The Facts About Bottled Water
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deckerp
Posts: 4,365 Member
http://www.onlineeducation.net/bottled_water
Many people in many developing countries seek out clean drinking water with much difficulty. But developed nations such as the US spend billions of dollars buying bottled water even though their respective countries provide clean drinking water from the tap. What is more is that the plastic bottles that this water comes in create billions of pounds of oil based trash destined to live out a thousand year lifespan in a trash dump.
Bottled water is in many ways an American obsession, with Americans drinking annually 8.6 billion gallons. Not only do they drink vast amounts but Americans are willing to pay 10,000 times the cost of tap water for the privilege of drinking an arguably inferior product. We get the 10,000 times number from the fact that on average bottled water cost $10 per gallon compared to tap water which costs $.0015 per gallon or about a tenth of a penny.
Globally some 53 billion gallons of bottled water are consumed creating a $63 billion dollar industry. One the most peculiar facts is that 40% of this bottled water is actually taken from municipal water sources also known as “tap water”. Another strange element of this puzzle is that far less testing is done on bottled water than on tap water. It turns out that unlike tap water, bottled water isn’t tested for e. coli. More still is the fact that it can be distributed even if it doesn’t meet the quality standards of tap water. Unlike tap water, bottled water isn’t required to produce quality reports or even provide it’s source.
Comically, the bottled water production process is fairly resource intensive. It actually takes 17 million barrels of oil to produce bottled water which is enough oil to fuel 1 million cars for a whole year. Oil isn’t the only necessary resource. Luckily tap water is very cheap because it takes about 3 times the amount of tap water to produce and fill 1 bottle of bottled water.
Sadly, it isn’t just expensive and potentially lower quality to drink bottled water but there is an environmental impact that should be considered. Even though most major cities in America have made recycling available, only 1 in 5 water bottles ever gets recycled. Instead, 4 go to the trash dump to create about 3 billion pounds of waste just from all of the discarded plastic.
Many people in many developing countries seek out clean drinking water with much difficulty. But developed nations such as the US spend billions of dollars buying bottled water even though their respective countries provide clean drinking water from the tap. What is more is that the plastic bottles that this water comes in create billions of pounds of oil based trash destined to live out a thousand year lifespan in a trash dump.
Bottled water is in many ways an American obsession, with Americans drinking annually 8.6 billion gallons. Not only do they drink vast amounts but Americans are willing to pay 10,000 times the cost of tap water for the privilege of drinking an arguably inferior product. We get the 10,000 times number from the fact that on average bottled water cost $10 per gallon compared to tap water which costs $.0015 per gallon or about a tenth of a penny.
Globally some 53 billion gallons of bottled water are consumed creating a $63 billion dollar industry. One the most peculiar facts is that 40% of this bottled water is actually taken from municipal water sources also known as “tap water”. Another strange element of this puzzle is that far less testing is done on bottled water than on tap water. It turns out that unlike tap water, bottled water isn’t tested for e. coli. More still is the fact that it can be distributed even if it doesn’t meet the quality standards of tap water. Unlike tap water, bottled water isn’t required to produce quality reports or even provide it’s source.
Comically, the bottled water production process is fairly resource intensive. It actually takes 17 million barrels of oil to produce bottled water which is enough oil to fuel 1 million cars for a whole year. Oil isn’t the only necessary resource. Luckily tap water is very cheap because it takes about 3 times the amount of tap water to produce and fill 1 bottle of bottled water.
Sadly, it isn’t just expensive and potentially lower quality to drink bottled water but there is an environmental impact that should be considered. Even though most major cities in America have made recycling available, only 1 in 5 water bottles ever gets recycled. Instead, 4 go to the trash dump to create about 3 billion pounds of waste just from all of the discarded plastic.
