Bottled Water Sales Soar

Bottled water, a multi-billion dollar industry, is growing rapidly. Today more people, approximately 68 percent of consumers, are drinking bottled water. Because of this, bottled water sales are increasing to the tune of nearly 10 percent per year. Americans consumed 8.25 billion gallons in 2006. On average, consumption increased by over 2 gallons per capita to 27.6 gallons.

Many consumers use bottled water thinking it is safer than tap water, which is not necessarily true. The truth is many bottled waters, approximately 25 percent, are nothing but tap water that has been processed and packaged.

Many bottled waters are high in quality, and yet, bottled water may not be the safer alternative. Fact is, bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA regulations are similar to the Environmental Protection Agency regulations on tap water. Currently, the EPA only requires testing for 114 contaminants of the 260 contaminants detected in tap water. The regulations on bottled water are lacking in many respects. For instance, bottled water which is processed and sold in the same state may not be regulated at all.

The Natural Resources Defense Council recently completed a study on 1000 bottled waters and found that 17 percent exceeded unenforceable sanitary guidelines for microbiological purity. They also concluded that most bottled water is no cleaner or safer than tap water. Some bottled waters were found to contain chemical or biological contaminants. 40 percent of the water tested was found to be of good quality.

The source of bottled water comes into question also. Do not be misled by the advertising. The question is - is it really from a sparkling mountain stream, a local tap water supplier, or from a well? Read the fine print on the label. If it states "from a municipal source" or "from a community water system" the source is derived from tap water. Just because the label has a picture of a mountain stream does not mean that was the source.

For example, the NRDC located a bottled water company which produces bottled water from a well located in the middle of an industrial warehouse facility and next to a state-designated industrial waste site in Millis, Massachusetts. The bottled water produced from this facility was found to be contaminated with industrial solvents including trichloroethylene at levels above EPA and FDA standards. At least one of the brands produced there displayed labels with a picture of a beautiful lake and mountain scene.

One thing for sure is, no matter what the source, if water is not properly treated for bacteria and filtered for contaminants it is not safe to drink.

Bottled water is expensive, averaging approximately $2.85 per gallon. The smaller the bottle, the more expensive it is by volume.

More money is spent on packaging, labeling, and marketing of bottled water than the production itself.

Point of use water filters are a more economical, cost effective, and convenient choice. High quality water filters can reduce many contaminants of health concern to a high degree, are more convenient, and produce better drinking water than most bottled water.

For more information concerning our drinking water

see the water today page at http://www.supremedrinkingwatersolutions.com

Other sites of interest are:

http://www.epa.gov

http://nrdc.org

http://cdc.gov

http://ewg.org