Bottled Water, the $4 billion dollar industry has taken over how society consumes liquid refreshments (NRDC, 1999). It wasn’t that long ago when drinking from a labeled bottle of water was become a trend. Marketing towards teens and young twenty-something’s has made this industry a part of popular culture. Starting with images of young trendy athletic men and women and promising pure and natural thirst quenching spring water. By viewing ads on television, magazines, billboards, and etc. it lead consumers into believing that bottled water was better than tap water.
So is bottled water really better tasting and healthier? According to the National Resource Defense Council bottled water is not exactly what is presented. “About as much as 40% of bottled water is derived from tap water” (NRDC, 1999). This doesn’t sound like the “natural spring water from the alps” that some bottled water promises. The purity of bottled water seems to be a myth. Others that do come from natural springs have been reported that the “FDA rules exempt 60-70 percent of bottled water sold in the United States from agency’s bottled water standards” (NRDC, 1999). Bottled water companies do not have to follow safety standards compared to the EPA, who tests tap water. City tap water has to be tested for E. coli and other forms of bacteria that the FDA does not require from bottled water processing plants.
The National Resource Defense Council tested over 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of water and found that one third of the bottled waters were contaminated with bacteria. This figure is concerning as a consumer. The bottled water industry is losing its reputation of the purity of its product. So next time when you go to purchase bottled water consider exactly where the water actually came from and the purity. Going back to basics with drinking from the tap really isn’t sounding so bad.
So is bottled water really better tasting and healthier? According to the National Resource Defense Council bottled water is not exactly what is presented. “About as much as 40% of bottled water is derived from tap water” (NRDC, 1999). This doesn’t sound like the “natural spring water from the alps” that some bottled water promises. The purity of bottled water seems to be a myth. Others that do come from natural springs have been reported that the “FDA rules exempt 60-70 percent of bottled water sold in the United States from agency’s bottled water standards” (NRDC, 1999). Bottled water companies do not have to follow safety standards compared to the EPA, who tests tap water. City tap water has to be tested for E. coli and other forms of bacteria that the FDA does not require from bottled water processing plants.
The National Resource Defense Council tested over 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of water and found that one third of the bottled waters were contaminated with bacteria. This figure is concerning as a consumer. The bottled water industry is losing its reputation of the purity of its product. So next time when you go to purchase bottled water consider exactly where the water actually came from and the purity. Going back to basics with drinking from the tap really isn’t sounding so bad.
NRDC (1999) Bottled Water, Pure drink, pure hype? National Resource Defense Council. Retrieved on June 16, 2009 from http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asp
No comments:
Post a Comment