Five Reasons Not to Drink Bottled Water
Posted on 11. May, 2008 by Chris Baskind in Health
Bottled water is healthy water — or so marketers would have us believe. Just look at the labels or the bottled water ads: deep, pristine pools of spring water; majestic alpine peaks; healthy, active people gulping down icy bottled water between biking in the park and a trip to the yoga studio.
In reality, bottled water is just water. That fact isn’t stopping people from buying a lot of it. Estimates variously place worldwide bottled water sales at between $50 and $100 billion each year, with the market expanding at the startling annual rate of 7 percent.
Bottled water is big business. But in terms of sustainability, bottled water is a dry well. It’s costly, wasteful, and distracts from the brass ring of public health: the construction and maintenance of safe municipal water systems.
Want some solid reasons to kick the bottled water habit? We’ve rounded up five to get you started.
Bottled water isn’t a good value
Take, for instance, Pepsi’s Aquafina or Coca-Cola’s Dasani bottled water. Both are sold in 20 ounce sizes and can be purchased from vending machines alongside soft drinks — and at the same price. Assuming you can find a $1 machine, that works out to 5 cents an ounce. These two brands are essentially filtered tap water, bottled close to their distribution point. Most municipal water costs less than one cent per gallon.
Now consider another widely-sold liquid: gasoline. It has to be pumped out of the ground in the form of crude oil, shipped to a refinery (often halfway across the world), and shipped again to your local filling station.
In the U.S., the average price per gallon is hovering around $3. There are 128 ounces in a gallon, which puts the current price of gasoline at fraction over 2 cents an ounce.
And that’s why there’s no shortage of companies which want to get into the business. In terms of price versus production cost, bottled water puts Big Oil to shame.
No healthier than tap water
In theory, bottled water in the United States falls under the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration. In practice, about 70 percent of bottled water never crosses state lines for sale, making it exempt from FDA oversight.
On the other hand, water systems in the developed world are well-regulated. In the U.S., for instance, municipal water falls under the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency, and is regularly inspected for bacteria and toxic chemicals. Want to know how your community scores? Check out the Environmental Working Group’s National Tap Water Database.
While public safety groups correctly point out that many municipal water systems are aging and there remain hundreds of chemical contaminants for which no standards have been established, there’s very little empirical evidence which suggests bottled water is any cleaner or better for you than its tap equivalent.
Bottled water means garbage
Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. According to Food and Water Watch, that plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce. And while the plastic used to bottle beverages is of high quality and in demand by recyclers, over 80 percent of plastic bottles are simply thrown away.
That assumes empty bottles actually make it to a garbage can. Plastic waste is now at such a volume that vast eddies of current-bound plastic trash now spin endlessly in the world’s major oceans. This represents a great risk to marine life, killing birds and fish which mistake our garbage for food.
Thanks to its slow decay rate, the vast majority of all plastics ever produced still exist — somewhere.
Bottled water means less attention to public systems
Many people drink bottled water because they don’t like the taste of their local tap water, or because they question its safety.
This is like running around with a slow leak in your tire, topping it off every few days rather than taking it to be patched. Only the very affluent can afford to switch their water consumption to bottled sources. Once distanced from public systems, these consumers have little incentive to support bond issues and other methods of upgrading municipal water treatment.
There’s plenty of need. In California, for example, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated the requirement of $17.5 billion in improvements to the state’s drinking water infrastructure as recently as 2005. In the same year, the state lost 222 million gallons of drinkable water to leaky pipes.
The corporatization of water
In the documentary film Thirst, authors Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman demonstrated the rapid worldwide privatization of municipal water supplies, and the effect these purchases are having on local economies.
Water is being called the “Blue Gold” of the 21st century. Thanks to increasing urbanization and population, shifting climates, and industrial pollution, fresh water is becoming humanity’s most precious resource.
Multinational corporations are stepping in to purchase groundwater and distribution rights wherever they can, and the bottled water industry is an important component in their drive to commoditize what many feel is a basic human right: the access to safe and affordable water.
What can you do?
There’s a simple alternative to bottled water: buy a stainless steel thermos, and use it. Don’t like the way your local tap water tastes? Inexpensive carbon filters will turn most tap water sparkling fresh at a fraction of bottled water’s cost.
Consider taking Food and Water Watch’s No Bottled Water Pledge. Conserve water wherever possible, and stay on top of local water issues. Want to know more? Start with the Sierra Club’s fact sheet on bottled water.
Bottoms up!
