Should I Use Bottled Water Or Filtered Water?

Bottled water is a multi-million dollar industry! Actually it is the fastest growing portion of the whole beverage business... and has very easy profits.

Billions of dollars are spent each year by water bottlers to encourage consumers like you and me to buy the bottled water. Some companies make false claims, my favorite being  "Sir the water comes from a pristine mountain spring in the Alps". Please! Give me a break...

Bottled water companies Are Day light Robbers...?

In my honest opinion I believe that the water bottling companies are actually making innocent consumers pay for tap water. The Federal regulations that govern the quality of bottled water can only be enforced when it comes to transporting the bottled water across state lines. Water bottlers know this and thus sell the bottled drinking water within the same state. Federal Regulations only need the bottled water to be as good as the tap water, and if its the same then its fine by them.

There are no assurances or requirements that bottled water be any safer or better than tap water...

The U.S. FDA states that companies that promote bottled water as being safer than tap water are defrauding the American public.

In 1999, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) published a report called Bottled Water, Pure Drink or Pure Hype? The report states that as much as 40% of all bottled water comes from a city water system, like normal tap water. The report also clearly state that on the fact that 65% to 75% of all bottled water sold in the U.S. is exempt from FDA's bottled water standards, because the Federal Standards do not apply to water bottled and sold within the same state.

There are no federal regulations governing the quality of the water if the water is not transported across state lines. Most bottled water companies have abused this loop hole to avoid the need to comply with basic health standards, such as those that apply to municipally treated tap water. Furthermore all sparkling waters and carbonated waters are fully exempt from FDA guidelines that set specific contamination limits.

Bottle water distributors - who are they?

Tap water does not have any E.coli or fecal coliform bacteria. FDA bottled water rules include no such prohibition (a certain amount of any type of coliform bacteria is allowed in bottled water). Tap water, from surface water, must be filtered and disinfected. In contrast, there are no federal filtration or disinfection requirements for bottled water.

Most cities using surface water have had to test for Cryptosporidium or Giardia, two common water pathogens, that can cause diarrhea and other intestinal problems, yet bottled water companies do not have to do this. City tap water must meet standards for certain important toxic or cancer-causing chemicals, such as phthalate (a chemical that can leach from plastic, including plastic bottles); some in the industry persuaded FDA to exempt bottled water from the regulations regarding these chemicals.

City water systems must issue annual "right to know reports", telling consumers what is in their water. Bottlers successfully killed "the right to know" requirement for bottled water.

The Natural Resources Defense Council report concluded that; Therefore, while much tap water is indeed risky, having compared available data, we conclude that there is no assurance that bottled water is any safer than tap water.

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