The Bottled Water Fad

     Bottled water is all the rage. It seems like every organization is jumping on board by marketing their own brand of bottled water. They all come in plastic bottles that often get dumped into landfills, or in the best case scenario recycled. But is bottled water really any better than tap water?

     You may be surprised to find that safety and purity standards for bottled water are often less strict than for city water! Bottled water companies are required to test their supply for bacteria and chemical less frequently than municipalities are required to test their tap water supply! Standards for bottled water allow some level of contamination by e.coli and fecal coli form whereas city water is not allowed any contamination by these agents! The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for safety and purity of bottled water, but bottled water that is sold within the same state it is bottled in is except from this oversight. Same state bottled water sales account for 60-70% of all bottled water sold!

     A better alternative to buying cases of bottled water all the time is investing in a water pitcher with a filter and a reusable water bottle. Brita and Pur are both great options for water pitchers. They come with filters that need to be changed every 40 gallons, or about 2 months for a small family with regular use. Both varieties are available at stores such as Target or Bed Bath and Beyond. Both brands also offer facet filters if you prefer. I like the pitchers better because the water is colder from the fridge than it can be coming right out of the facet!

     Some good varieties of reusable water bottles are metal, BPA-free plastic, or glass varities. Metal and BPA-free plastic are available at stores such as Target. Many consider glass to be best (if you trust yourself not to break it!) because it is the material that is least likely to contain any potentially harmful materials such as carcinogens. If you want to go for glass you can use a mason jar or other type of jar with a lid. Plastic lids for mason jars are available in the canning section of grocery or hardware stores. Metal or plastic are likely the most practical for most people. Sigg makes a great metal bottle that is leak free. Many plastic bottles come with a straw-like mouth piece if you prefer that variety.

My Brita pitcher and Sigg water bottle!

     So, save money, protect your health, and stand up for the environment by investing in a reusable water pitcher and water bottle! A Brita pitcher costs around 20$ and replacement filters are about 7$ and last at least 2 months. A Sigg water bottle costs 15-20$. So after the initial investment the cost is only about 3.50$ per month. A case of bottled water with 24 bottles can cost around 13$, so if you drink one bottle per day that's about 375% the cost per month to buy bottled water!

     For more information on bottled water regulation check out the summary of a report by the National Resources Defense Council at this link: http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp. A little dated but still provides good info. This one from the Environmental Working Group is a little more up to date: http://www.ewg.org/reports/BottledWater/Bottled-Water-Quality-Investigation

Cheers,
Brittney