47 Responses to “Five Reasons Not to Drink Bottled Water”
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Bottled water is the tip of the iceberg. We are facing water shortages all over the country. The world is facing water shortages. That will eventually raise the price of even tap water. We must address the issue of water from the conservation perspective as well. We, at NUPRANA have developed a comprehensive report on water in the world and the US in particular. You can see it at http://www.nuprana.com and thanks for adressing the water issue. We encourage your writers to address the conservation part of the issue. The forecast is grim, we must act now.
Bottled water is the tip of the iceberg. We are facing water shortages all over the country. The world is facing water shortages. That will eventually raise the price of even tap water. We must address the issue of water from the conservation perspective as well. We, at NUPRANA have developed a comprehensive report on water in the world and the US in particular. You can see it at http://www.nuprana.com and thanks for adressing the water issue. We encourage your writers to address the conservation part of the issue. The forecast is grim, we must act now.
Where do you think the water is going? I believe there are many problems facing our country and the world, but not a shortage of water. The water goes up forming clouds and comes back down again as rain, snow, etc. The water comes down in different places so, one place may have more or less water than it has had, but there is no new water or lost water.
I do agree that many of the conveniences people enjoy have caused major problems and concerns.
One could argue that there's a place for bottled water…perhaps in emergencies like natural disasters where the municipal water supply has been damaged… But otherwise, Just how gullible are we? Who would have ever believed 20 years ago that you could bottle tap water and mark the price up 1,000 percent and people would actually buy it??
One could argue that there's a place for bottled water…perhaps in emergencies like natural disasters where the municipal water supply has been damaged… But otherwise, Just how gullible are we? Who would have ever believed 20 years ago that you could bottle tap water and mark the price up 1,000 percent and people would actually buy it??
On a recent car ride. In a 7 mile trip, I counted 145 used water bottles strewn about the side of the road. 145!! and those where just the ones I seen and was able to count. who knows how many more there were.
On a recent car ride. In a 7 mile trip, I counted 145 used water bottles strewn about the side of the road. 145!! and those where just the ones I seen and was able to count. who knows how many more there were.
This Is Exactly what I have been trying to tell anyone I see with a water bottle!!! I love it …. I have also decided to do my school science fair project on it. If you have any ideas or anything please let me know. Thanks
This Is Exactly what I have been trying to tell anyone I see with a water bottle!!! I love it …. I have also decided to do my school science fair project on it. If you have any ideas or anything please let me know. Thanks
Did you mean 'sparkling fresh' as opposed to 'sparking fresh'? Great info, btw
Did you mean 'sparkling fresh' as opposed to 'sparking fresh'? Great info, btw
I'm glad the general population is starting to wake up to the downsides of bottled water…albeit too slowly in my mind. You've done a good job of stating the glaring downsides of bottled water Chris.
Bottled water is big business these days. It’s also a big source of pollution. Every year, bottled water generates 1.5 million tons of plastic garbage. While most plastic bottles are recyclable, less that 25 percent go anywhere other than a landfill — or the environment.
I'm Writing an esay on why not to use bottled water ou site was helpful
Ummmm. What about the major human rights concerns? Bottled plants takes water away from many communities around the world - polluting their water sources and taking their water. Massive amounts of trash also pile up in countries all over the world. Plastic is a petro-chemical product - drinking from water bottles means you are contributing to the serious human rights violations internationally by investing in the oil industries. Finally recycling plants are not exactly these clean grean amazing things. These plants produce significant toxins in the communities they are located in (communities of color and poorer communities on average) and have major health problem affects associated. To ignore the human when thinking about the environment not only makes your argument less powerful, but it also follows this pattern taken by the green movement to ignore human rights issues when talking about “greening”.
Straw man argument. Recycling plastics (and most other things) still results in less pollution than the production of new materials. Recycling no more singles out “communities of color and poorer communities” than conventional manufacturing.
The exportation of e-waste to countries with lax environmental standards is another issue altogether. I know of nobody in the Green movement who approves of this practice.
Straw man argument. Recycling plastics (and most other things) still results in less pollution than the production of new materials. Recycling no more singles out “communities of color and poorer communities” than conventional manufacturing.
The exportation of e-waste to countries with lax environmental standards is another issue altogether. I know of nobody in the Green movement who approves of this practice.
I try to avoid drinking bottled water. Aside from the environmental impact of bottled water there is also an argument to be made about its price. A litre of bottled water can cost anywhere between a dollar to three dollars where I live in Canada. That’s more expensive than gasoline. Personally I rather drink tap water.
What about the concern that some plastic bottles leach petro chemicals into the water inside them? Especially bottled water that is stored for a long time and/or in high heat storage conditions?
It is to bad that we even have to discuss this, the mere fact that we can't force the change to take place is the reason our whole world is in the muck… demand change! We need to revamp the whole political spectrum.
