TL;DR Tap water is great, buy a reusable bottle and drink with pride.
In the Oracle shopping centre in Reading over the last few weeks there has been a pop-up stand for Virgin Pure which, to quote their website is “the smart appliance that dispenses unlimited pure water, hot or chilled, at the touch of a button. Instant triple-filtered water for a healthier lifestyle.”
I took exception to this and took to Twitter to say so:
Our Virgin Pure customers don't agree with you. VP 😉
— Virgin Pure (@VirginPure) September 20, 2016
My objection is that here in the UK we have some of the cleanest tap water in the world. We can drink from the tap safe in the knowledge that there is going to be water available and it will be safe to drink. Contrast that with other places in the world. The United Nations in 2012 estimated that “783 million people, or 11 per cent of the global population, remain without access to an improved source of drinking water.”
Virgin Pure is a solution to a First World problem.
This isn’t an attack on Virgin Pure, they just happened to be in my way with their pushy salespeople trying to tell me how pure their water was like I should be disgusted by my tap water. No this is me calling out the bullshit in this and all bottled water sellers praying on people’s insecurities.
Save yourself from this marketing hype, buy yourself a reusable water bottle and drink the tap water that you pay for anyway. Oh and donate to ensure everyone no matter where they are also has this choice:
https://www.wateraid.org/uk/donate