Costco Shoppers Are Complaining About Kirkland Water Having an Unusual Taste: ‘Is Anyone Else...’
Water safety has become a primary concern for many adults in the U.S. About a fifth of Americans do not trust their tap water, deeming it unfit for consumption, and opt for packaged drinking water, per Statista. The two integral reasons are convenience and taste. Unfortunately, the shift from tap water to bottled water has not been all that reassuring either. A Reddit user (u/ModularFolds) had qualms about the bottled water a popular retail chain was selling. Hoping for a purer taste, the consumer figured there was something off about the Kirkland water tasting “salty and stale.”
“Kirkland bottled water tastes salty and stale. Is anyone else noticing a difference in water quality?” the post asked. Elaborating on the questionable taste, the consumer revealed they “have” to buy water for particular reasons. “We initially purchased the Ice Mountain brand, then I believe Costco started selling Kirkland, so I bought that. Seems past few months, the water quality is really off,” the consumer explained. The brief but valid observation caught people’s attention on social media. Several other consumers related to the Reddit user’s claim about the impure taste of bottled water sold at major retailers.
A person (u/newberries_inthesnow) wrote a detailed note about PPM (particulate per matter) tests they conducted at home to test the quality of bottled water they commonly purchased. “In September, we bought some flats of Kirkland bottled water for our emergency preparedness kit. I tested some with our PPM meter, and it scored pretty average for a bottled water. I also didn't think it tasted very good,” the comment stated. The consumer ranked popular brands of water on their PPM testing and their personal preference as: “Winco, Fred Meyer, Safeway, then Kirkland.”
The Winco brand was the most reliable due to its 0 PPM testing for the past two years, as per the consumer’s suggestion. “For supposedly purified water, it does taste pretty pure,” they added. Others agreed with the poster’s observation about toppling water quality. “Ours tasted like chemicals. I don’t drink it anymore,” said u/Simpletruth2022 while u/bobbittle01 recommended a different approach. “I’m very picky about my bottled water, and the purified one from our local Costco tastes great to me. I’ll also mix in Niagara or Kroger brand, that’s about it,” they revealed.
Although someone else (u/jonnynoine) was not completely on board with the approach. The consumer said that brands like Kroger, Sam's, Walmart, and Costco get their water bottles from the same manufacturer, Niagara. It “bottles the water and slaps the customer's label on it. It’s all filtered tap water,” the note stated. Similarly, u/SplooshU revealed that they had similar experiences with the Poland Spring brand. “The water in one tasted musty and old, while the other case smelled almost herbal and minty and tasted off.” The consumer had to dump the water off and return the other case of bottled water.
While safe and affordable drinking water is a human right across the world, there are more complications to it than believed. With advancing technology, it is believed that water quality and availability will increase in all corners of the world. In 2020, 74% of the global population had access to safe drinking water. While another two billion people were devoid of it. Moreover, a study by the United Nations University found that the highly profitable bottled water industry is masking the failure of public systems' duty to supply reliable drinking water.