Qantas removes bottled drinking water for business/premium economy

[cmon0005]

I flew out of sin to syd on Sunday and already got a tiny bottle of water instead of the large one I got from syd-sin a few weeks earlier. I don't want to be drinking tap water from some countries and also don't know how often the tanks themselves get cleaned. Cafe breakfast now tap water what's next??

 

[JohnPhelan]

Even the UK I don't drink the tap water or treated water available in London.

Really???!!! Sorry, I think that's ridiculous. In first world countries, bottled water is the biggest con around.

 

[JohnM]

Even the UK I don't drink the tap water or treated water available in London.

Why on earth not . I have no hesitation in drinking the tap water in London. It would have to meet all rigorous modern public health standards - which is not what can be universally said about bottled water, BTW.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Really???!!! Sorry, I think that's ridiculous. In first world countries, bottled water is the biggest con around.

Why on earth not . I have no hesitation in drinking the tap water in London. It would have to meet all rigorous modern public health standards - which is not what can be universally said about bottled water, BTW.

Anyone who has lived in London will know the water is quite hard, does awful things to your kettle, dishwasher, shower etc.

It's also rumoured to have some chemical/hormone residues. Even taking the reports with a grain of salt it was enough to put me off drinking the water there. A selection of articles:

There must be something in the water » Scienceline
Fertility timebomb found in drinking water | Daily Mail Online
BBC News | HEALTH | Tracking sex hormone pollution

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I've bought small 250ml bottles or water ex DPS to BNE & 187ml bottles of wine ex BKK to MEL in carry on as the people doing the secondary screening at the gate only had a 'boys look.' Neither place does an xray of hand luggage.

Transit security and MEL international prior to our onward flight was a different matter as they xray the hand luggage so the small bottles of wine were confiscated after liquids showed up on the x-ray.

 

[Cheatah]

Really???!!! Sorry, I think that's ridiculous. In first world countries, bottled water is the biggest con around.

You lived in London have you? London tap water wont kill you, but it's considered "hard water" which has a distinct taste which some don't like. Additionally a lot of houses/flats in London have plumbing and water tanks which are many decades old and while it might be OK for showering/washing not necessarily something you want to drink if you can avoid it.

And of course, bottled water in the UK is much cheaper than in Australia so it's not _that_ expensive to drink bottled water regularly. Of course not as cheap as tap water but at the moment for 3 GBP I can get 6 x 1.5L Evian at Waitrose/Ocado.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I was on a Cathay Pacific flight last month where the message was something like "Due to water contamination issues on board this aircraft we will be serving all passengers with bottled water on the flight".

I'm sceptical of tap water at the best of times.... and on planes, my understanding is the water tanks can only be cleaned with chemicals - and that 'boiled' water only reaches 85 degrees.

Anyone else a bit sketchy on non-bottled water?

 

[OzEire]

For international flights at least (prob domestic too) all waste is subject to quarantine, therefore recycling is not an option, and disposal is expensive (and paid by volume rather than weight, think bags or bin qty as a paid unit). Any reduction in waste disposal will save cash, I bet bottles make up a big part of that volume.

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

I flew qantas from melb to hk a few months ago and in Y the person next to me asked for another bottle of water (we got a bottle each) the flight attendant said that he was in economy and not entitled to any more and walked off. No offer of any other option.

 

[Austman]

For international flights at least (prob domestic too) all waste is subject to quarantine, therefore recycling is not an option, and disposal is expensive (and paid by volume rather than weight, think bags or bin qty as a paid unit). Any reduction in waste disposal will save cash, I bet bottles make up a big part of that volume.

Which is why they should be looking at bottles containing less plastic.

There are options out there. I'd say the bottles served ex the USA had about half the plastic content of the bottles served ex Australia. They could be virtually crumpled like paper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_plastic_water_bottle
New Aquafina Bottles Reduce Plastic Use by 50 Percent - Earth911.com
etc

 

[JohnM]

It's also rumoured to have some chemical/hormone residues. Even taking the reports with a grain of salt it was enough to put me off drinking the water there. A selection of articles:

There must be something in the water » Scienceline
Fertility timebomb found in drinking water | Daily Mail Online
BBC News | HEALTH | Tracking sex hormone pollution

Yes - but plastics and plasticisers are already well-known xenoestrogens (hormone mimics - aka endocrine disruptors)! Be careful what you wish for!

 

[RichardMEL]

I was on a Cathay Pacific flight last month where the message was something like "Due to water contamination issues on board this aircraft we will be serving all passengers with bottled water on the flight".

