Bottle water may just be tap water....

[LUNATIC The Messiah]

A

bottle of water can cost anywhere from 69 cents in a
minimart to $5 in a posh restaurant. For the price of one

bottle of Evian, you could use 1000 gallons of water from

your tap at home. Nonetheless, bottled water is an $8

billion industry in the United States; Americans drank 5

billion gallons in 2001.

1 Why are we willing to pay so much
for that glass of water? Is bottled better?

We buy bottled water assuming that the bottle is a

guarantee of purity, but in reality, the jug at the water

cooler and the Dasani that you guzzle at the gym may not

be any safer than tap water. The standards for the purity for

bottled water are comparable to the minimum standards set

by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for municipal

water systems.

2 Because the standards that regulate bottled
water are no more rigid than those regulating tap water, it

is not surprising that some bottled water actually is tap

water. By definition, bottled water doesn't have to be

anything special; it can be any water as long as it has no

added ingredients except safe and suitable antimicrobial

agents. In fact about 25% of the bottled water sold in the

United States is from municipal water supplies.

To help consumers identify the source of their bottled

water and make labeling consistent from state to state, the

FDA established standard definitions for all bottled water

products.

3 Under these regulations, bottled water that
comes from tap water must be clearly labeled as such.

However, water that has been taken from a municipal water

supply and then treated—for example, filtered or

disinfected—need not indicate that it is tap water. "Distilled

water" and "purified water," are examples of water taken

from municipal water supplies and then treated. If you want

water that did not come from the tap, select artesian water,

spring water, well water, or mineral water. These come from

underground water sources. Be aware however of words

like "pure", "pristine", and "glacial". They are added to

emphasize the alleged purity of bottled water compared to

tap, but they have no set definitions or meanings.

When choosing your water, weigh the benefits against the

risks. Bottled water is more expensive, and whether you are

drinking tap water or buying bottled water off the shelf,

contamination is possible. A study by the National Resources

Defense Council tested 1000 bottles of 103 different brands of

bottled water and found that although the quality of most

samples was good, it was not necessarily purer or safer than

tap water.

2 The safest alternative is to buy distilled water. In
the distillation process, nonvolatile chemicals are removed,

and the heat destroys bacteria and other biological

contaminants. The resulting water is probably free of

contaminants, but it is tasteless and lacking in essential dietary

minerals that water usually supplies. Before making a choice,

take a look at the results of water-monitoring tests your water

company is required to perform and compare them with the

legal limits of contaminants set by the EPA. This should help

you decide. For more information, contact the FDA

(www.fda.gov), the International Bottled Water Association

(www.bottledwater.org), or the EPA (www.epa.gov).

References

1.

FDA Consumer Magazine. Bottled water: Better than tap? July–August 2002.
Available online at www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2002/402_h2o.html/Accessed