{"id":455,"date":"2025-07-11T12:21:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T12:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/?p=455"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:09:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:09:22","slug":"vegas-myths-re-busted-strip-water-peddlers-refill-bottles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/11\/vegas-myths-re-busted-strip-water-peddlers-refill-bottles\/","title":{"rendered":"VEGAS MYTHS RE-BUSTED: Strip Water Peddlers Refill Bottles"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cVegas Myths Busted\u201d publishes new entries every Monday, with a bonus Flashback Friday edition.\u00a0<\/em>Today\u2019s entry in our ongoing series originally ran on Jan. 29, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n

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A new ordinance that outlaws stopping on the Las Vegas Strip\u2019s pedestrian bridges has thrust into the spotlight the people who were already doing business there illegally. Indeed, the role that a brigade of unlicensed bottled water peddlers played in triggering this ordinance is probably not insignificant, as Casino.org<\/em>\u2019s Vital Vegas<\/em> blogger Scott Roeben recently argued.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Water bottles like these are sold by illegal vendors along the Las Vegas Strip. (Image: truesport.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These vendors sell water for anywhere from $1-$5 per bottle during the summer months to visitors who didn\u2019t plan properly because they\u2019re on vacation.<\/p>\n

But are these vendors doing something worse? According to a persistent rumor spread by tourist websites, they routinely collect empty bottles from trash cans and refill them with tap water.<\/p>\n

Myth Interpreted<\/h2>\n

“Do not buy water from street vendors in Las Vegas,” warns the website maketimetoseetheworld.com. “There is no way for you to check whether or not the vendors are following safety and sanitary protocols when ‘repacking’ your bottled water.”<\/p>\n

The earliest version of this warning we could find came from a legitimate source. In 2010, late Las Vegas police sergeant Mike Ford told KLAS-TV\/Las Vegas <\/em>that unhoused people will \u201ctake water bottles out of the trash can, fill them up with water from an unknown source — could be a tap, could be anywhere — then put them in a cooler and sell them for $2.<\/p>\n

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Tourists have no idea where the bottles came from, and when they open them, somebody has already drank from them before.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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A character from the 2008 movie Slumdog Millionaire<\/em> superglues the cap back onto a used water bottle. (Image: Warner Independent Pictures)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But wouldn’t everyone notice if those clicks didn’t accompany the opening of the bottle caps?<\/p>\n

The 2008 movie Slumdog Millionaire<\/em>\u00a0has that part covered.<\/p>\n

In it, the character Salim can be seen supergluing a cap onto a water bottle he took from the trash and filled with tap water.<\/p>\n

A Tripadvisor user from Roanoke, Va. apparently didn’t see the movie, but heard the same story from an even more reliable source.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually heard it from two people, the first being the Elvis impersonator on the Show Bus of the Stars tour,” the user posted in 2012.<\/p>\n

“Elvis said they take empty bottles from trash cans and fill them up with tap water, supergluing the tops so you think you are getting a new bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doesn’t Hold Water<\/h2>\n

Sorry, Elvis, but the nearest Walmart to the Strip currently sells a 35-pack of 16.9-ounce bottles of Pure Life purified water for $7, including tax.<\/p>\n

That’s an outlay of 20 cents per bottle.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more likely — that someone spent hours recycle bin-diving to collect perfectly uncrushed empty bottles of water from only a single brand, along with color-matched caps, and then refilled each bottle, or that they’re OK with sacrificing 20 cents profit per bottle to earn $28-$168 for every $7 they spend at Walmart?<\/p>\n

While there is no vouching for the honesty of people who choose to break the law to earn an income, we\u2019ve never heard of a single vendor being caught doing this. Ever.<\/em> And that\u2019s probably because doing so would be a preposterous waste of their time.<\/p>\n

Oh, and superglue?<\/em> Not only couldn’t it reproduce those opening clicks, but it would also leave a telltale odor behind.<\/p>\n

Water Over the Bridge<\/h2>\n
\"\"
This Las Vegas water peddler has opted for the convenience of an oversized cooler with wheels — otherwise known as a garbage bin. (Image: city-data.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While what Las Vegas water vendors do is illegal, they\u2019re not begging you for money. They\u2019re not harassing you for a bigger tip after posing with you in their superhero or showgirl costume for a selfie. And they\u2019re not scamming you with a confidence game like three-card monte.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re providing a service that has probably already saved many lives. As concluded by a 2002 study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, <\/em>dehydration increases the risk of heart attack at any given moment by 46% in men and 59% in women.<\/p>\n

Illegal vendors wouldn\u2019t be illegally vending if Clark County, the Strip\u2019s governing body, provided more opportunities along the Strip for dehydrated tourists to hydrate in legal, affordable, and sanitary ways.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And sorry, we don\u2019t consider $7 resort gift shop water affordable or water fountains that people shove parts of into their mouths to be sanitary.<\/p>\n

So the next time you feel parched while walking the Strip in 115-degree heat — especially after you’ve had a couple of drinks of a more potent and dehydrating variety — it’s perfectly OK to purchase a cold bottle from an unlicensed stranger. At least it’s a lot less risky than walking a mile and a half farther in your condition.<\/p>\n

That is if you can find a water peddler who hasn’t been hauled off to jail by the time you get here.<\/p>\n

Look for \u201cVegas Myths Busted\u201d every Monday on\u00a0<\/strong>Casino.org.\u00a0<\/b><\/em>Click here<\/a> to read previously busted Vegas myths. Got a suggestion for a Vegas myth that needs busting? Email corey@casino.org.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post VEGAS MYTHS RE-BUSTED: Strip Water Peddlers Refill Bottles<\/a> appeared first on Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0\u201cVegas Myths Busted\u201d publishes new entries every Monday, with a bonus Flashback Friday edition.\u00a0Today\u2019s entry in our ongoing series originally ran on Jan. 29, 2024. A new ordinance that outlaws stopping on the Las Vegas Strip\u2019s pedestrian bridges has thrust into the spotlight the people who were already doing business there illegally. Indeed, the role that a brigade of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455\/revisions\/461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}