To ground the oil consumption figure in reality, daily oil consumption worldwide is around 85 million barrels a day or over 31 billion barrels a year.

That 1.5 million barrels used annually to create plastic water bottles represents less than 0.005% of the total annual oil consumption.

In other words, you could completely eliminate plastic water bottles and still consume essentially the same amount of oil per year as we do now.

I'm not saying these filter bottles aren't cool because they are. I'm just saying that the amount of oil they could potentially save, even in the best possible case, is irrelevant.

(international oil consumption data available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/oilconsumption.html)

@Beans That link didn't work for me.

But does that figure take into account the the amount of oil used to pump, process the water, make the bottles and ship them, and then reship the now filled bottles all around the world/country as well? As well as transporting and disposing of the empty bottles, or if you do recycle, the cost of shipping the plastic to China where so much recycling is done?

I think this is a great idea, and I loved seeing the video review it.

It looks like the server thinks the closing parenthesis is part of the URL. Try this:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/oilconsumption.html

As to the 1.5 millon barrel figure comes from Bobble directly. I would imagine they would count every drop that they reasonably could link to water bottle production to make their story better. I have no source beyond their own website and they don't give any further details.

Actually, the website says /almost/ 1.5 millon barrels a year so the post doesn't precisely quote Bobble but it's close enough.

Hey folks, anything that helps, helps.

I don't care how much oil I do or don't use on plastic bottles, that little 'Bobbles' at most is a placebo. All it takes is one mistake at the water plant and your either sick or dead. There is more water born illness in this country than you would care to believe. I spent $275.00 on a Berkey 'purification' system that sets on my counter, and another $100.00 for a total of four filters that will - not just filter - but purify 6,000 gallons of water for a total cost of about 3cents a gallon. In order to remove chlorination there is another filter that screws to the bottom of the black carbon filter - and they are another $50.00. A Brita water filter will filter out lead but it does not filter chlorination out.

Berkey® purifiers using the Black Berkey® purification elements are proven to reduce pathogenic bacteria (including E. Coli, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Giardia and Cryptosporidium) by 99.99999%

The Berkey is one of only a very few water purifiers that can be legally called a purifier.

@ Anonymous,

The Berkey's come in several sizes including a travel size, I fill my travel bottle up in the morning with 99.9999% pure, wonderful tasting water for 3 pennies - and that includes the up front cost of the unit.

Wow... I heard the drinking water in the U.S. is of bad quality. But it looks like it is a serious problem so there is a market for purifiers, filters and bottled water.

I dare any of you who are filtering out the chlorine at home to culture your faucet.

I'll take the "risk" of chlorinated water over what you'll find any day.

I'm not going to cite any sources myself, but will challenge anyone claiming drinking water in the USA is not safe to provide citations showing the risk to be significant.

While infrastructure spending has been abysmally deficient in recent decades (falling down bridges, etc.) tap water in America is still very safe, and all studies I have seen shows it to be typically least equal, if not better, quality than bottled water.

-B.

I have lived in a third world country for a few years where we had to boil our water after filtering out a significant amount of sediment. I have also been unfortunate enough to have several waterborne parasites.

I understand and appreciate what a tremendous public health benefit it is to have potable water delivered directly to the tap in my home. While bottled water is a great convenience that I am grateful to have at my disposal (pun not intended), I echo Barnaby's challenge. Tap water is one of the modern world's greatest achievements.

I just drink the water that comes out of the ground on my property. It's full of health-maintaining micro-organisms! The previous owners used to chlorinate it, but I don't bother.

Important note: Bobbles are NOT DISHWASHER SAFE. I forgot to mention this to my wife who tossed four into the dishwasher and they're all destroyed. :(

LOVE the product, but don't let them near the dishwasher.

Sucked in by non logical thinking and mad-vertising as well. No one noticed the fact that you have to replace the filter every two months. The mass of the plastic in the filter looks to be significant not to mention the manufacturing and transport costs.

We really need to demand that our water systems and aquifiers are adequate and we will not need this nonsense. Do some research and see how the fracturing of substrates to collect natural gas is contaminating home supplies. If we are not careful we will be in the same situation at the third world countries Beans lived in.

