Prior to reading and watching vairous videos about this subject, I thought that bottled water was better to consume, since it is bottled and sold there must be some special filtrations it goes through that are more rigorous than regular tap water.  However, to my surprise, that is not the case.  In fact, bottled water is not as tightly regulated as regular tap water.  Moreover, public water comes from systems that usually add disinfectants to kill microorganisms that may be in the water, as well as exposing the water to other treatment to purify it.  In addition, the public water must be tested regularly for contaminants and must be ensured by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the water meets the minimum standards for health, such as setting water-testing schedules and methods that water systems must follow (http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/currentregulations.cfm).  The public water goes under more rigorous testing than bottled water.  Bottled water is tested weekly for disease causing bacteria and yearly for chemical contaminants.  Public water is tested hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly depending on the size of the water source (http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/faq.html).  Furthermore, public water is tested more often, which means that a contaminant would be caught and advised about early on, but may go undetected in bottled water for a week or a year.  The FDA regulates bottled water, while the EPA, which has better standards to protect the public from their drinking water to ensure it is safe to consume, regulates public drinking water.

 

            Something else that surprised me to read is that all of our water, whether bottled or not comes, from the same sources!  Whether it is ground water or surface water, all the water we drink is basically from the same place.  So why do people spend so much on bottled water?  Perhaps it is because it is conveniently already packaged in a bottle for people to take it with them.  However, people also need to realize that transporting the water bottles occurs on trucks, which may have high temperatures in the storage place where the bottles are kept.  The bottles are made of plastic, specifically from polycarbonate and high-density polyethylene (PET and HDPE).  Under hot temperature, the plastic has an increased chance of releasing substances from the plastic into the water (http://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/magazine-archive1/aprilmay-2009/the-safety-of-beverages-in-plastic-bottles/).  Furthermore, not only is the bottled water not as tightly regulated as public water and costs more, but there is also an increased risk of ingesting plastic contaminants!   Therefore, after learning this information I am going to stick to tap water as much as possible and use a filter such as Brita, and if I need to bring water with me, I will use a reusable bottle free of polycarbonate and other plastics.  

 

          It is hard to believe that people pay for something they can get for free–water, and people buy large quantities of bottled water; in fact, people buy about half a billion of bottled water every week, which costs about 2,000 times the amount of tap water.  Why do people buy something they can get for free?  The bottled water manufacturers create a “manufacture demand” containing specific tactics that are used to manipulate the public.  The first tactic used is to scare the public.  If people are scared that tap water could contain contaminants, or that clean water may not be available if there is, say a water pipe breakage, leak or storm, than people’s anxiety will increase and they will purchase bottled water.  This is often seen when there is a storm approaching; people flood the food stored to buy bottled water in case something happens where they will not have access to tap water, which is exactly what the companies want them to do.  And regarding contaminated water, many people don’t realize that tap water is actually more tightly regulated and more frequently tested than bottled water.  Therefore, is there was a contaminant in water it would be detected quicker in tap water than in bottled water. 

 

          Another tactic manufacturers use is to seduce the public into thinking the water they bottle is more fresh, and natural than our regular tap water.  This couldn’t be farther from the truth.  Bottled water, such as Dasani and Aquafina, are actually tap water that has been filtered.  So even though Aquafina has mountains in its logo insinuating that the water comes from a natural spring near the mountains, it just comes from regular tap water.  And the last tactic that bottled manufacturers use to get people to purchase bottled water is to mislead us with such logos of nature.  Not only do logos mislead people, but also names.  For example, “Spring Pure” doesn’t come from a spring.  As you can see, such manufacturers are very sneaky into manipulating the public and tricking people into buying more bottled water.

 

            Something else that manufacturers put on their label is a recycling symbol, making people think that the bottle was perhaps made from other plastic recycled and therefore sustainable.  However, many plastic bottles actually get shipped to other countries.  When we put our plastic bottles into recycling bins, they get shipping to places such as India, and end up making a mountain of trash there.  Yet some plastic bottles are reused, but are downcycled.  Downcycling entails the plastic bottles being made into lower quality products that will ultimately end up being thrown away.  When the pieces of plastic are thrown away, they can accumulate in landfills, or can be disposed in the ocean where they create areas of debris, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  These patches of debris break down plastic, which look like food to fish and birds.  Then we consume such animals, and could be ingesting the plastic they have eaten.  In conclusion, people need to not be fooled by water bottle manufacturers and take a stand to not buy bottled water since our tap water is tested more frequently and costs way less than bottled water, which is really just tap water.