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How Clean is Bottled Water
[text goes here]Bottled water is an interesting topic in healthy-lifestyle and environmental groups. The question is how clean is bottled water and how wasteful are those plastic bottles? Studies show bottled water is most often tap water, so it's not as clean as you want to believe it is. And those plastic bottles are piling up in landfills, wasting natural resources and space.
How clean is bottled water? That is a very good question. Bottled water is considered by most people to be healthier for them than tap water. Studies show that's not necessarily the case, however. Most people would be very surprised to learn that some of the best-selling bottled water actually comes from a tap. What you are paying for is the convenience of the bottle itself? Learn more about the bottled water so you can choose the better option.
The HBO program Bull Shit debunked the myth years ago that people can really tell the difference between different waters. They used a NYC restaurant that created a water list. This list had $4-7 bottles of water depending on where it was from, the Himalayan water costing the most I think. The joke was that the water steward (would that make him a water sommelier?) filled water bottles from a hose on the back deck of the restaurant. At least for that experiment, the water tasted different to the people buying it even though it wasn't different. The message is that people really can't tell the difference between tap water and spring water.
The cleanliness of bottled water depends upon the source of the water. Coke and Pepsi both manufacture their own brands of bottled water that are under the names of Dasani and Aquafina, but the main source of the water is from a municipal source. They use a reverse-osmosis filtration process that cleans the water until it is a pure as possible, but the first source is the same source that our tap water comes from -- the municipal water supply. This approach allows their bottled water to taste the same across the country, no matter where it is bottled.
Pellegrino carbonated water comes from a more natural source. It's taken from super carbonated volcanic springwaters in Tuscany. The bubbles in the water are natural, not introduced in manufacturing. The water is trucked north and bottled in Pellegrino. The bottles are washed and rinsed in mineral water to help get them as prepared as possible for the Pellegrino water.
Poland Spring water does not necessarily come from a spring named Poland Spring. The demand for the water has outgrown the springs, so water is trucked in from springs all over Maine and surrounding states to keep enough water for the demand. The imported water does come from natural springs, however.
More bottled water is drunk than milk, coffee, or tea. The only thing Americans drink more of is soft drinks. Americans consumed 28.3 gallons of bottled water last year. This is 18 half-liter bottles per month per person. The convenience of these bottles is great, but what we are actually paying for is the bottle, rather than the water, in most cases. By buying your own bottles (especially stainless steel bottles) and investing in a tap water filter you can have water that is as clean and cheaper. Plus, you will be keeping all of that plastic out of the landfill, which is another wonderful benefit.
How clean is bottled water? It depends upon the manufacturer. Research your bottled water choice to make sure that it meets your own personal standards. If you are just drinking and purchasing bottled water for the convenience, then it may not matter where it comes from to you very much. If you are purchasing it because you believe that it is superior to water out of your tap, then you may be disappointed. Determining your reasoning behind bottled water will determine whether it is worth the cost to you and to the environment.
