Meet IT consultant John Junior who will only bathe in bottled water - and says the £4k a year cost is just a drop in the ocean. The 34-year-old from Wilmslow reckons cutting out tap water five months ago has improved their health and wellbeing.
John, who identifies as gender fluid, claims switching to bottled water has stopped their anxiety, migraines and eczema. They splashed out £12 a day in Co-op buying supermarket water to wash with and Fiji water to drink.
This which works out at roughly £360 a month or £4,300 a year - which John says is a small price to pay. A daily soak requires 30 litres of water, which John bathes in cold - adding just a single kettle of hot water to feel comfortable.
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And they have cut down on buying takeout coffee and other luxuries in order to afford the water amid the cost of living crisis. John, from Wilmslow, said: "I'm not a scientist - but it's genuinely changed my life.
"I don't know why it works for me. Maybe I'm allergic to the chlorine that they use to disinfect the water. But there must be something in it to make me feel so bad."
Despite being unable to drive, John says they manage to ferry water in from their local store by delivery or with the help of friends. And John, who insists they are not a conspiracy theorist and are not anti-tap water, says they have even visited the source of Co-op's water. John said: "I always call [tap water] the devil's drink - even though my friends always laugh at me for it.
"I don't use it at all. I don't drink it, wash with it, I wash my clothes in bottled water. I used to struggle with extremely bad anxiety constantly and migraines, and after a while I did loads of experiments on myself to try and stop it.
"I cut loads of different things out of my diet, and eventually I just thought that it just had to be the water - so I tried cutting that out and I just feel so much better now. I used to have migraines that would leave me feeling sick and unable to move, but now I get them way less.
"I have PTSD as well after seeing my father die in front of me in 2018, which has become much better since I cut out the tap water. I'd been offered medication to help fight the PTSD but it didn't work for me, along with loads of other holistic ways like going to the gym, swimming and stuff - none of it seemed to help.
"From then I'd struggled with my anxiety and even my eczema, but now I've cut out the water it feels better. I actually feel healthier - I genuinely think it's the devils drink.
"I think it's a multitude of things, like PH balance - there's more magnesium in bottled water for example, which helps with anxiety. I believe that the water must pass through sewage farms and that must effect it somehow. Water all around the country just tastes rank - almost metallic.
"Sometimes I have to shower in my local gym and I find the water there almost feels like bathing in rain water or something. It smelled as well - it's horrible. If I have a drink of water, or a brew, I feel vile."
John says that the cost might seem steep - but insists it is manageable if you make sacrifices. They said: "It does cost £12 a day, which seems like a lot. But if you go to Starbucks with your mates and get a coffee and a cake - you're already spending nearly that much anyway.
"So I just cut down on my extra spending, and not it doesn't seem like it costs so much. I don't mind paying the extra money to feel better."
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