Downside of Bottled Water

Bottled water is not regulated like tap is, which means that there is really no way to know for sure what you get getting when you drink bottled. Pesticides and microbes have been found in bottled water and it is hard to know where they originated from. Many times unethical companies will bottle their own tap water and try to pass it off as pure, natural. Often these companies are not even filtering and run it straight from their own taps.

Plastic

CONSUMER REPORTS WATER SOFTENERS

Beyond the problem of water quality is the problem of plastic. Plastic cannot be broken down - at least not in our lifetime. There are dangerous amounts of plastic in our environments and some scientist say that the oceans are so polluted with plastic that no fish caught in the ocean can be found without plastic running through their systems. Bottled-water alone produces 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. The creation of those bottles takes 47 million gallons of oil each year to create. Not only does the cost of creating these bottles cost in fossil fuels, but the end product will never disintegrate.

On top of environmental concerns with plastic there are health concerns as well. Leaving a plastic bottle in a hot car and then drinking the water, or putting a plastic bottle in the freezer and then drinking can cause health problems. When plastic is heated or frozen it leaches chemicals into the water making it dangerous to consume. Many times when plastic bottles are being shipped they get over heated in the cargo trucks leaching these chemicals into the water before they ever reach the stores.

Water Rights

Water is now being dubbed 'blue gold' with corporations gobbling up rights to groundwater and distribution rights all over the place. The world of water is slowly moving towards a more privatization of municipal water supplies. This could literally lead to a change of how we deal with water in the modern world.

Many companies that sell bottled water are charging as much for a bottle of water as they charge for a soft drink. The plastic bottles are being filled up with tap water and being sold at a tremendous profit. If you drank the suggested eight glasses of water a day from plastic water bottles it would end up costing you 00 or more every year.

Alternatives

There are many alternatives to buying plastic bottled water. One simple and easy solution is to get a stainless steel thermos and use it over and over. If filling your thermos from the tap is a less than desirable option getting a water filtration system can help make sure you water is clean and good tasting.

Downside of Bottled Water

CONSUMER REPORTS WATER SOFTENERS