With the high price of everything, it is not hard to give up bottled water. That is unless you go to Costco. A 35-bottle case of 1/2-liter Deer Park will keep you hydrated for under $6. That’s pretty hard to pass up especially as we move to the hot days of summer when carrying a bottle of chilled water is in itself comforting. Their Kirkland waters cost even less. 

Then we have angst about damage to the planet. So what is one to do? Buying reusable containers are OK as long as they are free of harmful plastics-they have to be BPA-free (bisphenol A). That often means you will be making a major investment in a storage container. They move from OK to disgusting when they lie around and wait for someone to clean them out. Yuck. Disgusting.

Brita and Pur water filters are fine for at-home consumption, but they make it more difficult to carry out the pledge to drink gallons of water daily. Or the filtered water gets put into the BPA-free container and never gets washed out. You get the picture.

Then there are the dining-out dilemmas. For years restaurants did well charging astronomical prices for bottled waters. No one seemed to know how many bottles ever got poured, but the bill reflected fountains flowing with expensive water. Now restaurants seem to have figured out that the consumer is not as gullible as he might have been when the world was more flush nor is the international water brand that all-important. In all my dining out lately, I have heard very little about expensive water. No one seems to hover and say with a tone of disgust, TAP? Yes, pour it. Bring it on.

Then there are the new specialty water systems such as Natura that restaurants have installed. They rent the equipment and purify tap water to offer guests still or sparkling. Bottles are reusable so there is little waste, and most restaurants that use the service charge customers a minimal fee for unlimited purified water. Stay tuned, a home version is due out soon.

So the point is: it’s spring, we’re thirsty.

Drink water. Make wise choices.