Poland Springs Water Coolers: Not so cool…

Lately, I’ve been reading different articles on how bottled water isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Researchers have now examined the plastic that holds the water and they’ve found that some chemicals, which certain types of plastic contain, such as pthalates (found in many toys and other soft plastic goods made of PVC plastic) and bisphenol A (organic compound known as BPA), may seep into the water. These toxins can disrupt the endocrine system, messing with your hormonal balance. This can cause fatigue and even weight gain — defeating the purpose of your workout, etc. When these bottles are exposed to the heat (sitting on your porch after a delivery on a hot summer day) the chemicals release into the water that much faster. And all this time I thought bottled water was the bomb. Guess I was wrong.

Today was the clincher. Thanks to Poland Springs, I’ll be switching over to a water filtration system as soon as possible. Besides the fact that the delivery guy forgets to pick up and deliver water from time to time and the endless 1-800 calls back and forth to the company…putting me on hold for minutes, hours, days at a time. When the hot water heater stopped working about a month ago, I procrastinated in making that dreaded call to the company. Friday I finally conceded, made the call and left my cooler outside to be switched for a new one. When I arrived home, I opened the cardboard box only to find a completely different kind of cooler. That would have been cool, but the orange juice stains on the top and the filthy innards of the cooler were not so cool. Very uncool, as a matter of fact.

I was given a completely used, UNCLEANED water cooler. Even worse, the inside metal container where the water goes in was freezing cold and had condensation around the perimeter…as if this cooler may have been running in another home only minutes before. The company explained to me that they recycle their coolers when they break, instead of replacing them with brand new ones. They fix them, fumigate them and send them back out. Now, I’m all for recycling, and I love when my coffee cups say ‘recycled paper’ but that doesn’t mean I would drink from a dirty coffee cup. What are the odds that other Poland Springs customers have been given back unsanitized coolers as well? Tomorrow the cooler and three unopened water bottles will be sitting on my porch. Only this time they’re going back for good. Goodbye, Poland Springs. Hello, water filter system.