I'm sceptical of tap water at the best of times.... and on planes, my understanding is the water tanks can only be cleaned with chemicals - and that 'boiled' water only reaches 85 degrees.

Anyone else a bit sketchy on non-bottled water?

Cathay Pacific provides bottled water on flights after samples from tanks fail to meet standards | South China Morning Post

The state of *some* potable water tanks on aircraft has long known to be dodgy. QF can go on all it likes about carbon filters and all the rest, but the CX scare, and also testing done in the US showing a fair amount of contamination scares the cough out of me.

I have a compromised immune system (organ transplant) and there's no way in hell I want to knowingly take the risk with something like this

YET

on long haul flights we are supposed to keep hydrated with water for health, ward off jet lag etc

my solution may well have to be to have hot water based beverages(eg: tea) and hope it's been boiled enough.

it may be a small risk, but my health comes above anything else.

 

[Mike65]

For me (travelling mostly in Y) the issue is more of convenience. A bottle of water can be shoved into the seat pocket, placed on my seat beside me (OK maybe not an option if you're large hipped) or even on the floor (shoes are very effective bottle holders). This means it is available whenever I want to take a sip. A cup of water needs to sit on a tray and I don't like the idea of having the tray down all the time as it's prone to being spilt. Obviously, if there's an empty seat next to you, then their tray table becomes the perfect solution.....

On recent flights with both QF and CX, the non-bottled water has been basically undrinkable. I'm not very fussy about tap water and rarely buy bottled water but it tasted like it had come from a bore or a very stale tank so I am now very pro-bottled water on aircraft.

 

[BAM1748]

QF should just say it's to save money on flights but certain routes will retain bottled water. They serve water out of a jug now on flights but when I ask for a bottle there is no issue, they just give me one.

Hmm, where is the Red Roo PR to clarify all this? :evil:

 

[drron]

Consistent with the fairer and simpler philosophy spruced up with environmental concerns to allow better PR.

 

[Daver6]

In the scenario here, it makes no difference. You obviously don't fly business. Current procedure is water is only served in proper glasses at the beginning of the flight, with the meal and whenever requested. So you do play the waiting game anyway. I actually b live the official story here that it's about reducing environmental impact. They would buy the current more unit Franklin in such quantities and would have negotiated such low rates that I would be surprised if filling a tank was that much cheaper in many ports. Most J customers won't even notice that it's now being poured from a pitcher instead on a mount Franklin bottle.

And you obviously know more about my flying habits than I do.

In the middle of the night, I don't have my tray with proper glass with me. I don't want to have the hassle of waking up for a drink, waiting for it to come before I can go back to sleep. But I suppose you know my sleeping habits too.

 

[JessicaTam]

Meh, I was born and bred in ADL. I am just happy with water I can see through.

 

[Red Roo]

QF should just say it's to save money on flights but certain routes will retain bottled water. They serve water out of a jug now on flights but when I ask for a bottle there is no issue, they just give me one.

Hmm, where is the Red Roo PR to clarify all this? :evil:

To clarify, customers will still be offered individual bottles of water on all long haul international flights. The only change will be to water being offered during the meal service. Instead of being poured from a plastic bottle, we’ll now be using a silver jug filled with potable water.

Cost saving, yes. Cost cutting, no. We’re serious about our environmental footprint, and this initiative alone will save approx. 600,000 plastic bottles per year. Part of a larger sustainability story, here’s how it fits in to the bigger Qantas Group picture: http://qantas2015.reportonline.com....15-annual-review-environment_0.pdf?download=2.

Internal documents are meant to be just that, internal. However that’s another conversation…

 

[kermatu]

To clarify, customers will still be offered individual bottles of water on all long haul international flights. The only change will be to water being offered during the meal service. Instead of being poured from a plastic bottle, we’ll now be using a silver jug filled with potable water.

Cost saving, yes. Cost cutting, no. We’re serious about our environmental footprint, and this initiative alone will save approx. 600,000 plastic bottles per year. Part of a larger sustainability story, here’s how it fits in to the bigger Qantas Group picture: http://qantas2015.reportonline.com....15-annual-review-environment_0.pdf?download=2.

Internal documents are meant to be just that, internal. However that’s another conversation…

While I understand people's concerns about quality and concerns for health - this seems a reasonable balance to me.

 

[JohnK]

Sounds completely sensible to me. Bottled water, unless sparkling is wanted, is BS.

Some of us prefer bottled water even in Australia.

e.g. I don't drink tap water in my apartment in Brisbane. The taste is horrible and ocassionally brown coloured water comes out. No thanks. Bottled water only.