Plastic used for bottled water

I saw we had one bottled water topic- Here's another-

I was told recently it takes gallons of water to make the plastic for one small bottle of bottled water. I don't buy it -

any comments?

Well, according to a large number of water fact websites it takes 24 gallons of water to make one pound of plastic. If we assume that the bottle weighs 4 ounces, then it took 6 gallons of water to make the bottle that holds 1 gallon of water.

[Dr. Dave]

Originally Posted by Robigus

Well, according to a large number of water fact websites it takes 24 gallons of water to make one pound of plastic. If we assume that the bottle weighs 4 ounces, then it took 6 gallons of water to make the bottle that holds 1 gallon of water.

Does a plastic bottle even weight one ounce, let alone 4 ounces?

I was making an assumption (yes, I know) about the weight of a 1 gallon bottled water container. According to this website, a typical half-liter water bottle weighs 13-16 grams (less cap). Figuring 1/2 ounce per bottle, that would make it 3/4 of a gallon of water to make each 1/2 liter water bottle. Still seems a little uneven.

[ASL]

What exactly is meant by "it takes"? Water could just be used as the coolant to cool the machines and the plastic being molded.

[Latiam]

Originally Posted by ASL

What exactly is meant by "it takes"? Water could just be used as the coolant to cool the machines and the plastic being molded.

In which case it would be reused, yes?

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by ASL

What exactly is meant by "it takes"? Water could just be used as the coolant to cool the machines and the plastic being molded.

I don't think so. I think the production of the plastics themselves requires water at at least one stage. While I agree that it's not as if some voodoo is performed on water and voila - plastic, it is also not simply a matter of performing some voodoo on the oil, cool the machines with water, and voila - plastic. Most synthetic chemicals require and/or produce water at one or more points in the process. (Someone who's better with organic chemistry can help me with this part?) Also, water is required to clean the machines and to clean the products before they are used and most of this water cannot be reused. So I don't think it's very wrong to say "it takes".