Filtered water and bottled water are really wasteful. Drink tap water and really save money. For those on wells I suggest periodic testing because you never know what your neighbor may be dumping in the ground.

@ Barnaby: I'll take your dare.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/19/AR2010051902599.html?wprss=rss_print&sid=ST2009021100308

http://www.waterandhealth.org/newsletter/new/spring_2003/waterborne.html

http://www.iwaponline.com/jwh/004/jwh0040s71.htm

After reading the piece from the The Washington Post, all the rest should be adjusted up.

Politicrimes are committed every day and most will not be aired on CNN.

I am responsible for five lives. I think I'll hedge my bets and purify the water coming out of my tap.

You might want to check out what an halogen is and what it does to your body.

Not all US tap water is as wonderful as some of you claim. I lived in a place where they pumped water out of a lake directly into people's homes, with no treatment whatever. The annual algae blooms made for very entertaining bath and toilet water - first bright green, then brown when the algae died. After the state ordered the town to chlorinate the water because of a giardia infestation, they finally raised money to build a treatment plant.

Where I live now, the water may not be unhealthy, but it sure does smell and taste bad. Smells like brimstone, tastes like dirt. I use an undersink filter, and it makes the water taste good. You can call it a waste, but I doubt very much that you'd go on drinking what the town supplies for long.

I was wondering if any of those who suggested alternative purifiers would be interested in submitting a review to Cool Tools. The Berkey system looks great for a household but doesn't necessarily solve the problems of drinking water while on the move. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Please don't hesitate to submit to editor@cool-tools.org, and thanks for the lively discussion.

-- oliver h

Even tap water that looks clean, smells clean, and passes all relevant state and federal drinking water standards can still be hazardous to your health.

Case in point: many municipal supplies (like my local supply here in LA) contain enough arsenic to be a health concern.

Arsenic is a natural contaminant - it leaches out of arsenate minerals into groundwater - and removing all of it would be too expensive for municipal suppliers.

For most tap-water applications - watering the landscape, washing clothes, flushing toilets, taking showers - the small amount of arsenic permitted is no problem.

But it's a hazard if you drink it constantly: it can lead to increased incidence of several kinds of cancer, higher levels of hypertension and diabetes, and a host of other problems.

Simple carbon taste filters like the one featured here do nothing to reduce arsenic. And bottled spring waters might also contain similar levels of arsenic - though many don't.

But purified water - the sort produced by major soft-drink bottlers, who start with "safe" city tap water and then use the same multi-stage purification process (including reverse osmosis) that they use for the water that goes into their soft drinks - shouldn't contain any arsenic at all.

Ditto for the water sold by "water stores" that use reverse osmosis for purification.

Arsenic is only one of the potential problems - there are several other contaminants that have permitted levels high enough be health concerns. Public tap water standards are limited by both cost and technological feasibility. Not all tap water is "perfectly safe" to drink.

The Berkey Co does sell a travel bottle with the same filter only smaller (of course) that is on the larger units. They also have a stainless steel travel size purifier.

Google 'Berkey Travel'

When your on the move the stainless steel travel top nests inside the bottom and I understand it to be quite portable.

Living in fear is its own punishment. I drink water directly out of taps and out of the stream flowing through my yard and have lived well for nearly 50 years - no water-born illnesses. I used to believe the fearmongering, but, at some point I grew up and became an adult, now I am happier. My children happily drink the stream-water, and I serve it to all visitors and they never get sick.

My house has well-water, no chlorine, and yes you can culture the water if you wish. A human body with a functioning immune system is strengthened by ingestion of normal, untreated water; we evolved to do this over millions of years (or God created us with this capacity, whatever you prefer). Unless there are people sickening and dying from contact with the water, you should drink it straight - repeated experiments have proved it's good for you.

As for Beans' contention that diminishing oil use by a small amount is meaningless; that's just a trivial re-formulation of Xeno's foolish paradox... since no single action can eliminate oil use, there's no point in going any part of the way. Nonsense for ivory towers! Nothing you do is meaningless if you do it with intent, and as Jeff Bragg notes, every little bit counts. Look up Kant's categorical imperative if you aren't fooled by Xeno's malicious sophistry; moral action will make you strong and happy, don't be frightened mice, be bold and act in a fashion you can be proud of!