Bottled Water vs Tap Water

For big modern cities in the United States and Europe, their tap water is cleaner than the bottled water. How so? The FDA sets standards for bottled water, while the EPA sets standards for tap water. Tap water is tested for contaminants hundreds of times a month while bottled water gets tested only once a week.

But if you are in a third world countries or developing countries, factory made bottled water is much safer. Even in new cities like Kuala Lumpur, their piping system is old and tap water output still need further filtering.

Here are a few shocking finding made by the NRDC:

For example, one brand of "spring water" whose label pictured a lake and mountains, actually came from a well in an industrial facility's parking lot, near a hazardous waste dump, and periodically was contaminated with industrial chemicals at levels above FDA standards.

According to government and industry estimates, about one fourth of bottled water is bottled tap water (and by some accounts, as much as 40 percent is derived from tap water)—sometimes with additional treatment, sometimes not.

City tap water can have no confirmed E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria (bacteria that are indications of possible contamination by fecal matter). FDA bottled water rules include no such prohibition (a certain amount of any type of coliform bacteria is allowed in bottled water).

Any violation of tap-water standards is grounds for enforcement—but bottled water in violation of standards can still be sold if it is labeled as "containing excessive chemicals" or "excessive bacteria" (unless FDA finds it "adulterated," a term not specifically defined).

City water systems must issue annual "right-to-know" reports telling consumers what is in their water; as detailed in this report, bottlers successfully killed such a requirement for bottled water.

Now you can think twice before you drink from a bottled water. The safer way is to boil the tap water and store it in your own container or water canteen.

Related posts:
* 1 Billion People Lack Access To Clean Water
* Bisphenol A | BPA - Avoid Using Plastic Type 3 and Type 7

Water Bottled Is Not Eco-Friendly

It takes 2,000 years for one plastic bottle to breakdown in a landfill. Bottled water is transported long distance via lorries and energy is also used by on board refrigeration methods.

There is no noticeable difference between most bottled water and tap water, either in taste or quality, so it's much more sustainable to get your water straight from the tap.



Why You Should Avoid Bottled Water

Avoid buying and drinking bottled water as much as you can. This is because:

* Creating and transporting plastic bottles containing water is not environmentally friendly.
* Transporting water from one side of the world to the other (eg. Evian, San Pellegrino) is just plain ridiculous.
* Empty plastic bottles end up in landfill.
* The cost of creating a bottle of water uses about 16 times its volume in water.
* Tap water is drinkable. For those who don’t like the taste, water filters are available.
* Spending money on bottled water is a waste of money.



Is Bottled Water Ruining the Earth or is Tap Water Just Plain Vile?

Bottled water. Sounds clean, refreshing, and much better than the alternative coming from those old underground pipes, don't you think? You may want to think twice before you buy that mega economy pack of single serve Poland Springs water bottles. The facts are piling up in favor of tap water. Turns out it just might be a myth that's been marketed towards consumers that bottled water is cleaner.

If you do drink bottled water, do you recycle the bottles?

If you do, you're in the minority. Sadly only 20% of consumers recycle the bottles. The other 80% throw them away. These bottles will take hundreds to thousands of years to decompose in a landfill and we're running out of room.