Drinking Bottled Water

Tests on leading brands of bottled water by an environmental advocacy group have shown that many popular brands are no more pure than regular tap water. The tests detected bacteria and trace amounts of chemicals including caffeine, fertilizer, solvents, acetaminophen and even the radioactive element strontium.

Don't be alarmed, because all of the contaminants were found in very small quantities. All were below levels the federal government considered safe. This is the same safety standard as tap water.

Bottled water can cost as much or more than gasoline at a convenience store. So why are you spending all this money to get a product that might not be much better than tap water. From an environmental point of view, producing bottled water contributes more to global warming than just drinking tap water. There is the raw materials and energy used to create and fill the plastic bottle. The water than has to be trucked from the plant to the distributor and then trucked to the retail outlet. That burns a lot of fuel, contributing to global warming. Distributing water through a pipe is much more energy efficient.

Tap water might actually be better for you. We used to buy bottled water when our kids were little thinking that it was better for them. We found that our expensive bottled water (5 gallon bottles with a cute dispenser) lacked the fluoride found in our tap water and the kids were getting lots of cavities. Switched back to tap water and the cavities stopped. I actually think adding a little fluoride to tap water is a great idea. I don't see it added to bottled water.

If you are against fluoride in drinking water, then bottled water is the alternative. Just make sure your bottled water is from a natural source and not just filtered tap water. Beware of many national brands that are just filtered tap water that may not filter out the fluoride.

Water filters might give you the best source of water. We use a simple pitcher type filter that we keep in the refrigerator. The filter two step filter removes most of the chlorine, solvents, and metals like lead but does not remove the fluoride. The second step in the filter is simply a very fine screen that will remove small organic material and microbes like giardia. This gives us water almost a good as the best bottled water and slightly better than tap water.

It is important to know the quality of your tap water. There are some areas where the tap water is not very good or has known contamination. The biggest contamination problem that I know of is Perchlorate contamination of ground water. This chemical typically comes from rocket fuel. This affects areas in 14 states including California and Nevada. (Be careful if you live near a rocket building or testing facility.) Standard water filters typically do not remove this chemical although there are some expensive filters using reverse osmosis that will filter out most of this chemical. If you question the quality of your drinking water then finding a brand of bottled water, preferably from a clean spring source makes sense. Just don't assume that all bottled water is automatically better for you than tap water.

Topics: Global Warming