Bottled vs Tap

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byTabool

TAKE STEPS TO HYDRATE

SAFELY

To make sure your home drinking water is as safeas possible:

Learn about your local tap water by getting an

annual water-quality r eport from the supplier.

Test your household water for lead, whichmost commonly comes from pipes in older homes.

Consider using a filter, especially if you uncoverconcerns. Inexpensive pitchers and faucetattachments using carbon filters reduce lead andsome other substances. But always read the labelsand check for certification from NSF International.And change the filters as often as the manufacturerrecommends.

Take extra precautions if you have impairedimmunity as a result of chemotherapy, HIV or otherhealth problems. Filters that rely on "reverseosmosis" or "absolute one micron filters" canremove dangerous parasites. Bottled waters treatedwith those methods or with distillation or ultravioletlight also can be good choices but read the labelor check with the bottler to confirm the treatmentmethod.

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Videos you may be interested inWater wars: Bottled vs tapUpdated 8/26/2007 10:31 PM | Comments 13 | Recommend 6 E-mail | Print | Reprints & Permissions |By Kim Painter, USA TODAY

As the final long, hot weekend of

summer approaches, many of us will

reach for a few cold ones drinks of

water, that is.

But should that water come from a tap

or a bottle? And does the choice make

any difference from a health standpoint?

Those questions are timely after a

summer in which bottled water took a

few hard knocks. First, the U.S. Conference of Mayors

called for a study of the environmental effect of all those

plastic bottles, most of which are not recycled. San

Francisco banned city employees from spending tax

dollars on bottled water. And Pepsico changed the labelon its Aquafina bottles to more clearly reflect the fact

that the stuff inside is filtered tap water (as are several

other popular brands, including Dasani, from Coca-Cola).

One reason that change raised eyebrows is that tap

water has its own image problems. This summer, the

spotlight was on Washington, D.C., where a watchdog

group found elevated levels of t oxic chlorination

byproducts in the drinking water levels that local

officials said were probably temporary.

But "we could have done that study in any city and might

have found the same thing," says Jane Houlihan, vice

president f or research at t he Environmental Working

Group, which conducted the study. (For details, visit

www.ewg.org).

What's a consumer to do?

Before you reach for a soda, rest assured: Waterremains the ultimate health drink free of calories,

sweeteners or caffeine, perfectly suited to hydrate the

human body and, in the USA, almost always safe, whatever its source.

"The United States continues to have some of the best drinking water standards in the world," says Jon

Coifman, spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council. The non-profit group has studied the

safety of both bottled and tap water. (For information, visit www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/brief.asp).

Bottled water, which is regulated by t he Food and Drug Administration, "is not test ed as t horoughly or as

frequently" as tap water, which is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, Coifman says. "It's

not that bottled water is going to kill you. But there's also no reason to believe it's better," despite

marketing that is all about "health, wholesomeness and purity."

Houlihan concurs: "People may be turning to bottled water because they don't trust their tap water.

But you don't have any assurance of better safety."

Water bottlers, for their part, say they don't claim their products are safer.

"It's unfortunate that people are turning this into a tap-water-vs.-bottled-water issue," says Joseph Doss,

president of the International Bottled Water Association. "We don't disparage tap wat er. We t hink if

consumers are drinking water, whether it's bottled or tap, it's a good thing."

The association ran ads this summer defending bottled water as healthful in a country where people are

battling obesity, diabetes and heart disease and where "70% of all beverages consumed are from a

container."

Doss says most bottled-water consumers 75%, one industry survey says drink tap water, too.

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Comments: (13) Showing: Newest first New: Most recommended!

DobeDobyDo (0 friends, send message) wr ote:

jaycreo (0 friends, send message) wrote:

Posted 8/26/2007 9:30 PM

Updated 8/26/2007 10:31 PM E-mail | Print | Reprints & Permissions |

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Reader EditorBrent Jones. For publication

consideration in the newspaper, send comments to [email protected]. Include name, phone

number, city and state for verification.

Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this

article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the c onversation appropriate for interested

readers across the map.

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7/7/2010 2:05:13 AM

@jaycreo: I have a bridge to sell you or maybe the latest snake oil concoction that will heal

all ills, reverse aging AND cure cancer... Enough with the mocking. You may own thewebsite your posted lists and need to get back to making money so let's get to some

numbers.

Yes, RO (Reverse Osmosis) water will be slightly acidic, but not at levels that would harm

or even bother your body. RO water will have a pH of about 6, but without using a

comparable, that number means nothing other than that it is not 7 (which for those that

forgot their HS Chemistry, is completely neutral). What is the pH of other things? Even

fresh milk is slightly acidic. Fresh Milk: 6.4-6.8, Orange Juice: 3-4, tomato juice: 4.2,

Grapes: 3.5-4.5, Grapefruit juice: 3-3.3.. . Here m ay be the real shocker; Apple Juice:

2.9-3.3 Oh wait another shocker... White Bread has a pH of about 5-6.

