We've always bought individual bottles of water to have on-hand to take with us when away, but have never bought bottled water retail in this large a container.
For many years, we've been customers of a large ($150m) Indianapolis bottled-water company and have bought many hundreds of 5-gal bottles of purified water for use in our homes and our charity's animal-rescue facility, where we provide care for special-needs animals. For years we had the bottles delivered, but for the past few years have picked them up at the water company's drive-thru, getting 16 bottles each time.
For years I've complained to the water company about their bottles leaking when put on their sides in our dedicated storage racks. Not only is this a nuisance, but it indicates a pathway for airflow and microorganisms, thus creating a health concern. The company admitted that they had switched to different expanded polystyrene stoppers and new machinery, and that we weren't the only ones to have leaks.
In addition, I've complained countless times about how their personnel essentially heaved the jugs into the back of our SUV instead of setting them down.
After our last trip to pick up 16 jugs (and I emphasize LAST), a bottle of theirs had the usual bit of leaking in the rack. I disinfected it on our kitchen counter, then put it on the dispenser, as I've done hundreds of times over the last nearly 20 years. This was in the evening, before bed.
The next morning, I went to dispense water to make a cup of coffee and noticed that the jug was mostly empty. Uh oh. I then discovered that our expen$$$ive custom hardwood flooring under the cooler AND up to 15' away was WARPED and oozing water. Their jug had leaked and had ruined our premium floor. The damaged area only amounted to about 25 square feet, but it's right in the middle of a couple thousand feet of contiguous flooring and there's no way a repair would match.
A long back and forth with the company ensued...and they blamed me for mishandling their water jug, saying they assumed no liability, as this was a "chain of custody" issue. They told me to make a homeowner's claim, which I won't do due to the rise in premium.
We ceased doing business with them and I decided to buy this water from Sam's, which we and our rescued animals really like, undoubtedly due to the added minerals, which help the taste. Now, whether the minerals are a good thing or bad thing remains to be seen, but we and the animals are consuming more water, which in and of itself is a good thing.
We enjoy the lighter weight of the containers. We enjoy knowing that they're well-sealed (what a concept) and are factory-fresh, not ostensibly sanitized between uses. We like that they're single-use and thus less likely to be damaged. We like that they're PET, which is highly recyclable. We like being able to pick up a smaller quantity at a time, on an as-needed basis to keep our racks full. We like that the Sam's water hasn't set in racks out in the afternoon sun, like the drive-thru water at our previous provider.
They're smaller than the 5-gal containers we're used to, so we have to change them more often. This could be looked at as a positive, given freshness concerns, and the smaller size allows us to put 4 jugs on the floor in the back of my wife's Lexus; no longer is the SUV a must-have to go get water.
A negative is that this water is costing us more than twice per ounce what we've been paying, but the benefits are likely worth it.
In closing, this water checks a number of boxes that our previous provider's product did not, and we'll stick with it unless compelled to consider a different option. Thus far, we highly recommend this Member's Mark product.
Customer reviews for Member's Mark Purified Water 4 Gallon for Water Dispensers for