WELL I WOULD DRINK THE TAP WATER IF IT WASNT POISONED WITH FLUORIDE!! WHICH IS A POISON i VALUE MY HEALTH AND I DONT WANT TO DIE EARLY BECAUSE OF FLOURIDATED WATER I AM DISGUSTED I LIVE IN A COUNTRY THAT POISONS THE TAP WATER!!!!! YOU DONT CARE ABOUT MY HUMAN RIGHTS AT ALL !!!!
Actually, I share your concern about fluoride in tap water. But it's not particularly germane to this discussion for a couple of reasons.
First, most bottled water contains fluoride. I've heard that Fiji and some brands drawn from glacial sources are an exception, but since most bottled water is sourced from municipal systems, you won't escape fluoride in this way. The reverse osmosis process used in commercial filtration isn't very effective in reducing fluoride levels.
Household so concerned about fluoride that they have opted to use bottled sources are not generally living out of flats of individually sized portions. They're using 5-gallon returnable containers, which are not a significant pollution concern.
You might want to investigate spring well water sources. Of course, these have their own unique health concerns.
this site was very helpfull on my report thanks
So, Chris, are you okay with bottled water despite the consequences it presents to the health of the environment and people?
I'm not entirely sure what you mean. I'm fine with bottled water where it's necessary: natural disasters, remote locations, relief work, and so on. The point of the article is that most bottled water use is unnecessary and wasteful.
Full disclosure: I work here, BUT Guyot Designs makes a new gadget call the TapGuard, its basically a 'brita' filter for Nalgene or Camelbak bottles that filters while you drink. So if the chlorine or VOCs in tap water concern you its a great alternative to single use bottled water.
http://www.guyotdesigns.com/tapguard
Let me know what you think.
Any reasons to soley blame water because happens to also be available from the tap?
"But in terms of sustainability, bottled water is a dry well. It’s costly, wasteful, and distracts from the brass ring of public health: the construction and maintenance of safe municipal water systems."
Same with all bottled drinks.
"While public safety groups correctly point out that many municipal water systems are aging and there remain hundreds of chemical contaminants for which no standards have been established, there’s very little empirical evidence which suggests bottled water is any cleaner or better for you than its tap equivalent."
Coke is much less healthy than bottled water.
"There’s a simple alternative to bottled water: buy a stainless steel thermos, and use it. Don’t like the way your local tap water tastes? Inexpensive carbon filters will turn most tap water sparkling fresh at a fraction of bottled water’s cost." And there is a simple aliternative to drinking Coke, Fanta, Pepsi, etc, those who drink those other beverages can also choose to drink water. Many other bottled drinks, including all three I listed above could hardly be said to be healthier. Only water is strictly essential to human health. Consider reading Low Tech Magazine's Why bottled water is good for the enviroment.
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/03/why-bottle...
There's no argument that bottled water is a better idea than bottled soft drinks (which certainly account for more plastic bottles). But bottled water gets singled out for attention because it's marketed as something it is not, and because it is such a cynical consumer rip-off. Charging for tap water, indeed.
I think the best solution is to change the container. Containers should be made from natural materials, such as plastics made from soyabean or canola oil. This could add to the marketing campaign of a bottled water company to boost sales -there is money in it. You could also tax plastic bottles at a higher rate than natural bottles to improve the cost competitiveness. Then look to source locally. A transportation fuel tax surcharge could be imposed for products shipped greater than a certain distance. The greater the distance the greater the tax. Now to even the playing field lets say its shipped from Fiji. Well if its shipped by sail boat to Vancouver in a natural container, then there should be no tax.
I linked to this excellent post here:
http://momtrends.blogspot.com/2009/04/down-with-p...
I am offering stainless steel water bottle giveaway thru 4/30 to encourage my readers to skip the plastic.
Amen! We recently had a "No More Bottled Water" pledge at our booth at Green Fest in Orlando, FL. We were surprised that even the events organizers were giving away free bottled water! This has become an unhealthy and inefficient part of our society. Our alternative to bottled water is glass water bottles found at http://www.livinglavidaverde.net/store.aspx. Check it out and be part of the solution!
I wonder how many of them are fizzy drinks bottles….perhaps we should go all the way and avoid ANY type of bottled drink? Make your own lemonade…;-)
Does anyone know the story of Nestles involvement in bottled water & where they’re getting it? (from Third World Countries while the residents have to drink polluted water ‘cos Nestles have the sole rights to the pure spring water?)
You guys are awesome! It’s so wonderful to see an educational (yet not radical) info on bottled water. I suggest all of you who are on board with this mission to check out Corporate Accountability International. They’re running a great campaign called THINK OUTSIDE THE BOTTLE. http://www.thinkoutsidethebottle.org