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Awash in a Bottle of (Contaminated?) Water
No one need dispute the obvious benefits of water drinking to the bottled water industry. Over half the population of the U.S. drinks bottled water, often paying up to 1000 times more than the cost of tap water. While Americans presently consume more than 5 billion gallons per year of bottled water at an average retail cost of $6.00 per gallon, ($1.59 for two liters of Aquafina or Pepsi Cola brand

waters), we continue to complain bitterly about the per gallon cost of gasoline. Is buying bottled water pouring money down the drain; or worse, is it really good for our health compared to tap water? Senior attorney Erik Olson of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) explains that the FDA has never adopted all the EPA regulatory drinking water standards, and has not even ruled on some points after years of inaction. According to the NRDC up to 40% of bottled water is actually bottled tap water, while the FDA rules allow bottlers to call their product "spring water" even though it may be from a pumped well and treated with chemicals. Some interesting labels NRCD observed include:

" 'Spring Water' (with a picture of a lake surrounded by mountains on the label. Was actually from an industrial parking lot next to a hazardous waste site."

" 'AlasikaTM Alaska Premium Glacier Drinking Water: Pure Glacier water From the Last Unpolluted Frontier, Bacteria Free'...Apparently came from a public water supply. This label has since been changed after FDA intervention."

NRDC's study included "testing of more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of bottled water… about one-third of the waters tested contained levels of contamination -- including synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic -- in at least one sample that exceeded allowable limits under either state or bottled water industry standards or guidelines."

Some key differences between testing requirements for tap vs. bottled water, are shocking, for example, disinfection of bottled water, filtration for pathogens and testing for Giardia and Cryptosporidium are not required, but are mandatory for big city tap water.

 

Not To Mention The Environmental Impacts…

According to the NRDC, In 2006, the equivalent of 2 billion half-liter bottles of water were shipped to U.S. ports, creating thousands of tons of global warming pollution and other air pollution. In New York City alone, the transportation of bottled water from western Europe released an estimated 3,800 tons of global warming pollution into the atmosphere. In California, 18 million gallons of bottled water were shipped in from Fiji in 2006, producing about 2,500 tons of global warming pollution.And while the bottles come from far away, most of them
end up close to home -- in a landfill. Most bottled water comes in recyclable PET plastic bottles, but only about 13 percent of the bottles we use get recycled. In 2005, 2 million tons of plastic water bottles ended up clogging landfills instead of getting recycled.
Free In-Home Water Testing With No Obligation. Water Filtration Systems, Pure Water Quality, Contamination, Clean Water, Pollution, Dirty Water, Danger, Health Hazard, Healthy, Taste, Tasting, Tap, Bottled Water, Lead, Drinking, Chemical Biological Contaminants, Bacterial Industrial Contaminant