Community | May 12, 2009 | 26 comments

Which is Healthier: Tap Water or Bottled Water?

source: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/healthier-tap-bottled-water.html?campaign=dayli...

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openmind
Is Bottled Water Subjected to Higher Health Standards than Tap Water?

Nope.

The FDA sets standards for bottled water, while the EPA sets standards for tap water. Tap water is tested for contaminants hundreds of times a month while bottled water gets tested only once a week.

Here are a few shocking finds made by the NRDC:

For example, one brand of "spring water" whose label pictured a lake and mountains, actually came from a well in an industrial facility's parking lot, near a hazardous waste dump, and periodically was contaminated with industrial chemicals at levels above FDA standards.

According to government and industry estimates, about one fourth of bottled water is bottled tap water (and by some accounts, as much as 40 percent is derived from tap water)—sometimes with additional treatment, sometimes not.

City tap water can have no confirmed E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria (bacteria that are indications of possible contamination by fecal matter). FDA bottled water rules include no such prohibition (a certain amount of any type of coliform bacteria is allowed in bottled water).

Any violation of tap-water standards is grounds for enforcement—but bottled water in violation of standards can still be sold if it is labeled as "containing excessive chemicals" or "excessive bacteria" (unless FDA finds it "adulterated," a term not specifically defined).

City water systems must issue annual "right-to-know" reports telling consumers what is in their water; as detailed in this report, bottlers successfully killed such a requirement for bottled water.
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26 comments // Which is Healthier: Tap Water or Bottled Water?

  • StandaboveUnderstand
  • mbk220
  • openmind
  • NuclearLullaby
    • 0
      NuclearLullaby  

    • This really could depend a lot on where you live! I personally would NEVER drink city water because most city water has a chlorine taste & often makes me feel a bit sick! It is also often processed sewer water & just the thought of that,even though in most places it's considered safe to drink,just the thought of it makes me wish to stay away from the stuff! I am not a big fan of Bottled water for the most part ether,because it too often has a bad taste,only it's not sewer water,it's just treated water! It also has a cost to it! So what water do I drink? I drink well water! Best taste,no chemicals,no price,& no poop!

    • 2 years ago
  • MycoJ
    • 0
      MycoJ  

    • City water has been Mechanically cleansed with filters, boiled and pasturized, chemically treated, blasted with UV light, possibly treated with reverse osmosis

      Tap water is incredibly clean, you should see what passes for water in most of the world.

    • 2 years ago
  • ManBearPigLives
    • 0
      ManBearPigLives  

    • Boiling kills bugs and bacteria but there shouldnt be any of that in municipal water supply.

      What youre really worried about is lead from pipes, birth control from womens' urine, added chlorine to clean the water, added flouride for dental health, fertilizer from lawns, Spilled gasolinde from gas stations/lawnmowers, runnoff from the mining industry, waste runnoff from cattle/pig industry, herb/pesticides from agriculture etc.....

      There's alot of crap in water that boiling will not remove.

    • 2 years ago
  • rebelution07
  • MinneapolisMafia
    • 0
      MinneapolisMafia  

    • What a pathetic distraction for the masses! Yikes! It's a proven FACT that fluoride affects your glands, affects IQ, massively increases bone cancer rates/chances, and on and on and on... don't take my word for it! Do some research! Start by watching this and taking notes-

      http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7984669833566646476
      p.s. if ya didn't know fluoride is a waste product of the aluminum and fertilizer industries and is in most tap water in the USA and is banned in many parts of europe?

    • 2 years ago
  • csmonut
    • 0
      csmonut  

    • It is very true that tap water can have trace amounts of every chemical that we eat, and drink in other beverages.
      It has trace amounts of hormones from the milks and meats we eat.
      It has trace amounts of anti-biotics and all manner of bad things.
      An RO (reverse osmosis) system fits neatly under your kitchen sink and costs way less that bottles of water.
      The damage to the environment is much less because you are not throwing away all those plastic bottles.

    • 2 years ago
  • rockstarmillionaire
  • AveryMoore
    • 0
      AveryMoore  
    • rockstarmillionaire:

      Various companies such as PUR, Clear Brook and Pure Water, make a portable backpackers' unit to be used to purify water from almost any source.

      PUR says it has invented ".the world's first, and still only, hand-operated desalinators [which] has allowed users to instantly turn seawater into fresh drinking water."

      http://purewater.homestead.com/Our_Filters.html

      "PUR Water Treatment Kit."

      http://www.trailspace.com/gear/guide/backcountry-water-treatment-part-4-methods-...

      Removes biological, particulate, and some chemical contamination.

      Particularly good for Third World and highly contaminated water sources, and during
      natural or man-made disasters.
      Inexpensive.
      Simple procedure.
      Treats 10 liters at a time, so is best for large groups.

      All of this innovation is wonderful for those in the third world, or for those who love outdoors travel.

