Bottled Vs. Tapwhich is better ?

This project talks about:

• What is ground water• Tap Vs. Bottled water• Purity of water• Where the contaminates

come from• EPA and the FDA• Burlington water supply• labeling• Health risks• Water options

Water• Water is an Important

component of our everyday lives

• 60 % of our body is made up of water

• Every body system requires water to function

• Everyone's water needs are a little different and depend on :

• Exercise• Environment• Illness or health condition• Pregnancy or breast feeding

• How do we get our water?• Tap water• Well water• Bottled water

Where Does Drinking Water Come From?

• In rural areas the majority of water comes from wells

• Wells get water from aquifers, which are natural reservoirs under the earth's surface

• There are three different types of wells

• Dug- 10-30 ft deep. – Run the highest risk of being

contaminated• Driven- 30 to 50 ft deep.

– usually located in areas with thick sand and gravel deposits where the ground water table is within 15 feet of the ground’s surface

• Drilled- 100-400 ft– Must intersect bedrock fractures that

contain ground water

• In the urban areas water comes from surface water sources such as:

• Rivers• Lakes• Reservoirs

Tap Water• Regulated by EPA• Often disinfected with

chlorine• Strict and precise

guidelines• Just as safe or safer than

bottled water• leakage or bacterial

corrosion of piping can occur

• Water tested very often• Very low cost

Bottled Water

• considered a food product, is regulated by US FDA quality standards

• Appears to taste fresh and refreshing

• Disinfected with ozone treatment (high strength oxygen that is also an oxidant like chlorine but does not add taste.)

• Can have less pollution when water source is far from communities

• Less testing and standards

How pure is my water?

• NO water is completely pure

• Water • is filtered through rock and soil• Sits stagnant in lakes• Flows through rivers

• All of these have potential for minerals and contaminates to be dissolved into drinking water.

Where do the Contaminates come from?

• Locally somewhere in your neighborhood

• miles away from your home

• Contaminated areas include:

• Waste from factories• Substances used on

farmland crops• Waste from households

and yards• natural erosion of land

and rock formations

Most common Types of contaminates

• Microbes• From both human and animal waste

– E. coli– Cryptosporidium– Giardia – Salmonella

• Chemical contaminates such as:• Pesticides• heavy metals

– arsenic – can cause thickness/discoloration of the skin, nausea, vomiting, numbness in extremities

– Lead- can damage kidney’s, blood, and nervous system. Very high levels can cause retardation and even death

– Radon- can lead to an increase in lung diseases

– Nitrates- can lead to decreased blood profusion in the body causing poor oxygenation.

• Even chemicals used to remove certain contaminants can themselves create chemical by-products that pose a threat to human health

Natural Resources Defense Council

• Four year scientific study• 1,000 + bottles of water tested, 103 brands• about one-third of the waters tested

contained levels of contamination -- including synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic –

• “A key NRDC finding is that bottled water regulations are inadequate to assure consumers of either purity or safety”

• The government has only some specifications and standards on bottled water. Unlike tap water which is strictly controlled and frequently tested by government officials

• There is no law saying how many bacteria a bottled water may contain. And there are no federal filtration or disinfection requirements.

• Graph from (NRDC, 2003)

Some Key Differences Between EPA Tap Water and FDA

Bottled Water Rules Water Type Disinfection

required?Confirmed E. Coli & Fecal Coliform Banned?

Testing Frequency for Bacteria

Must Filter to Remove Pathogens, or Have Strictly Protected Source?

Must Test for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Viruses?

Testing Frequency for Most Synthetic Organic Chemicals

Bottled Water No No 1/week No No 1/year

Carbonated or Seltzer Water

No No None No No None

Big City Tap Water (using surface water)

Yes Yes Hundreds/month

Yes Yes 1/quarter (limited waivers available if clean

source)

2004 Annual Consumer Reporton the Quality of Tap Water

The City of BurlingtonChittenden County, Vermont

• Met all state and federal drinking water requirements

• All substances were under the maximum contaminant level (MCL)

• The amount detected value is the result of a four-quarter running average.

• Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness of the water. It is monitored because it is a good indicator of the effectiveness of the filtration system. During the reporting year, 100% of all samples taken to measure turbidity met water quality standards.

Deceptive Labeling

• "Spring Water" (with a picture of a lake surrounded by mountains on the label) -- Was actually from an industrial parking lot next to a hazardous waste site.

• Alasika™ -- "Alaska Premium Glacier Drinking Water: Pure Glacier Water From the Last Unpolluted Frontier, Bacteria Free" -- Apparently came from a public water supply. This label has since been changed after FDA intervention.

• ¼ bottled water is bottled tap water, (some estimates go as high as 40 percent)

• FDA allows bottlers to call water “spring water” even though it may have been brought to the surface using a pump well and may be treated with chemicals.

• Some bottled water marketing is misleading• 1995 FDA rules to prevent misleading claims,

still has not eliminated the problem.

.

Health Effects• it has been estimated that

up to 900,000 people fall ill due to infectious water

• up to 900 die annually from waterborne infectious disease

• Exposure to microbial pathogens in drinking water can lead to temporary health problems while long terms exposure can be cause long term health concerns.

Health effects cont.

• Acute symptoms include:• gastrointestinal illness• fever• diarrhea• dehydration

• Long term exposure can cause:

• cancers• neurological effects • reproductive and

developmental problems• heart disease• diabetes• immune problems.

Who’s at risk

• Anyone who come in contact with contaminated water is at risk for developing adverse health problems

• various factors influence what specific effects that a person might experience. These include:

• the specific contaminant(s) exposed to• the amount• whether the exposure was chronic or acute• demographic characteristics • any preexisting health conditions• effects from smoking and dietary habits• the interaction of multiple chemicals

Who’s at risk cont.

• Those most susceptible to the contaminates are:

• pregnant women• infants and children• the elderly • Those with compromised immune systems such as

those who suffer from HIV, cancer, or those who are transplant candidates

Water options

• Water filters• unplumbed - Carafe (Brita)

or faucet mounted (pur) filters

• plumbed- Go under sink and require professional instillation

• Bottled water• Store bought

• Home delivery

• Well water- requires yearly testing just like tap water

Water Option Costs

TYPE Yearly cost Cost per gallon

Unplumbed filters

$ 75-80 31-35 cents

Plumed

filters

$100-120 42-48 cents

Store bought $214 89 cents

Home delivery $540 $2.20

Bottled Water and the Environment

• The process in making bottled water requires a lot of energy, in addition to the production process, the delivering of bottled water from far away places also contribute to pollution. Also, bottled water produces a huge amount of plastic waste. Lastly the distribution of bottled water requires more resources than the delivery of tap water. (Bottled Water vs. Tap, 2003)

• A study by the world wildlife fund also finds that every year 1.5 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water.