In Good 'Ol Provo, Utah, we honestly have the best of both worlds when it comes to the water that we drink. Utah water tastes fresh and water bottles, like everywhere else, are so readily available and obviously the taste of water in water bottles is just as good as Utah water. However in places like Arizona, where I am originally from, the water is like drinking water that came from the sewer. Yuck! As a result many studies have been conducted on tap water content and if it really is safe for us to drink... On the other hand though, questions have been asked as well as to whether drinking water out of plastic water bottles is more safe then drinking out of your own house fosset or the drinking fountain water at school. As a result, much confusion as to what we, and especially children, should drink has become a problem and as a result, many have turned to sugary drinks that seem to be more available than bottled water. This as you already know equals...dun dun dun Obesity. Not good.
Now with that being said, without really getting into that side of the subject, let us look at the pro's and con's of bottled water vs. tap water according to Eliza Barclay's recent article in the National Geographic entitled: What's best for your kids: Bottled Water or Fountains?
Bottled Water
Purchasing bottled has become a huge drain on the economy and our environment. According to Elizabeth Royte's 2008 book titled Bottlemania: How water went on sale and why we bought it, the U.S. public go through about 50 billion water bottles a year. Yes that is one year, not ten years. With that being said, it also means that by transporting and keeping the bottles cool we are constantly burning fossil fuels, which in turn puts out greenhouse gases. Also, if I were not already the barer of bad news, in 2008 the nonprofit Environmental Working Group set up an investigation which found that some bottled water is filled with untested industrial chemicals, and is not necessarily cleaner than tap water. Bottled water in all reality is just glorified tap water.
On a positive note though bottled water has many advantages such as:
- Bottled water is convenient, and portable
- Let's be honest, bottled water tastes better than tap water (Utah being the one exception)
- Bottled water is a necessity for food storage as well as dry storage and is important in case of an emergency.
Tap Water
Although bottled water has several disadvantages, so does tap water. Many
are switching over to to tap water, but that might not be such a good idea in some schools. For example, many schools across the U.S. have found that their water in drinking fountains is contaminated with lead poisoning. The Associated Press in September 2009, published a nationwide investigation showing that the drinking water in schools in 27 states was contaminated with lead and other toxic substances from lead-soldered pipes that were all generally installed before 1985. This contamination problem throughout most school districts started when they did not having the money to test their water because of the costs associated with lead remediation. With that being said, for most schools it ends up being more cost efficient to just stick with bottled water instead of drinking tap water out of the fountain. As for the positives... - In most cases, for non school environments, it might be more cost beneficial to use the tap water out of your own fosset. For myself, I use tap water from my apartment all the time and filter it with my Brita to get great tasting and clean water (Brita's by the way are a great thing to invest in too!).
- Tap water can sometimes be less contaminated than bottled water.
- Tap water is also convenient and a drinking fountain is almost always located somewhere near by to use if you forgot your water bottle at home
So with everything mentioned above, I guess it is hard to decided whether bottled water or tap water is better and most importantly, which one is safer. As for my opinion, I probably would want to go with bottled water because for my husband and I to buy a case at the store of 24 bottles costs around $5 tops, and our tap water is included in our rent which means it is free! So my solution to this difficult decision, will not consist of trying to persuade one to choose one or the other. Instead, my solution to staying healthy and drinking safe water is to take a few precautions. The precautions I suggest would be to check your tap water consistently to see if it is safe to drink and use, when choosing a water bottle know what to look for, and use safer methods to reuse a water bottle.
- First, and for most, check your tap water. In July 2000, Kim Walters and Geoff Cram conducted a study showing that out of the 39 schools they tested, nearly half of their main location for water fountains were in school toilets. This was most likely due to the fact that drinking fountains need a main supply of water, and toilets are a convenient place for installation. Through their visual hygiene assessment, many of the toilets were found dirty, badly maintained and overlooked. When the fountains were tested, they were severely contaminated, and those levels of contamination were much higher than normally desired levels for public drinking fountains. Obviously we don't always have tools to test the contamination of the drinking fountain itself, but we can be cautious about the water we drink from it. We can do this by getting a water-quality or consumer-confidence report from the water company once a year if the water is coming from a public source. Always read the report carefully, making your water has received a passing grade overall and that contaminants haven't exceeded the maximum allowable levels.
- Second, shop smart. If you have chosen to go with water
bottles, it is important to look at the water labels. I know, it is kind of weird to do that since usually what we are looking at the nutrition label for is to check the calories and fat content, but it is very important to do so anyway. The things to look for would be if the water bottle has a NSF(National Science Foundation) certification or belongs to IBWA(International Bottled Water Association). In one case, H2O sold as "pure glacier water" was coming from a public water system in Alaska. Labels can sometimes be misleading so like I said, it is important to check your water labels.
- And last but not least, reusing your water bottles the right way. Many debate on the issue of whether reusing your water bottle is safe. To be quite honest, I love the fact that I can reuse my bottle whenever I want and save money by filling it up over and over again without paying a single cent. Most critiques say to not reuse water bottles, but if you must, like myself, there are a few precautions you can take so that reusing your water bottle is much safer than normal. One being to never let your water bottle sit out unopened for long periods of time. In a study conducted 5 years ago, Sean D Raj concluded that once a bottle was opened and used, the water after 8 hours, had a significant increase in the number of bacterial colonies as opposed to 2 hours sitting out with no significant increase in bacteria. Keeping a bottle opened for longer than a couple hours is a perfect way for little contaminate particles to drop into your opened water bottle and into your once clean H2O. The second precaution would be to never leave your water bottle in extreme heat locations, such as your car for example. Not only is drinking hot water gross, but it also can build up tons of toxic chemicals and bacteria over time because of the heat. So lets say it together, a hot water bottle is?....NOT GOOD!
So with all of this valuable information, I think it is safe to put in a few questions to test your new found knowledge. So Ready Set Go!
- How many water bottles do we go through annually in the U.S.?
- In Sept. 2009 when the associated press conducted a study on several schools in 27 different states, what were their findings?
- What was the thing I suggested to do to test your tap water for cleanliness and toxicity level?
- What two companies should be labeled on your water bottle stating that your water bottle is okay to drink?
- What did Sean D. Raj conclude within his studies about open water bottles?
- What is the maximum density of water? (Just joking, just trying to keep you on your toes!)
Okay, so these questions are quite easy to answer, but in all reality, I hope that all of these questions are something that you can learn from and change your views on the water you drink.
In conclusion, even though there is so much more information out there regarding water and safety, doing a little research on your own tap water in your area and maybe even looking at your water bottle you have at home or sitting in front of you in the grocery isle can start you out on your path to healthier drinking. Both water bottles and tap water are very convenient and available in the U.S. and we can take advantage of both. We just need to take precautions and whether or not your choose to stick with just water, or just tap water, taking the few precautionary steps mentioned above can hopefully help you live longer and become more aware of the available drinking water that surrounds all of us.
All photos where found on Google.com
Barclay, Eliza. (2010). What's best for your kids: Bottled Water or Fountains? Retrieved September 13th, 2010 from National Geographic website: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/02/100303-bottled-water-tap-schools/
Walters, Kim, and Geoff Cram. (2000). Drinking water in schools:hygiene standards at fountains. Retrieved September 13th, 2010 from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0034-6659&volume=32&issue=1&articleid=866156&show=html
Ra, Sean D. (2005). Bottled Water: How Safe Is It?. Retrieved September 13th, 2010
