Is Drinking Plastic Bottled Water Really Better?

The Real Cost of Bottled WaterAccording to a new independent study, "Bottled Water: Understanding a social phenomenon", commissioned by WWF, bottling h2o may be no safer, or healthier than what comes from the tap in many countries while selling for up to 1000 times the price. Yet, it is the fastest growing drinks industry in the world and is estimated to be worth US$22 billion annually. The study reveals that the market is partly fueled by concerns over the safety of municipal sources and by the marketing of many brands which portray them as being drawn from pristine sources and as being healthier than tap.

However, some bottled waters only differ from tap in the fact that they are distributed in bottles rather than through pipes. In fact there are more standards regulating the tap in Europe and the US than those applied to the drinks industry. "Our attitudes towards tap water are being shaped by the pollution which is choking the rivers and streams which should be veins of life," argues Richard Holland, Director of WWF Campaign. "We must clean up and properly protect these waters at source, and not just at the treatment works, so that we can all rest easy in drinking from the tap."

The study acknowledges that while container waters has the advantage of being generally safer in areas where tap soruces may be contaminated, boiling or filtering local sources renders it safe at a much lower cost for people on a low income. However, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in terms of nutritional value, neither one is better than the other. It may contain small amounts of minerals but so does the tap from many public municipal source supplies. Taste also seems to play a role. WWF argues that certain companies have an important responsibility to ensure that they consistently produce h2o that is not only safe but also pleasant to drink.

The study also finds that every year 1.5 million tons of plastic are used in bottling h2o. Toxic chemicals can be released into the environment during the manufacture and disposal of the bottles. Furthermore, a quarter of the 89 billion litters of water bottled worldwide annually are consumed outside their country of origin. Emissions of the green house gas carbon dioxide, caused by transporting bottled water within and between countries, contribute to the global problem of climate change as well as land fill pollution and issues.

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