Is Bottled Water The Right Choice?
— The U.S. FDA
Bottled water has become a multi-billion dollar
business... now the fastest growing segment of the entire beverage industry...
and the most profitable of all beverages.
Millions and millions of dollars are spent each week on advertising campaigns
to give consumers the perception that bottled water comes from some pristine
mountain spring or magical underground aquifer. The truth is that bottled water
is often little more than tap water in a bottle.
The Federal regulations that govern bottled water only apply if it is transported
across state lines, and then only require it to be "as good as" tap
water. Most bottled water is bottled and sold within the same state to avoid
regulations. There are no assurances or requirements that bottled water is of
any higher quality than tap water.
In March of 1999, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released
a report called "Bottled Water, Pure Drink or Pure Hype?" NRDC‘s
report points out that as much as 40% of all bottled water comes from a city
water system, just like tap water. The report also focuses on the fact
that 60 to 70% of all bottled water is exempt from FDA‘s bottled water
standards, because it is bottled and sold within the same state. Unless
the water is transported across state lines, there are no federal regulations
that govern its quality. According to the NRDC, "bottled water companies
have used this loophole to avoid complying with basic health standards, such
as those that apply to municipally treated tap water." Also, all carbonated
or sparkling waters are completely exempt from FDA guidelines that set specific
contamination limits.
According to the NRDC study, "even when bottled waters are covered
by FDA‘s specific bottled water standards, those rules are weaker
in many ways than EPA rules that apply to big city tap water." For instance, if
we compare EPA regulations for tap water to FDA‘s bottled water rules:
(these examples are quotes from the NRDC report)
• City tap water can have no confirmed 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). • City 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 a "right
to know" requirement for bottled water.
The reality of bottled water is that people pay from $1 to $4 a gallon for
the perception of higher quality, when in fact, the quality of
bottled water is at best "unknown"!
Point-of-Use water treatment, with a quality in home water filtration system, is
by far the most economical, the most convenient and the most effective
way of producing healthy, great tasting water. Filtering out the chlorine, lead
and other contaminants with a quality home water filtration system, at
the point of use, just prior to consumption, is the only way to know
for sure about the quality of your water.
Aquasana provides water that is higher in quality than any bottled water, for
only 9 cents/gal... GUARANTEED!
Read our product comparison
page and see why Aquasana filters stand ahead of the pack in terms of quality,
health benefits and price.
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