A visitor recently tossed an empty plastic water bottle into our recycling container. I noticed, as I often do, that the label read "Purified by Reverse Osmosis." A 24 pack of this water sells for $2.99. This means that one bottle costs about 12.5 cents. Each bottle holds 16.9 fl. ounces. That's just under three quarters of a cent per ounce. Sounds like a great deal, right?
Until you realize that the Ocracoke Water Plant produces pure reverse osmosis water every day. It flows right out of our taps. And it costs $16.00 per 2000 gallons. One gallon equals 128 fl. ounces. That means you could fill 7 1/2 bottles with one gallon of Ocracoke water. The cost comes to .001 cents per bottle.
Instead of paying 12.5 cents for one 16.9 oz. bottle of water you could fill 12,500 bottles with pure Ocracoke reverse osmosis water!
Maybe our visitors will consider not bringing bottled water to Ocracoke. Just a suggestion :-)
Or maybe I should start selling bottled water at a 12,500% profit!
This month's Ocracoke Newsletter relates the story of the prohibition-era rum runner Messenger of Peace that brought much pleasure to the residents of Portsmouth. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news062115.htm.
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Are people afraid to drink from a public water fountain? Some children do have poor public water fountain habits I dare say. You could sell souvenier -- is it aluminum or stanless steel reuseable water bottles with the proceeds going to XYZ on OI Does OI have a logo or a name Place immediately associated with OI an Image say the light house or a OI Flag. Design a flag for OI -- these seem to be very timely these days--- Flags perhaps a bit of whimsy would be good.
ReplyDeleteSell it at a 6,250% mark-up and corner the market! ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt's time to start selling reverse osmosis "Ocracoke" water at Village Craftsmen and advertising it for shipping in Funny Times.
ReplyDeleteI do find it humorous how much people buy bottled water. Though I might add that unless it has changed in recent years, I do recall that there was a sulfur smell to the water, unless that particular home had its own well? I know the water at the Cape Point Campground in Buxton used to not taste that good...we've been bringing along a Brita water filter pitcher to run it through before drinking...better than buying gallons of bottled water. Though I guess I should also admit that I didn't actually try any straight out of the tap this year to confirm if it still tasted less than ideal...
ReplyDeleteAnother point to make is that the park service has been installing water fountains with a tap to fill water bottles.
Or if people really want their bottled water, you could probably sell it out of a fridge in your shop for $1 a bottle...and label it something fancy about Pure RO water from Ocracoke! ;-)
Truth be known, some bottled water (at least to me) tastes worse than most tap water!
EVERYONE that I know, including myself has always brought their own H2O when visiting the outerbanks.
ReplyDeleteYour water is NOT that good.
Sorry.
When I first came to OI with my friends family and their friends they all packed 5 gallon containers of H2O.
I remember, once, drinking your yellow, sulfur backwash that was called water. Nasty stuff. Hard to believe that generations have grown up on this stuff. You would even smell like it after rinsing off from a shower.
The price of a gallon of clean water, like everything else on OI is outrageous$ - but then you have a captive audience you can charge whatever you like.
We pay .99 to a $1.25 tops for a gallon of either spring or distilled water. Water is a personal thing. Besides, buying and bringing your own water to Ocracoke is the cheapest part of the trip ... as far as a flag or logo, please no more of the brave lonely lighthouse or heaven forbid smelly old lost soul, Blackbeard. How about a big open mouthed shark as a logo. In this part of NC I have always heard OI called 'Mosquito Island' until last week when someone said they were going to Shark Island....I am sure they had their gallons of water with them when they went.
You do understand that all of this poking is in good fun. When we visit you please just take our money, let us have fun and don't worry about our drinking habits. Enjoy the summer. Have a drink on us.
Tony and family
Tony & Family, good fun or not...Ocacoke's water is produced by a sophisticated reverse osmosis system. The end product is the same as RO bottled water. In the past, when the system was first installed, the more primitive filters did not eliminate all impurities, and the water did have a sulfur odor. Also, ground water, which some cottages still use for outdoor faucets, is often yellow and disagreeable, but no one I know drinks it.
DeleteYou certainly have my blessing to bring your own water to Ocracoke (my post was "just a suggestion :-)". No one really cares what provisions you bring to the island, and we do appreciate your leaving your money.
Cheers!
Well when you play you pay....Tony
ReplyDeleteif you think the local water is bad now think back when they use to drink it off the roof and let it brew and age in a cistern......yeah......think about that one.
ReplyDeleteThe water these days is as good as, if not better than... most city water... Additionally, there's no chlorine smell; an added bonus, IMHO. I still say, bottle and sell it on the web :-D
ReplyDeletehasn't anyone learned on this and other sites that when someone starts giving their opinion or telling someone what to do or it begins to get personal. you should have never mentioned that visitors consider not bringing their water and filling up with OI water. The bell should have gone off right there. This is what happens when you read other peoples trash (or labels)..by the way...this is a good site even though there are some thin skinned readers.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all!
ReplyDeleteSome people have trouble if they drink local water when they travel...so if I was a Human, I'd bottle the water and sell it to tourists...
Love the outer banks.
Y'all come by,
Hawk aka BrownDog
Hi Y'all!
ReplyDeleteSome people have trouble if they drink local water when they travel...so if I was a Human, I'd bottle the water and sell it to tourists...
Love the outer banks.
Y'all come by,
Hawk aka BrownDog
No offense taken BUT, as much as I love Ocracoke, I think the water does still taste bad. I can drink it, but it has a poor taste. I don't doubt it's quality, and it does taste way better than it did in the past.
ReplyDelete