Is tap water better than bottled?
May 1st, 2008 by Christine
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Not long ago I was at a friend’s house, and my four year-old asked me for a glass of water. I grabbed a cup and headed over to the sink.
"*GASP!*" my friend exclaimed. "Don’t use that water, use the drinking water!"
"Oh, yeah, right, I don’t know what I was thinking," I mumbled as I made my way towards the water tank I’d use countless times over the years I’ve known her.
However, this got me thinking…is bottled water really superior to what’s on tap from our municipalities, or is plain old water from the sink actually just fine? Or maybe, even…just as good or better?
What I learned surprised me.
Studies show that as much as forty percent of bottled water’s source is from municipal taps. Furthermore, municipal water is regulated by the EPA…not so with some bottled water which is regarded as a "food" and is thus under the purview of the FDA. As the EPA has more restrictions than the FDA, bottled water may in fact be less pure in a variety of ways, and thus inferior to some tap water.
In fact, study after study shows that bottled water can be more contaminated with microbes, chemicals, and carcinogens than tap water. This is because not only the standards for allowable contaminants is higher for the EPA’s regulated tap water than the FDA’s regulated bottled water, but also because bottled water is tested far less frequently.
This doesn’t even take into account the fact that the very containers bottled water comes could be suspect.
Ideally we would all have a super-duper-industrial-strength-revere-osmosis system in our kitchens. As that isn’t realistic, if you are concerned about the source of your family’s drinking water, you may need to do some investigation into your the tap water coming into your home, and/or the water you purchase. I’ll follow up tomorrow with some ways to help you do just that.
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May 1st, 2008 at 9:20 am
Thank you so much for this. We are in the process of giving up bottled water (mostly due to the BPA stuff), and this is such encouraging information.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:28 am
I’m very interested in this subject. Do you have any articles or specific studies that I could read?
May 1st, 2008 at 11:38 am
We NEVER drink bottled water at our house. We’re blessed to live in Memphis, which has THE best tasting water around. Seriously, we’ve won awards for our tap water that comes from artesian wells.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Interesting you posted this - I took my two young daughters to the dentist yesterday and he said they’ve noted a rise in tooth decay the last two years. They are pretty sure that it is from the increase in drinking bottled water over tap water. Tap water includes fluoride which is not in most bottled water I guess. He also mentioned that some water filters remove the fluoride from water. We have only used tap water - but this affirms our decision!
May 1st, 2008 at 12:52 pm
*gag* I wish I could say the same and I’m north of Nashville in TN. Mine tastes nasty.
May 1st, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I grew up drinking our tap water but we live in the boonies, and have a huge purifying system (that I helped install). I am a picky water drinker. I hate Dasani(sp?) and most restaurant water just tastes bad. (the fluoride probably)
But I still managed to drink my 60oz plus some.. It’s my drink of choice