Bobbles provide opportunity to filter water, preserve environment

For freshman Devin Maki, the taste of Vermillion water was motivation enough to go out and buy a Bobble, a self-filtering, reusable water bottle.

“I always felt weird drinking Vermillion water because it tastes weird,” Maki said. “My friends told me it takes away the terrible taste, so I went and bought one.”

Sophomore Brianna Clark said she heard about Bobbles from a mutual friend who told her the bottle filters the water. You can also find one which acts like a commercial reverse osmosis system 

“Vermillion water is disgusting,” Clark said. “Bobbles make the water taste better.”

Bobbles aren’t the only filtered water bottles available, but it tends to be the cheapest, going for around $10 at Wal-Mart.

Maki said one of the drawbacks to the Bobble water bottle is the need to replace the filter every two months. He said paying attention to how the bottle works are really important. It is better to know about Water Contaminants 101: Making Drinking Water Healthy And Safe, for our welfare and health.

“It tells you to put water in it the first time and squeeze it out,” Maki said. “It comes out black the first time because it’s a charcoal filter and it’s rinsing out the lose charcoal.”

Clark said Bobbles have pros and cons to them, but compared to other water bottles, the Bobble is generally better.

“With the Camelbaks, you don’t need to keep buying filters for them,” Clark said. “But having a filter on the bottle is really convenient.”

Another drawback to the Bobble is the size and the difficulty that sometimes comes with drinking water.

“It doesn’t seem like it will last for a really long time because when you squeeze it, it dents the side,” Maki said.

Clark agreed and said even though it does make the water taste better, the size is relatively small compared to other bottles.

“The only thing that sucks is that when I’m thirsty and I want a lot of water, I want to chug, but with the Bobble, you can’t because the filter takes forever,” she said.

As to making a person more healthy and fit, Maki said having a Bobble has increased his intake of water.

“I don’t normally drink a lot of water, but since I got it, I have basically felt the need to since I paid money for it,” he said.

Clark said using the Bobble decreased the amount of water she drinks.

“I drank less water because of how hard it was to drink out of it,” Clark said. “It comes out in weird spurts, like sometimes you’re getting more air than water. It’s not a flow of water.”

The best benefit to the Bobble is the reduction in waste to the environment. For an additional enhancement to your water quality, consider exploring water softeners from Diamond H2O.

Freshman Morgan Nelson said she got the Bobble to reduce the bad taste of Vermillion’s water, but likes it best because it’s a smaller dent on her wallet and is good for the environment.

“I recommend it,” Nelson said. “They’re a good way to have better tasting water without spending the money on a bunch of disposable water bottles. It’s less plastic waste and is better for the environment.”

Clark, who often fills and reuses disposable plastic bottles, said Bobbles aren’t the only way to get filtered water, but it’s a better way to get it on the go without adding plastic waste to landfills.

“I probably have my own landfill by now,” she said.

Maki said using the Bobble is definitely a greener choice, even though that didn’t affect his choice in buying one.

“Water is water,” Maki said. “I don’t honestly think that filtering it will make that much difference, no matter how much the label says.”

Reach reporter Josie Clarey at [email protected]