Bottled Water Vs. Filtered Water

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Bottled Water Vs. Filtered Water

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Bottled water is a multi-billion dollar business! It is the fastest growing

segment of the entire beverage industry... and the most profitable.

Millions of dollars are spent each week by water bottlers to give consumers

the perception that their water comes from some pristine mountain spring or

pure underground aquifer.

The truth is that often bottled water is little more than tap water in a

bottle. The Federal regulations that govern the quality of bottled water only

apply if it is transported across state lines, and then only require it to be

" as good as " tap water, not better. Most bottled water is bottled and sold

within the same state to avoid Federal purity standards. There are no

assurances

or requirements that bottled water be any safer or better than tap water.

The U.S. FDA says: " Companies that promote bottled water as being safer than

tap water are defrauding the American public. "

In March of 1999? the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a

report called " Bottled Water, Pure Drink or Pure Hype? "

NRDC's report points out that as much as 40% of all bottled water comes from

a city water system, just like tap water. The report also focuses on the

fact that 60-70% of all bottled water is exempt from FDA's bottled water

standards, because it is bottled and sold within the same state. According to

the

NRDC, " bottled water companies have used this loophole to avoid complying with

basic health standards, such as those that apply to municipally treated tap

water. "

According to the NRDC study, " even when bottled waters are covered by FDA's

specific bottled water standards, those rules are weaker in many ways than

EPA rules that apply to big city tap water. " For instance, if we compare EPA

regulations for tap water to FDA's bottled water rules: (these examples are

quotes from the NRDC report)

* City tap water can have no confirmed E.coli or fecal coliform

bacteria. FDA bottled water rules include no such prohibition (a certain amount

of

any type of coliform bacteria is allowed in bottled water).

 

* City tap water, from surface water, must be filtered and

disinfected. In contrast, there are no federal filtration or disinfection

requirements

for bottled water.

 

* Most cities using surface water have had to test for Cryptosporidium

or Giardia, two common water pathogens, that can cause diarrhea and other

intestinal problems, yet bottled water companies do not have to do this.

 

* City tap water must meet standards for certain important toxic or

cancer-causing chemicals, such as phthalate (a chemical that can leach from

plastic, including plastic bottles); some in the industry persuaded FDA to

exempt bottled water from the regulations regarding these chemicals.

 

* City water systems must issue annual " right to know " reports,

telling consumers what is in their water. Bottlers successfully killed a " right

to

know " requirement for bottled water.

The Natural Resources Defense Council report concluded that: " Therefore,

while much tap water is indeed risky, having compared available data, we

conclude that there is no assurance that bottled water is any safer than tap

water. "

 

The reality of bottled water is that people pay from $1 to $4 a gallon for

the perception of higher quality, when in fact, the quality of bottled water

is at best " unknown " !

Point-of-Use water treatment, with a quality in home water filtration

system, is by far the most economical, the most convenient and the most capable

of

producing the highest quality water.

Filtering out the chlorine, lead and other contaminants with a quality home

water filtration system, at the point of use, just prior to consumption, is

the only way to know for sure about the quality of your water.