      But it still begs the question of economies of scale at home. As water source quality continues to degrade nationwide, it is certainly profitable for various companies to sell various water safety products.

      But it is also dumb national policy to restrict it to those with enough money to buy such products. The mentality is straight third world.

      Those who have been brought down in countries like Africa, Mexico or Spain, scratch their heads - do they think this helps the locals from getting sick or boosts the tourist trade? It would save them money to purify their water at source!

      We are following their lead.

    • 2 years ago
  • anglcazn
    • 0
      anglcazn  

    • I have a distiller in my room. I fill it with tap water and it filters the water for me. And every two months, I changed the filter, which by the way are inexpensive.

      And for multiple purpose reason, it can also distill vodka! :D Takes about two hours for a 1.75 liter....
      what?! I heard about it and had to try it!

    • 2 years ago
  • Found_Avenue
  • bombastinator
  • anglcazn
    • 0
      anglcazn  
    • anglcazn:

      Well, the vodka I distilled was Smirnoff (it was cheap, leave me alone). To test it, I had two bottles of regular Smirnoff vodka and one bottle of Grey Goose Vodka. I distilled one bottle, while I left the second one alone.

      According to my boyfriend who taste-tested all three, the distilled vodka was MUCH better than the undistilled vodka. He noted that it seems to taste stronger. But, he says that its nothing compared to the Grey Goose vodka.

      Mind you, distilling hard liquor such as vodka really fucks up the filter. After one 1.75 litter of vodka, I had to replace it.

    • 2 years ago
  • mandroid
    • 0
      mandroid  

    • being poor my belief is to adapt and overcome. the tap is just fine for me at least I live somewhere that it doesn't taste like miles of lead pipes. So our groundwater may be contaminated with the by-produts of the dry cleaning industry. tastes fine to me! I drink mostly tea anyway. so E coli not a problem as long as you boil the water for a few. MUTANT POWER!

    • 2 years ago
  • georgeisaiah
    • 0
      georgeisaiah  

    • Is there any group that buys and installs water filters for the poor? I hear all this talk about health benefits of water, but the poor often drink soda since their tap water tastes so awful.

    • 2 years ago
  • bjlawrence11
    • 0
      bjlawrence11  

    • I try and find a good balance between the two. A good middle way never hurt anyone.
      I've definitely heard that you shouldn't reuse plastic bottles that have been opened though. Bisphenol A chemicals enter the water after a bottle is opened and exposed to air. There has been much debate about it here in Canada, but I think the theorie's statistics are pretty sound.

    • 2 years ago
  • Johnll
    • 0
      Johnll  

    • Bottled water was marketed for Americans, because we're just dumb enough to believe it's safer than tap water. And what do most of us do with the bottle when empty.........

    • 2 years ago
  • theultimateend
    • 0
      theultimateend  
    • Johnll:

      Well they have the technology now to make bottles out of organic material that feel like and act like plastic.

      We could use all the biproducts of farming (I'm thinking non-meat based farms) to create massive supplies of biodegradable utensils and containers.

      fun stuff.

      edit: By 'they' I mean absolutely any country with the technology to make plastic already.

    • 2 years ago
  • AveryMoore
  • theultimateend
  • Johnll
  • AveryMoore
    • 0
      AveryMoore  
    • theultimateend:

      JohnII asks,

      "I say, we should all drink tap water and quit being soooooooooooo paranoid, What's wrong with trust in the next person?"

      For starters,

      "The FDA sets standards for bottled water, while the EPA sets standards for tap water. Tap water is tested for contaminants hundreds of times a month while bottled water gets tested only once a week."

      The flip side of that appears above,

      "Am I the only one that finds it odd that they omitted the 41 million people who are receiving tap water that is laced with all sorts of drugs like lithium and I seem to recall viagra derivatives (er waste? Whatever the word is)."

      So far your point, assuming it isn't just snark (who can tell?) is wrong, twice.

      Standards for tap and bottled water are not consistent nor high enough to ensure public safety.

      Others have mentioned that no other culture in history - not one with Science to warn us - ever has in ignorance thrown so many pollutants and toxins into drinking water and considered it smart.

      Worse we are all participants in a massive, unsupervised, unwanted biological Petrie Dish which blends chemicals (which have godknows what long term effects) into what we consume, for the sole benefit of corporate Profit. .

      Not bright.

      There are too many times when trust of the status quo "Doctors Tell Us, 'Smoking Is Good For You!'" is credulity, not common sense.

      Nor is there any excuse to continue the idiocy of unsafe water.

    • 2 years ago
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  
    • theultimateend:

      reference my reply to seajade. You're looking at the same data his Mr's psychopants videographer was. Except for maybe the lithium thing. That only happens in certain areas where lithium is in the soil and that isn't very many places. Besides what's bad about a lower statistical chance of suicide?

