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Blowing the Lid Off Bottled Water |
By Pamela Steinbach
Quick Fact: An American Medical Association-supported study in Cleveland found more bacteria in bottled water than in the city’s tap water.
A few decades ago, the idea of paying for water in little single-serving bottles seemed pretty weird. It still seems weird, if you stop and think about it. But that’s just it: we don’t think about it anymore. These days, something like 40 billion gallons of water move around the world in little plastic bottles, and we’re all too willing to shell out our shekels for it. Usually, that means about a dollar or more a bottle for what we could get abundantly, safely and more or less for free straight from our faucets. Result? Bottled water is now a multi-billion-dollar industry, worldwide.
It’s not a particularly benign industry, either — which also is kind of weird when you consider we’re talking about water. What could be problematic about that? Well, just take stock of what’s involved here. This is an industry that uses a considerable amount of scarce petroleum resources in packaging. It also consumes tremendous amounts of energy in production and distribution. As San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom pointed out when signing a proclamation banning the use of city money for single-serving plastic water bottles, it takes far more energy to transport bottled water than it does to ship oil.
Bottling water clearly has a huge impact on not only the economy but also the environment — in terms of transportation, distribution, plastic production and waste. The fact is, the bottles themselves aren’t typically recycled. They wind up in landfills, where they produce methane and other poisonous gases.
Okay, you say, fair enough, but what if I like that clean, clear, pure taste of bottled water? Rest easy. You’ve got choices. There are, for instance, any number of good, under-the-sink filtration systems available today that deliver pure water with the taste you love. If you’re heavily into the bottled water habit, this type of system will pay for itself in a matter of months.
Once you have your filtration system in place, get some good, reusable water bottles. That way, you can stock up and take your filtered water with you wherever you go.
For picnics, sports events or bigger outings, you might consider investing in a large water container that you can fill with your filtered water from home.
Bottled Water vs. Tap Water
• The FDA doesn’t test bottled water as rigorously as municipalities test tap water. Some bottled water isn’t tested at all, and there are no federal filtration or disinfection requirements for bottled water.
• Municipal water supplies must be free of E. coli. Bottled water is allowed to contain a certain amount of these bacteria. What’s more, bottled water is exempt from standards regulating some toxic, cancer-causing chemicals and other pathogens.
• While your city must issue reports on the quality of tap water, bottlers aren’t required to release their water-test results.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 March 2008 16:06 )
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