Why Isn't Bottled Water Better Than Tap?

How is bottled water better than tap?  That's what I want to know.  Companies claim that their beverages are pure, clean, good tasting and good for your health.  Treatment facilities claim that drinking tap-water is safe. 

Some cities are encouraging their citizens to drink the tap-water, in an effort to reduce pollution and other environmental consequences caused by all of those plastic bottles.  Environmental groups are urging their members to buy fewer bottled beverages.

What's the bottling industry doing to our environment?

 * 80% of the bottles end up in landfills
 * Producing the bottles for American consumption in 2006 used 17 million barrels of oil and created 2.5 million tons of greenhouse gases
 * For every liter, three to five liters are wasted during the manufacturing  processes
 *Tapping aquifer (groundwater) in coastal areas causes seawater to   contaminate the freshwater supplies

So, is bottled water better than tap, when you consider the environment?  Obviously the answer is "no".

But, people are concerned about the contaminants that flow out of their faucets.  They don't like the way that chlorine tastes and they know that it can't be good for their health.
 
This is true.  The contaminants present in public sources include:

 *Chlorine which irritates the stomach lining and the skin
 *THMs or chlorination byproducts, exposure through drinking, batthing, showering and cooking increases a person's lifetime risk of bladder  cancer by two-fold
 *Lead, a toxic heavy metal that causes brain damage and accumulates in  the organs of the body   causing long-term health problems
 *Cysts, tiny parasites that cause illnesses that can be fatal

So, is bottled water better than tap, when it comes to your health and dangerous contaminants?  Any of the things mentioned above may also be present in those plastic bottles.  In addition, compounds used to create the bottles seep into the water, causing further contamination.

The purification methods used by bottling companies cannot remove chlorine or THMs.  Some companies use a method that will remove cysts.  Some don't.  The methods that they use can reduce lead, but not remove it entirely.  So, the answer to the question (is bottled water better than tap) depends on the source, unless you have a home purifier.

If you have a home purifier with the necessary steps, your filtered tap-water will be far superior to anything sold in a bottle.  In addition, exposure to hazardous chemicals like THMs occurs in the shower.  You can't shower in bottled-water, but you can install an effective showerhead filter. 

The necessary steps for both the kitchen and the bathroom include:

 *Granular carbon to remove chlorine
 *An adsorptive block to remove THMS
 *Ion exchange to trap lead and other metals, like copper
 *Submicron filtration to remove cysts
 *For more information see: CleanWaterPure.com

No bottling companies use all of these steps.  Treatment facilities cannot take all of these measures.  But, at home, it is easy, effective and affordable.  So, is bottled water better than tap water that has been run through a filtration method like this?  In a word, NO! -Larry L. Taylor