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Bottled Water V Tap Water Can You Tell The Difference?

8th August, 2009 - Posted by health news - No Comments

It’s probably accepted by most people nowadays that we must drink plenty of water to stay healthy, avoid dehydration and to operate efficiently. The amount of water you require will vary according to your body mass and size, the ambient conditions you find yourself in and the level of physical activity in which you are engaged. However, most medical authorities currently suggest that you should typically be drinking between six and eight large glasses of water every day.

This perfectly well founded medical advice has been one element used in the advertising campaigns of bottled water suppliers to very effectively market their product. The market for bottled water is relatively new – but it is huge. Demand for bottled water has more than doubled in the years between 1997 and 2005, and over 200 billion bottles of water are sold globally annually.

That’s a lot of empty bottles being discarded. Some – a little less than 25% according to current statistics – are recycled. The rest end up as landfill. The environmental impact is enormous. It’s estimated that if all those empty bottles were lined up end to end, the distance covered would be enough to reach the moon and back – 56 times!

The amount of carbon emissions generated, both in the manufacture of the bottles and the transportation of the end product, is also worthy of consideration. It’s an astonishing fact that the production of the bottles uses 3 times as much water as the bottles contain when they are shipped.

Bottled water is, quite frankly, an environmental disaster. Of course, it’s just possible that you may be more concerned with your own health than that of the planet – which might be understandable in certain cases. The trouble with this line of reasoning is that there is no evidence that bottled water is any better for your health than plain old tap water.

Tap water in North America and Europe is perfectly safe to drink and is subject to rigorous checks. Bottled water has been found to contain uranium and estrogen chemicals. Some of the chemicals detected in bottled water “leech” from the plastic (PET) bottles. It’s also been established that many bottled waters contain, along with other minerals, salt – which is not very good for your blood pressure.

The only reason you might possibly be tempted to use bottled water would be the taste. However, in blind taste tests most people are unable to differentiate between tap water and bottled water. Of course, if you live in a hard water area, or if you really don’t like the taste of your tap water (perhaps chlorine added by the water authority to reduce bacteria) you may wish to review your alternatives.

You could consider using a home filtration system – which will be better for the environment, better for your health and much cheaper than bottled water. You can install whole house filtration systems, under sink filters or even just use something as simple as a Brita filter jug. All of these solutions will treat any contaminants, enhance taste and reduce water hardness in an environmentally friendly manner.