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Coca-Cola donates 6 trucks of Dasani water bottles to Texans, Internet jokes they'd rather 'die of dehydration'

Earlier last year, when the pandemic began, Coca-Cola's Dasani water bottles seemed to find no takers due to their ill reputation

Coca-Cola Bottling Company donated six trucks filled with bottled water for the residents of the City of Waco in Texas, who are without water after bitter cold temperatures caused problems for the city's infrastructure, resulting in broken water pipes. Earlier this week, Waco Mayor Dillon Meek had warned that the city was facing a water shortage. Nearly two million Texans were facing one of the worst winter storms of the decades which left people without electricity and water. 

In a video last week, Meek warned that the city's water supply is "critically low," saying, "We are currently pumping all we can but the main problems we’re facing right now are leaks and high usage. We are pumping twice our normal daily usage and the system’s storage is sitting at a critically lose capacity." Meek also warned that if conditions worsen further, some communities may not have water at all, including the fire department.

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As such, Coca-Cola Bottling Company's donation of 100 pallets (six 18-wheelers full) of bottled water came when some neighborhoods with significant water main leaks had their supply cut off while repairs were being completed. An update through the City of Waco's Facebook page states, "Our staff and contractors continue to work around the clock to find and repair leaks all over the city. In some neighborhoods with significant water main leaks in need of repair, the City has had to cut water off in specific, localized areas to save overall system capacity and pressure until these isolated water main repairs can be completed. In anticipation of some isolated areas of Waco losing water so critical repairs can be made, our city staff worked to procure bottled water for our Waco residents."

The post continued, "Coca-Cola Bottling Company stepped up and donated 100 pallets of bottled water (or, said differently, six 18-wheelers full), shipped into Waco from out of town. These trucks arrived in Waco last night and the water is being stored at the Waco Convention Center. We will distribute this water directly to the Waco residents that have temporarily lost water due to water main cutoffs for critical repairs. Beginning this morning, City of Waco staff is delivering bottled water to each impacted household."

While many expressed their gratitude for the donation, others took to social media to infuse humor in the situation. Earlier last year, as the pandemic began Coca-Cola's Dasani water bottles seemed to find no takers due to its ill reputation stemming from reports that a batch of Dasani water was contaminated with bromate, a suspected human carcinogen, in a concentration above the legal limit for sale in the UK just after a month of launching there in February 2004. 

Similar sentiments arose as news of the donation spread, with one user writing, "I’ll die of dehydration before I drink Dasani water." Another joked, "They giving out free Dasani water in Houston in a time of crisis we a literally witnessing an attempt at genocide."

A user tweeted, "If I ask you for a bottle of water & you hand me a dasani I’m just gonna assume you don’t care for my well being," while another remarked, "Pray for Texas the snow may be going away, but we have been given Dasani." A user tweeted, "This water outage has my dog drinking Dasani water on the daily. Texas better hurry up and fix this before he becomes accustomed to a certain lifestyle."