For thousands of years people have been drinking rain water and that has a pH of 5.7 and

this is even before we had industry that created the infamous acid rains. Ionization does not

remove harmful chemicals that are found in water supplies. Ionization will not remove

Perchlorate, M TBE, or even chlorine. Other chemicals recently f ound in many municipal

water systems include pharmaceutical residues such as antibiotics, sex-hormones, and

anti-depressants. T hese are all compounds that w ill remain in your drinking water after

ionization.

I would agree to be wary about tap water because of what the EPA will not mandate testing

for and to stay away from bottled water because of leaching of chemicals into the water

from the such as Bisphenol A and other newly found carcinogens in plastic, but to think

ionized water is the cure-all is foolhardy. Get a R everse Osmosis and drink safer w ater.

Recommend | Report Abuse

1/3/2010 11:34:40 PM

I have to say that after being a Sparklette's Water JUNKiE for 30 years, because we have

been led to believe that bottled water is Safer than tap, then only to find out it was very

ACIDIC and actually robb's your body of minerals because it doesnt have any in it...Well

guess what else I found out? 90% of bottled water is ACIDIC too. Guess why its

ACIDIC?.....Because it's all Reverse Osmosis, which is the number one selling Water

purification sytstem out there. Guess What else? for every single Gallon of Reverse

Osmosis, 4-10 gallons DOWN THE DRAIN. Coke & Pepsi have the same process and we

wonder why we have 10 years worth of water left. and to top it off, they have been stealing

our tap water t o make Aquafina & D esani for years. 15 Billion Dollar a Year business in t heUS. Bottled Water is the BIGGEST SCAM on EARTH, Do the Math, It's far more expensive

then Gasoline. you wanna see who is supposed to be monitoring the Bottled Water industy?

Chk her out on www.xr.com/utjv.......

Then my Suggestion is "Boycott the Bott le" Alkalize your Tap and look into a Water Ionizer,

I got mine from www.Hydrate4Life.com...They were amazing and the side effects of

drinking this water for me was weight loss, 65lbs, lowered BP, clear skin, no ore Gout, or

Acid Reflux. Chk it out. We owe it to the Environment. SAVE OUR EARTH!!!!!....GOD

BLESS.



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emwise (0 friends, send message) wrote:

emwise (0 friends, send message) wrote:

wheels08 (0 friends, send message) wr ote:

Harmon (0 friends, send message) wrote:

mforstneger (0 friends, send message) wrote:

AtWork (0 friends, send message) wr ote:

Debcath (0 friends, send message) wrote:

The Mick (72 friends, send message) wr ote:

3/11/2008 8:30:13 PM

Its water. it shouldnt matter if its tap or bottled water.


3/11/2008 8:25:31 PM

yo pensar esto ello hace no m ateria que bueno de auga usted bebida. Si gente solamente

bebida embotellaod auga, gente de voluntado el jobo.

Emily Wise


3/11/2008 2:43:15 PM

I just want to note what a complete jerk Wyatt earp is! Who do you think you are to call

someone else an idiot just for saying that they preferred the taste of bottled water over tap

water? Good luck in life @$$hole! why dont you go c hoke on some t ap water?!


3/10/2008 12:41:18 PM

I live in Texas, where too many things get into the water system. I'll stick to using botled

water! There is no after taste to it as well.


9/10/2007 11:54:56 AM

How easily we forget that our ancestors didn't have water filtration plants for thousands of

years! Even in many parts of the world today, clean water is a rarity.


8/30/2007 4:38:04 PM

I found it interesting to learn that bottled water is not as heavily regulated as tap water. But

that actually m ade Aquafina more appealing to me out of the options available. Purified

7-times is pretty thorough. I live in DC, where we have had consistent problems with our

water containing high levels of lead and chlorine, so I need a safer alternative. At home I

have a good filter but when I am away from home, I am going to turn to the convenience of

bottled water.


8/27/2007 6:54:53 PM

We live out in the country and we have hard water.. I refuse to drink out of the tap, it tastes

horrible.


8/27/2007 1:31:08 AM

I can understand people using bottled water when their local supply doesn't t ake very good.

We have an example of "excellent" and "bad" tap water on each side of the highway that

passes through our community. When people use the low-cost bottled water service at our

supermarket to refill their bottles, they are almost always people on the wrong side of the

highway!

On the East side of the highway the water is provided not by our County but by neighboring

Baltimore City The reason is that when suburban sprawl occurred after WW2, the county

water system was limited in capacity and it was easier to tie into the Baltimore City publicwater supply which has abundant wat er in huge reservoirs. Baltimore City water is

wonderful. There are certain tropical fish that will only reproduce in captivity in the purest of

waters - simulating the f resh rains that trigger their spawning in nature. They will do so in

Baltimore City water if it's left to sit a day for the chlorine to escape and they apparently

don't mind the fluoride - Baltimore was the first U.S. locale to fluoridate it's public water

supply.

On the West side of the highway, the County supplies the public water, which it gets from

wells. County water doesn't taste very good and many homes use whole house water

filters.

I grew up on the East side, left home and bought a house on the West side. When my last


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