In 2006, the United States produced an estimated 8 billion gallons of bottled water, according to statistics by the Beverage Marketing Corporation.
With the hot weather we’ve been having lately, people are more likely to be drinking water – and bottled water is an easy option for people on the go. The Emerald decided to do a test to see if people could taste any difference between different brands of bottled water
Beneath the shade of a tree between Chapman and Condon halls on Tuesday, we set up a table and poured sample cups of four different brands of bottled water: Dasani, Aquafina, Earth20 and Evian.
After trying all four samples, 84 percent of testers were able to discern a difference among the brands. Most testers, even if they couldn’t taste any difference between Dasani, Aquafina and Earth20, immediately noticed a different taste with Evian.
Most testers didn’t like it, saying that it tasted “bland,” “thicker” and “funny.”
“(It’s) out of the picture,” UO student Laura Jay said.
Her friend Hilary Olson agreed, saying that it tasted “stale.”
The only tester who preferred Evian over the other brands was a woman named Breanna Dumke. She didn’t say why she liked it better, but she was not surprised to find that her least favorite sample was Aquafina.
“Whenever I buy Aquafina, I hate it,” she said.
Other testers liked Aquafina the best because it tasted “clean,” and one tester liked it because of its unique taste.
“I love Aquafina because it’s got a metallic taste,” tester Courtney Willis said. Willis was the only tester who successfully guessed the brands of all four samples. She lives in Southern California and doesn’t drink tap water there. Instead, she sticks to bottled water and apparently knows her brands pretty well.
Others disliked Aquafina for its metallic taste and preferred Earth20, which is bottled right here in Oregon.
Tester Mike Mathews said it tasted “pretty pure,” and other testers agreed.
“(It’s) the best. It was kind of sweet; there wasn’t anything bitter in it,” UO student Derek Kirma said.
Dasani wasn’t nearly as popular. Testers didn’t have much to say about it, but Rose Maddox noted that she liked it because it didn’t have any taste.
Tester Eva Sylwester, on the other hand didn’t like it because it “was kinda weird.”
Despite the differences in taste (or lack thereof), all the testers seemed relieved to have some free water in Tuesday’s sweltering weather.
[email protected]
By the numbers:
8 – Billions of gallons of bottled water produced in the U.S. in 2006
28 – Gallons of bottled water consumed per capita in the U.S. in 2006
84 – Percent of people who could taste a difference in the taste test
65 – Percentage of people who preferred one brand over the others in the taste test
1 – Number of testers who successfully guessed the brands of all four samples