most of the USA, that's correct. But in places like Florida, you'd rather die of thirst than drink the tap.

Bottled water usually has that nasty side effect of those chemicals from the plastic seeping into it. Yum!

Could be -the flavor of water in long-reused plastic bottles seems to support this notion- but it has more to do with the fact that bottled water, like herbal remedies, isn't weighed down by stringent bureaucratic red tape standards, like actual medicine. Sure, they go overboard. Umbrage mentioned fluoride additives in tap water as a negative point, which is most likely accurate. And then we have shit like what started this thread in the first place - which is hilarious not only in the way it defies common sense, but also (and even more so) because the word "dehydration" literally means "loss of water," so these thin-lipped suit-monkeys are *literally* saying that water is a magical element, since its presence does not counteract its absence. It would seem that water both eliminates and creates its own existence... simultaneously! One would believe we have stumbled upon God, as made manifest on this transient vale. And if you look at water on a large enough scale, this is true; the planet can't lose or gain water, after all

All the same, when faced with a choice between two opposite extremes, it would be pretty stupid to choose that of "no precautions at all" over that of "too many precautions." Except for the ubermensch, of course.

As for living in Florida, I'd rather die of anything than be there in the first place.

[Cargést]

When I went to Florida, the water tasted and smelt like it had chlorine in it.

[Veritas]

if they don't buy bottled water won't they just buy something else anyway?

we have money so we can waste materials. when there are no more materials to waste we have no more money ):