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Replies
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So?0
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Britas are the way to go!0
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I agree for the most part. But I live in a condo built in the 70s and something is not quite right with the pipes. The water tastes horrible even when run through a filter. If I'm going to drink water and stay healthy it's either in the form of Crystal Light or bottled water. I'm kind of a water snob but it keeps me hydrated and on track!!0
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thanks for posting this! very informative! people give me funny looks because i'll fill my reusable bottle from just about any tap... now i can tell them some of these fun facts, when that happens!0
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Glad i don't drink any water
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interesting post. im one of the idiots who buys like 5 bottled waters a day0
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Good you started this thread I am to tally confused which water is good for you. I now boil tap water in a stainless steel electric kettle and drink it. There is reverse osmosis water which has no electrolytes and then there is artisan water like fiji , spring water, mineral water . I used to drink them I do not know the benefits. Now I hear excess fluoride in tap water is bad could cause cancer in long term can someone please shed some light on which water is good.Agreed plastic bottle water is not right with all the dioxin problems even if bpa free I do not know.0
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Good you started this thread I am to tally confused which water is good for you. I now boil tap water in a stainless steel electric kettle and drink it. There is reverse osmosis water which has no electrolytes and then there is artisan water like fiji , spring water, mineral water . I used to drink them I do not know the benefits. Now I hear excess fluoride in tap water is bad could cause cancer in long term can someone please shed some light on which water is good.Agreed plastic bottle water is not right with all the dioxin problems even if bpa free I do not know.
Everything causes cancer apparently, so dont worry about it. I think you're overcomplicated it tbh.0 -
I actually had someone test me once - I can taste a difference between my bottled water and tap water even when both are put into identical glasses. As I'm trying really hard to drink more water to be healthy I'm going to do what I can to make it easier. I'm also picky about the type of bottled water. I for one think Aquafina is gross.
I do have environmental guilt but I do everything I can in other areas.0 -
Britas are the way to go!
We have the big fridge one with the spout, love it! At work, we use 'Culligan Man'. I used to drink bottled water but now I only by it under special circumstances. I find I really don't enjoy the taste of tap water. It's never cold enough and the smell bothers me (I have a keen sense of smell, it's really rather annoying).0 -
There are two and ONLY two reasons that bottled water is popular in the US.
1. Models(and any very thin person), faint if they don't stay hydrated so these very stylish people walk around with water bottles.
2. "Trendy People" often live in crappy buildings in Manhattan with 100 year old water pipes that discolor the water. NYC water is amazing, but it gets screwed up in the old pipes inside old buildings.0 -
Bah. I just fill my bottles up from the tap. Any tap really. My husband says our tap water tastes weird, so we have a Brita pitcher that he filters the tap water through. I'm too poor to buy bottles of it. (Exception: we bought gallon jugs for our disaster preparations. Even still, we only bought 1, and ran several gallons of tap through the Brita to store in extra pitchers...)
I never thought bottled water was anything special anyway.0 -
What I find totally hilarious is how Coke and Pepsi open the municipal tap and sell you the stuff in a dirty bottle for $2.50. Why do people buy this when the same water, fresher, can be had at the water fountain a few steps away for free?
If people don't support their municipal water supply, and preserve it, what is to prevent water from becoming something you HAVE to buy?
You need water to live. Life before profit!0 -
What I find totally hilarious is how Coke and Pepsi open the municipal tap and sell you the stuff in a dirty bottle for $2.50. Why do people buy this when the same water, fresher, can be had at the water fountain a few steps away for free?
If people don't support their municipal water supply, and preserve it, what is to prevent water from becoming something you HAVE to buy?
You need water to live. Life before profit!
Agreed!
I do live my Pur water pitcher I keep in the fridge though...and I bought a hard plastic reusable cup with a straw and lid to use over and over...less waste for the environment0 -
I actually had someone test me once - I can taste a difference between my bottled water and tap water even when both are put into identical glasses. As I'm trying really hard to drink more water to be healthy I'm going to do what I can to make it easier. I'm also picky about the type of bottled water. I for one think Aquafina is gross.
I do have environmental guilt but I do everything I can in other areas.
I think Aquafina is gross too!
Tap vs. bottled is relative, and it also depends on where you live. For many people (including myself), the taste of bottled water is superior to tap...for me it even matters which brand I buy! However, I actually use a Brita filter at home and my tap tastes just fine. At my old apt building (which was built in 1929) tap water was gross and I just couldn't do it...sometimes the water even smelled funny.0 -
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