Growing up, I never drank tap water.
Most of the time I wouldn’t even drink from a water fountain. I always drank bottled water or water from
the filtered tap. Drinking from a tap was an absolute last resort in my mind. Some one asked me the other day why and frankly I
had no answer based on fact. I think part of it is the people of
Philadelphia (where I’m originally from) look at
the Delaware River and think no amount of filtering will ever clean
that up. That of course is a fallacy. In fact, from a quick Google
search I learned that Philadelphia has a reputation for having one of
the cleanest, best tasting water in the country (Dasani has cashed in on that as they use water from Philadelphia as one of their sources).
So… let’s examine this a little further…
First off, bottled water is expensive. About 5 billion
dollars is spent by Americans each year on bottled
water. It negatively impacts the environment; an estimated 50
billion plastic bottles wind up in landfills as opposed to being
recycled every year and it takes about 450 years for them to
completely decompose. The water has to be shipped to stores around the country
by trucks leaving a decent carbon footprint behind
There are different standards for tap
water and bottled water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
regulates the tap water in the United States. Water is treated with
chemicals, chlorine being most popular, to get rid of bacteria and
filtered to eliminate other containments such as lead and arsenic. While they do
not eliminate all traces of containments and bacteria, they get
pretty close. Further efforts would be expensive and mostly a waste of time as studies show it would not better for you.
On occasion, the bacteria counts are
higher than the standards allow which causes people to panic and shy away from
tap water. However when this does happen, the bacteria isn’t usually a problem for most
healthy people. It’s those with compromised immune systems, the
elderly and young children we need to be concerned with. When such problems arise, they are taken seriously and quickly addressed. Regular checks of the tap water’s state are conducted and the public is kept up to date when a possible problem is detected. This problem is not unique to tap water. There have been cases of bottled water needing to be recalled due to contamination.
A big concern for people is the use of chlorine to purify water. It can combine with other molecules to create cancer
causing agents known as trihalomethanes (chloroform is a one
example). Truth be told, the amount of chlorine exposure from drinking cold tap water is far less than the exposure when showering and swimming. You breathe in a ton of chlorine when doing these activities and it doesn’t
seem to stop anyone. Before the use of chlorine, countless people got sick from contaminated water and
thousands died. This is still a problem today in countries that do
not have water regulation. The benefits have proven to far outweigh the risks.
Lead is actually a problem with tap water, but there is confusion about the cause. It is not usually due to a lack a filtering. When hot water runs through pipes that contain lead sometimes minute amounts enter the water but it is typically not toxic.
Concern is not entirely misplaced; over exposure to lead can cause a
number of problems including delayed and/or hindered development in
children. One must remember that people for years have been exposed to lead
in small amounts, from a variety of sources and most have turned out okay. So, it takes quite a bit of exposure to cause any serious damage.
Bottled water is
regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The sad truth is that they allow a greater amount of contaminants in bottled water that the EPA does in tap water.
I found is disturbing to learn that a small amount of E. Coli is
allowed in bottled water (there is a no tolerance policy against it in tap water).
Most of the claims that bottled water companies make
are just marketing tactics. Often the water is just from the tap and
filtered again in a different way. Since chlorine is not used as much, the water has a “cleaner” more appealing taste. Studies have shown though that people rarely can tell the difference between tap and bottled water.
There are a variety of types of bottled water. Those that are just filtered water that I just mentioned. Spring water which contains minerals and comes
from water pockets under the ground called aquifers. Sparkling water
usually starts with natural carbon dioxide but during the filtering
process it’s eliminated and it has to be put back in. None are shown to be better for you than tap water.
One definite downside to bottled water
does not have fluoride in it like tap water does. Fluoride can help
prevent tooth decay. Some people have conspiracy theories about
fluoride and others think it’s bad for you but discussion on this
would be better for another day.
So the bottom line? Bottled water is
not any healthier than tap water. At times it’s needed when the water
supply is found to be contaminated but for everyday use it’s probably
unnecessary. Any other time it’s just a way for people to make money.
Something that costs pennies to make costs us anywhere from between
40-90% more.
Will these facts stop people, myself included, from buying bottled water? Probably not. For me it’s nice to
have around because it’s easy. Grab a bottle of water and go out the
door. I leave one by the bed if I get thirsty in the middle of the
night. It eliminates the risk of spilling it everywhere or breaking a glass.
Just a note, there’s a whole other problem
with leaving bottles of water around the house. Assuming it started
out clean and virtually free of bacteria, there is a ton of bacteria
in your mouth. If you leave the bottle too long the bacteria that is
on the rim of the bottle will multiply and you’ll need to throw out
the bottle only adding to the waste of money…
Maybe I’ll have to seriously reconsider
this bottled water thing…