Air Canada and bottled water

I am not a fan of any softdrinks, like pop or juice. I don't drink beer or (cheap) wines. So onboard AC and in MLLs, my only beverage of choice is water.

I don't fly enough on domestic or transborder flights nor do I fly enough on International Y flights, so can't comment.

In international J cabins, there is a 500mL bottle of Dasani water at each pod. This is good because I can drink whenever I want without having to get up or ask anyone for it. But when this bottle is done, there is usually problem. A lot of flights don't have enough extra 500mL bottles for me to take to my seat. They usually only have the large 1.5L bottle at the galley area and one has to take the empty water bottle there to refill. This is where I have problem with. How can one ensure that when a bottle is being refilled, the rim of the big bottle won't ever touch the rim of the small bottle hence creating a contamination scenario? I would just "steal" a whole brand new 1.5L bottle to my seat and outright refuse to have my 500mL bottle refilled. But this is quite inconvenient to me, since water is my only preferred drink onboard.

My wife had her bottle refilled with a brand new 1.5L by an FA. While the FA was careful not to let the bottles touch, after the refill, she grabbed the lid of her bottle to close it, the FA stopped her and gave her the lid of the 1.5L bottle and insisted that this was the right lid. The FA then placed the smaller lid in the big bottle and hence my wife's spit was all over the big bottle, which will be consumed by others later.

Also in MLLs, all the bottled water have their bottle caps removed. I don't like this idea either. Many times, there are more than one opened bottles sitting on the counter. There is no way to tell how long the bottle has been sitting there opened. I just don't want to touch water in the MLLs.

Why can't AC put smaller bottles of water in the MLLs just like other drinks or pops? They can even have some placed in the fridge chilled and some in room temperature. If AC is worried that some folks might take them out of the MLL, they should have the same worry with other more expensive drinks like beer. So this should not be a concern.

With all do respect, you sound paranoid.
Contamination is good for the body and the immune sytem. Drink up!

Alternately, I'd love to see AC work out an approach that doesn't involve the insane consumption of all that plastic. Hugely wasteful, in terms of the plastic, the fuel to carry it, the volume of space it takes up before and after use, etc.

I have a metal bottle (600ml or so) with cap that I travel with, and I try to fill it myself in the lounge (from a new water bottle or even just a faucet - that water is cleaner anyway), and I refill it myself on long-hauls from one of the 1.5L bottles that jarusoba mentioned.

It would be an expense for sure, but I think of it like the headphone issue but much larger. AC is wasting money, and water, and oil, and time, dealing with all that plastic and then just junking it later. Surely we can find some better system.

(I know only some planes have potable water tanks, and they often provide water that tastes awful, so I'm not suggesting that!)

From the 2009 Auditor General report: http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/En...2285.html#hd4c

I too question the rampant spread of communicable diseases from the tops of contaminated water bottles.

It's challenging sometimes on an airplane to pour from big bottle to little bottle without having them touch, but it's far from impossible. I've done it many times and I've had it done for me many times by FAs (who I must say, invariably have exceptional pouring skills in a cramped, moving environment).

As ACYYZ/SD has pointed out, if there's something you need, just ask one of the FAs. In this case, I'm sure one of them will be happy to execute a perfect pour for you.

Or if you want, switch things up and go sparkling. That way you get a nice, new, sealed can of Perrier in J or soda water in whY so you remain contaminent-free.

The aisles are just littered with the dead bodies of passengers who have ingested germs from other passengers.

Am I missing something here, or, is there a problem with pouring from the big 1.5L bottle to a clean glass? O_o?

-RS.

Drink perrier. Problem solved.

Yes, most FAs would oblige if I asked for a whole new big bottle. There are exceptions, in which case I would steal it.

But I still don't understand why there are not any extra small bottles around.

Yes, I have to be paranoid in this world. Most contamination is good for the immune system. Some is not. Especially contamination by strangers.

Even bottled water is prone to contamination but this is the best we could get at the moment.

Thank god I'm not one of them.

If the big 1.5L bottle is used during a service on a cart, and I know it's not contaminated and is poured into clean glasses all the time, I would have no problem. But if the big bottle has been left opened for an unknown period of time and could be contaminated by another stranger, I would choose not to consume from it.

Yes. This would be my last resort.

Problem not entirely solved because a lot of times, I would rather have some still water.

I'm just asking for my own bottle of water, not a bottle of Krug. Why is it so hard?

Oh come now. We all breathe the same recycled air in the tin can. Is that really much worse then having contaminated bottles?

Besides which, the big bottle is 1.5l. If it's used to refill little ones, then it's empty after 3 refills. Even if it's used to top off the little bottles, it's used after a max of say, 10 pours.

There is also the poor man's Perrier, Canada Dry club soda, I understand the germ contamination phobia. In our office I use the water cooler, and am a little grossed out when I see people filling up a water bottle by putting the spout of the water cooler completely inside their bottle. I still drink the water. Then again I haven't been sick in 3 years, so even though I probably have been present to their germs, such is life. Ac probably doesn't have smaller bottles to cut down on cost. My 2 cents!