Growing up in New York City I often heard that the water from the faucet was the purest, safest water to drink. Most of the drinking water came from reservoirs in our neck of the woods that we used to call upstate. Beginning at the Neversink Reservoir water is released to travel 6 miles to the Roundup reservoir. As it heads to New York City it travels 85 miles along the Delaware Aqueduct before passing over the spillway in New York City. In hindsight I should have been more careful with the drinking water. Who knows what condition those pipes were in; probably the only time they ever inspected the pipes was when there was a leak. 

Then again, I spent most of my summer days building up a sweat playing baseball in the neighborhood. I quenched many a thirst by turning on the hose that was basking in the sun to drink a lot of water. Eventually we were told that drinking warm water from the hose that was soaking in the sun is not the best thing to do for your health. 

The flip side of drinking water  from a faucet or a hose is to drink distilled water. Keep in mind it’s an acquired taste because still water has no taste at all. All the minerals and contaminants have been taken out of it by a process called distillation. First, water is heated until it boils, turning it into steam. The steam rises, leaving impurities and minerals behind in the container that once held the water. The steam is then cooled in a condenser and when it turns back into liquid water, the condensed water is collected resulting in purified distilled water.

If you told me that someday we’d have to pay for water and to watch television I would have said you were crazy. But here we are years later paying a monthly water bill and sending a check so the cable company keeps our TV on. Many people myself included do not drink water from the tap anymore. In fact, Americans spend nearly $50 billion a year on bottled water. It is estimated that 25 percent or more of water sold in plastic bottles is really just tap water. Sometimes being further treated, other times not. In fact, 64 percent of bottled water in the United States of America comes from municipal water supplies. The same as tap water. 

A few years ago, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea that required me to use a CPAP machine with directions saying to only use distilled water that is free from any impurities or contaminants. It also has many uses, including laboratory, medical and household purposes. The taste is kind of bland, and you have to get used to it, but some people like that. The downside of distilled water is that the process removes both contaminants, which is good, but it also removes beneficial minerals that are best to keep in your system. Also, those gallons of distilled water are typically sold in plastic containers, which doesn’t help the environment.

For years I used to drink spring water as a healthier alternative to tap water. But one summer I got a rude awakening to what it really means to be from Maine. 

Well, I went camping in Maine with friends. Following a stream to get to our campsite, we passed the remains of some animal that lost a fight to an unknown predator. The remains were being flushed downstream. Seeing that, I knew that no amount of purification by pills is going to make me happy. Realizing that drinking water from the stream was not going to happen. I was happy that I brought a few plastic bottles of my favorite drink, Diet Sprite.

Hudson Cooper is a resident of Sullivan County, a writer, comedian and actor.