Here Is What in Your Bottled Water and Why Tap Water is Better than Bottled Water

Many people purchase bottled water with the notion that, because we are made to pay extra for it, it has gone through a very special, top-notch filtration process that renders it totally superior to the water that comes from the sink tap.

Indeed, bottled water advertisers bank on people believing just that. However, in many cases, bottled water is right on par with tap water—and in some cases, it may actually be worse for you than the water that you get from the taps in your home.

My post is mainly based on a news story by CNN about the bottled water industry and I’ve attached the video of this story to the bottom of the post.

Bottled Water Has its Own Set of Potential Perils

Even if the purification process used in producing bottled water is miraculously good, there is still the concern of the vessel it’s being sold in a plastic bottle.

Plastic containers for food and drink can contain bisphenol-A (BPA), a substance that is frighteningly common in plastics used for processed foods and drinks and yet has severely detrimental effects on human health.  This is an issue that I’ve already highlighted in my post about the health hazards of plastic containers.

Plus, the production of all these single-use plastic containers is terrible in terms of environmental cost—not to mention the potential for waste for those who do not recycle their plastic goods.

According to a research – bottled water were found to have more than 24,000 chemicals. All bottled water companies have to go through government health inspection to be sold commercially, much like any other product. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a standard quality level in their testing that allows an excess of 70 chemical contaminants within bottled water. The numbers are even more daunting when considering the recent studies from the German Federal Environment Agency.

Bottled Water – The Studies

In the studies, researchers decided to investigate the suggested presence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) within commercially sold bottles of water. They used a nontarget chemical analysis to analyze almost 24,520 foreign candidates in the water [1].

You can be assured that the majority of these compounds within the water aren’t terrible for human health, we’ve been drinking them for a while without widespread death, but there are a few particular pollutants that have grabbed the attention of water drinkers worldwide.

Pollutants Were Found In Popular Brands of Bottled Water

The Environmental Working Group reported in 2008 that of the ten most popular brands of bottled water in the U.S. there was evidence of nearly 40 pollutants. The contaminants include industrial chemicals, Tylenol, bacteria and fertilizer [2].

Leading water quality laboratories found 38 contaminants in ten brands of bottled water purchased from grocery stores and other retailers in nine states.

The pollutants identified include common urban wastewater pollutants like caffeine and pharmaceuticals, an array of cancer-causing byproducts from municipal tap water chlorination, heavy metals and minerals including arsenic and radioactive isotopes, fertilizer residue and a broad range of industrial chemicals. Four brands were also contaminated with bacteria.

“It’s buyer beware with bottle water,” said Jane Houlihan, Vice President for Research at EWG. “The bottled water industry promotes its products as pure and healthy, but our tests show that pollutants in some popular brands match the levels found in some of the nation’s most polluted big city tap water systems. Consumers can’t trust that what’s in the bottle is anything more than processed, pricey tap water.”

The food industry has seen a lot of change in the last few centuries. Sliced bread and canned preserves were early innovations that allowed us to sell and consume food like never before. Then in 1845, the Ricker family were the first to sell water in bottles, evolving over time to become the Poland Springs water company, one of many businesses in a now flourishing beverage market [3].

The average U.S. citizen uses more than 150 bottles per year and we sell approximately 30 billion of the convenient beverages every year [4]. You might think we would focus a little more on the content of water sold in plastic bottles given the affluent role of it in modern living. For many people, the amount of foreign material swishing around their plastic water bottles goes overlooked.

More than One-Quarter of all Bottled Water Is Tap Water

While the marketing tactics used by the bottled water corporations are telling you how nasty tap water is, they are selling it to you under the guise of a pretty label.

That’s right—around 25% of all bottled water sold to the public is just tap water in a bottle.

Some companies claim to use a special filtration or purification process that makes their brand of tap water that much better, but others simply place tap water in a bottle and profit.

It is worth noting that several of the companies who sell bottled water also sell carbonated soft drinks loaded with dyes, preservatives, and high fructose corn syrup—so it’s not like these corporations stand as pinnacles of valuing good health.

Most Tap Water is Safe to Drink

The marketing used by bottled water manufacturers is aimed at striking fear into the hearts of the consumer by convincing them that their tap water is impure and inferior to their products.

However, most tap water in developed countries is perfectly safe to drink straight from the tap, thanks to tap water quality regulations.

Tap water is not gross or bad as these processed water companies would have you believe.

If you live in area which fluoridates its water, you can avoid drinking the fluoride by installing water filter (like this one).

Tap Water is Both Green and Good for You

It seems obvious, and you don’t really have to do it, but if you’re committed to making a healthier change in your life the first thing to do is stop buying water in bottled form. There are plenty of ways to enjoy water without it sitting in plastic and leaching chemicals. Glass is a contamination-free method of storing purified water, and there are now many portable drinking bottles that have no BPAs.

Putting your own tap water into a reusable container is the way to go if you want good drinking water without having to pay—or make the planet pay—per bottle.

You can opt for a stainless steel container instead of buying bottled water.

If you are concerned with the quality of water in your area, you can also invest in a tap filter to save yourself some money and save the planet some hardship instead of being duped into paying a soda pop manufacturer for the privilege of using their plastic to house your tap water.

With the natural health boom came a ton of ways to filter and purify your drinking water. Special attachments for faucets can make even the sketchiest tap water much cleaner. If you live in area which fluoridates its water, you can avoid drinking the fluoride by installing a special water filter to get rid of the fluoride (like this one).

Related Articles:

• 7 Warning Signs That Tell You Your Body Is Lacking Water
• Which Is Better: Drinking Cold Or Warm Water?

The importance of water is also featured in my e-book about superfoods and how they can improve your health, which is part of my Natural Health Revolution Program. This program will help you to achieve your health, nutrition and weight loss goals.

Here is the original CNN report: