Courtney Helgoe discusses in her article titled, “Truth on Tap”, about how the tap may be a better choice for water consumption. For endless years, water has been cycled through evaporation, condensation, and through rain and that is the only water that we ever have. Only three percent of the world’s water is fresh. 60 percent of the human body is made up of water, and we are only able to go three days without drinking water.
There have been ideas spiraling that bottled water may be healthier, likely due to water crises similar to what was seen in Flint, Michigan. According to Helgoe, bottled water is not necessarily safer. Bottled water has had a long history. Well water was deemed best in the Middle Ages because of its healing properties. The wells likely had high mineral quantity, which could have been medicinal during that period of time. A specific well called St. Maelrubha’s may have contained lithium, which is used today to treat bipolar disorder. In Europe during the 19th-century, spa waters that contained minerals were utilized for healing. Spa owners would bottle up the water for consumers to take home with them. Perrier mineral water was introduced in the United States in the 1970’s. This type of water was seen as a special luxury. By 1999 though, bottled water was becoming increasingly popular. During 1999, it was found that Americans drank 17 gallons of bottled water each year and now that total is up to 40 gallons. The concerning part is that most of this water comes from single serve bottles.
James Salzman, states that 55 percent of the bottled water comes from underground aquifers, and this can be claimed as “spring water”. Three brands in particular, Aquafina, Dasani, and Pure Life are “highly filtered tap water”. He goes on to explain that the $1.50 you may pay to purchase a bottle of water could help you to buy up to 1,000 gallons of tap water. To create a bottle of water, it relies heavily on resources, energy, and creates waste. When examining waste of bottles, 22 billion are thrown away each year by Americans. In regards to energy use, it can take three liters of water to create one liter of bottled water and shipping can also be a part of resource use.
Contaminants can also enter bottled water, and regulations are less strict on bottled water as compared to tap. Bottled water is regulated by the FDA and is tested weekly, although they are not required to reveal if any contaminants are found. Most municipalities test their water daily, and most do even more often than that. Each water system is required to put out a yearly report to discuss any contaminants or any violations they had. This can provide the consumer with critical information about the water they are consuming, that may not be possible when drinking bottled water. The use of bottled water can reduce the amount of investments put into municipal water.
To break a bottled water habit, there are some tips you can use. A glass or stainless steel bottle can be used and investing in a water-filtration system can be beneficial. It is important to be aware of water issues in the area you live in and making local lawmakers about them.
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Source: https://experiencelife.com/article/truth-on-tap/