    • 2 years ago
  • lordsbassman
  • anglcazn
  • bombastinator
  • Sam_the_Wizer
    • 0
      Sam_the_Wizer  

    • Tap water from anywhere else has to be better than it is here. My tap water has been polluted by the oil companies and smells like death. I'll risk the E. Coli.

    • 2 years ago
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  
    • Sam_the_Wizer:

      Do you have your own well? If not I'd bet it's probably the pipes in your building not the actual water company. You cold always get a sample tested.

      Find a home water filter company who is willing to come out and test your water for free. They will of course always no matter what find a problem that they think will require filtration. That's their job. They will tell you what that problem is though. You can then decide if the problem is a real or fake one. You may then decide whether or not to buy their product. If you are anything approaching handy with tools I suggest no.

      You can get an under sink filter at a hardware store that will filter any of the more common things for about 35$ or a whole house for 50-60$. Should pay for itself pretty quick. If you're psycho about it there are reverse osmosis machines that will deliver chemically pure H20. They are quite a bit more expeensive and probably aren't very good for you in the long run. The body wasn't made to drink pure water. I understand it kicks ass for washing clothes though.

    • 2 years ago
  • Sam_the_Wizer
    • 0
      Sam_the_Wizer  
    • Sam_the_Wizer:

      It's city water, but the smell and taste of the water has gotten dramatically worse over the past few years in correlation to the increase in wells, and decrease in air quality. The water smells like an oil pad (not a good smell, and very distinct). I've tried using water filters, but they don't completely rid the water of the smell/taste. Tests in my valley have found benzene in the water of at least one person, and I've been told explicitly by oil representatives (speaking anonymously) that I should not drink tap water in this valley.

    • 2 years ago
  • bombastinator
  • theultimateend
  • bombastinator
  • SeaJade
    • 0
      SeaJade  

    • Perhaps it is more about choosing which environmental toxins you prefer - this ten minute video discusses some of the problems of tap water....

    • 2 years ago
  • slimpunk
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  
    • SeaJade:

      heh.. it gets even better than that.

      There is of course the part about how he avoids printing the actual article http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090420/ap_on_re_us/pharmawater_factories It's about river water btw. The tap water connection is that cities use the water for tap water after treating and filtering it.

      There is also the fact that even though this is technically a video it is actually nothing but pictures of american flags, burning cities and tables overflowing with pills. Oh and there's horribly ominous music playing in the background too. Ridiculously melodramatic? Nah....

      One of the better parts is where he says there is no regulation. The article itself says that the amounts tested are far far below the fda levels. What is that? We call that "regulation".

      He then goes on to make impossible claims about how it's going to destroy the brains of your babies and that tap water contains untreated urine. There's a name for this one too. "actionable slander"

    • 2 years ago
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • thanks for the tip keithponder ! I use a water filter , but I know it doesn't filter fluoride . Or the pharmacy drugs in the water .

    • 2 years ago
  • lucidstone
    • 0
      lucidstone  
    • artemis6:

      It might have been a nice tip if he didn't link a sketchy pyramid scheme website where he personally makes a commission for his sales.

      Look into it a bit closer and notice the "Welcome to Keith Ponder's Site!" in the upper right hand corner.

      Keithponder just pitched a link to his pyramid scheme . . . x_x

    • 2 years ago
  • keithponder
  • openmind
  • lordsbassman
  • jfill
  • lucidstone
    • 0
      lucidstone  
    • keithponder:

      Holy Effing Christ!!! shopgbg.com is a fucking pyramid scheme (and a tacky one at that) . . . and I've just lost all respect for you Keithponder for trying to passively pitch your pyramid scheme on this forum.

      If I enter the website "shopgbg.com" and not your "shopgbg.com/?id=359278" . . . then it asks me for my referring representative's ID# before it will let me in the "get started" page. (YOU being the representative with YOUR personal ID# '359278')

      Damn, a person can't even buy your $70/month supply of "antioxidants" without YOU PERSONALLY receiving the commission. Hence the "Welcome to Keith Ponder's Site!" in the upper right hand corner.

      Seriously, you're a freaking salesman trying to sell something on Current.com? . . . WTF???

    • 2 years ago
  • Sexirobot
  • Kuklamania
    • 0
      Kuklamania  

    • actually no that is a BAD idea. Plastic bottles arent meant for reuse. They pick up bacteria and eventually can be harmful. just use a waterfilter.. thats your best option. Both bottled water and tap water are harmful in different ways.

    • 2 years ago
  • JamesAJanisse
    • 0
      JamesAJanisse  
    • Kuklamania:

      I've searched before but I've never found anything that says re-using plastic water bottles is bad. Do you have any sources you can cite? I'd like to see if what I'm doing really is problematic.

    • 2 years ago
  • jfill
  • TopScruffy
  • mandroid
  • googolplexer
  • TopScruffy
  • openmind
  • JamesAJanisse
  • Valentin0o
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