Plain old tap water

Scripps Howard: One of the glories of this country has been the municipal water system. Go anywhere, turn on the tap and out comes clear, fresh drinking water. That’s not true in large parts of the world as unwary tourists frequently learn to their dismay.

But going to the kitchen for a glass of water has become too simple, too plebian for many of us. We turned to pricy bottled water, sometimes fancied up with flavors and vitamins, and sometimes imported from countries whose own drinking water is suspect.

Comeback

It appears that common sense and tap water are making a comeback, according to the Associated Press, which says that the “lousy” economy is doing what the environmentalists could not — get people off disposable plastic bottles of water.

The AP calculated that at standard rates of consumption, Costco’s cheapest bottled water would cost the user over $400 a year. More expensive brands run into the thousands of dollars over a year. That’s kind of expensive when the American Water Works Association says drinking the same amount of tap water costs 51 cents a year.