How to Choose Drinking Water Containers

Your choice in drinking water containers could affect your health.  What the drinking water container is made of is important, as is what you put into it or what it can remove.  Here’s a quick shopping guide.

Glass or Plastic

It’s common to see plastic drinking water containers included with the purchase of a new bike or other sporting goods equipment.  For sports, plastic or polycarbonate is safest, but you should look for BPA-free.

BPA or Bisphenol A is a monomer used to create polycarbonate and other plastics.  Exposure to the chemical is common in our society, because it is used so frequently.  Manufacturers of canned foods use it to line the interior of the cans.  A plastic food, beverage or drinking water container may be made with it.

The problem is that anything that sits in the can or bottle can absorb BPA.  The problem with that is not completely understood, but we do know that in the body it acts like the hormone estrogen and that can cause numerous health problems.

Drinking water containers for children and for sports are now being manufactured without using the monomer.  You just have to look for the BPA-free tag.

A Matter of Taste

Liquids stored in glass taste better, since glass does not “leak” anything into the liquid stored within.  So, for the best “taste”, you should use a drinking water container made of glass. 

Of course, sometimes that’s impractical, but some companies make carriers that make it easier on a daily basis.  The glass they use is also shatter resistant, so as long as you aren’t competing in a contact sport, you should be okay.

Of course, you have a home purifier, because you know about the 2400 chemicals, the drugs, the lead and other toxins that are flowing out of the tap.  So, when you get ready to go out, you can bottle your own in glass drinking water containers and save money over buying bottled.  Some bottled waters are no better than tap-water anyway.

To improve the taste, if you want, you can add slices of fruit or a twist of lime.  It’s much healthier than buying flavored waters that are usually sweetened with some type of sugar.  It’s also better than sports drinks, for the same reason.

A Drinking Water Container for Travelling

First, check the contaminants that may be present.  If you are hiking, for example, you may need a more expensive portable purifier to remove giardia, a kind of parasite that causes gastrointestinal illnesses.

In most cities, the biggest threats are chlorine, chemicals and lead.  You can get an inexpensive plastic drinking water container designed specifically to address this type of contamination.  It has a built in device that removes the contaminants. 

You simply fill the bottle from the tap and the device prevents them from passing through the spout.  Of course, you should compare product performance data, as you would with any purification system.  Some only remove chlorine.

Hopefully, the information included here will help you find drinking water containers that fit your needs. For more information see my website. - Larry L. Taylor