February 19, 2009
How to choose water? Bottled water (supposedly from the spring and stored in a plastic bottle) vs. filtered water (who knows if all the harmful things are taken away?)
Dear Esra,
As you know, water is one of our most precious natural resources. Within the last several years, bottled water has become an integral part of our society and carrying around bottled water is even viewed by some as a status symbol. You only asked about spring water and filtered water, but I’m going to add in tap water, because I think you’ll be very interested in some of the data that compare the three.
Bottled water has very few regulations for purity. In fact, bottled water that crosses state lines is regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and required to be bottled under sanitary conditions. If the water is bottled and shipped within the same state it is only subject to that state’s regulations. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 60-70% of bottled water brands sold in the US are single-state operations. There is an organization called the International Bottled Water Association that about 80% of manufacturers belong to, and they do have a Model Code that members are required to follow; however, the Code is not legally binding or enforceable.
Tap water, on the other hand, is strictly regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) so levels of bacteria, chemicals, and water treatment parameters are all dictated to drinking water system operators, who must test and publish an annual compliance report.
There are many studies that have taken bottled water (filtered and spring) and compared it to tap water. The results of these studies suggest that the assumption that bottled water is "purer" than tap water is not really a good one.
One four-year study tested more than 1000 bottles and 103 brands of bottled water and found that one third of the brands contained contaminants including arsenic and carcinogenic compounds. Another study looked at the difference in bacterial contamination in municipal water versus bottled water and found that 26% of the bottled water had more bacteria than tap water. I could go on, but you get the idea. Interestingly, according to Co-Op America as much as 40% of bottled water is actually bottled tap water!
Apart from the human safety of bottled water, the environmental footprint of the manufacturing and distribution of bottled water is pretty significant. Because bottling water requires a manufacturing plant, you have to consider all of the energy that is required to run it as well as the emissions from the plant itself. Also, once the water is bottled it needs to be delivered to warehouses and eventually stores and all of that transportation burns fossil fuels and creates more emissions.
It has been estimated that more than 22 million tons of bottled water are transferred from country to country each year, which, when added to domestic transportation ends up consuming somewhere around 15 million barrels of oil annually which is enough to generate electricity for 250,000 homes or fuel for 100,000 cars for an entire year. In addition to the petroleum required for transportation, to make the 900,000 tons of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) required to produce water bottles, more than 17 million barrels of oil are consumed and 2.7 million tons of CO2 are produced.
So to (finally!) answer your question, much of the bottled water you buy is simply bottled tap water, and according to many studies there is really no significant difference in the health benefits or safety profiles of filtered, spring or tap water.
Nation Members are discussing this topic here
References
As you know, water is one of our most precious natural resources. Within the last several years, bottled water has become an integral part of our society and carrying around bottled water is even viewed by some as a status symbol. You only asked about spring water and filtered water, but I’m going to add in tap water, because I think you’ll be very interested in some of the data that compare the three.
Bottled water has very few regulations for purity. In fact, bottled water that crosses state lines is regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and required to be bottled under sanitary conditions. If the water is bottled and shipped within the same state it is only subject to that state’s regulations. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 60-70% of bottled water brands sold in the US are single-state operations. There is an organization called the International Bottled Water Association that about 80% of manufacturers belong to, and they do have a Model Code that members are required to follow; however, the Code is not legally binding or enforceable.
Tap water, on the other hand, is strictly regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) so levels of bacteria, chemicals, and water treatment parameters are all dictated to drinking water system operators, who must test and publish an annual compliance report.
There are many studies that have taken bottled water (filtered and spring) and compared it to tap water. The results of these studies suggest that the assumption that bottled water is "purer" than tap water is not really a good one.
One four-year study tested more than 1000 bottles and 103 brands of bottled water and found that one third of the brands contained contaminants including arsenic and carcinogenic compounds. Another study looked at the difference in bacterial contamination in municipal water versus bottled water and found that 26% of the bottled water had more bacteria than tap water. I could go on, but you get the idea. Interestingly, according to Co-Op America as much as 40% of bottled water is actually bottled tap water!
Apart from the human safety of bottled water, the environmental footprint of the manufacturing and distribution of bottled water is pretty significant. Because bottling water requires a manufacturing plant, you have to consider all of the energy that is required to run it as well as the emissions from the plant itself. Also, once the water is bottled it needs to be delivered to warehouses and eventually stores and all of that transportation burns fossil fuels and creates more emissions.
It has been estimated that more than 22 million tons of bottled water are transferred from country to country each year, which, when added to domestic transportation ends up consuming somewhere around 15 million barrels of oil annually which is enough to generate electricity for 250,000 homes or fuel for 100,000 cars for an entire year. In addition to the petroleum required for transportation, to make the 900,000 tons of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) required to produce water bottles, more than 17 million barrels of oil are consumed and 2.7 million tons of CO2 are produced.
So to (finally!) answer your question, much of the bottled water you buy is simply bottled tap water, and according to many studies there is really no significant difference in the health benefits or safety profiles of filtered, spring or tap water.
Nation Members are discussing this topic here
References
- Lalumander JA and Ayers LW. Fluoride and bacterial content of bottled water vs. tap water. Archives of Family Medicine. 2000;9:246-250.
- Montuori P, Jover E, Morgantini M, Bayona JM, Triassi M. Assessing human exposure to pthalic acid and phthalate esters from mineral water stored in polyethylene terepthalate and glass bottles. Food Additives & Contaminants. 2007;25(4):511-518.
- Brede C, Fjeldal P, Skjevrak I, Herikstad H. Increased migration levels of bisphenol A from polycarbonate baby bottles after dishwashing, boiling and brushing. Food Additives and Contaminants. 2003;20(7):684-689.
- Co-Op America
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- International Bottled Water Association
- World Wildlife Fund
- EPA FAQ on bottled water
- Pacific Institute Bottled Water Fact Sheet
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