Regulating Tap Water

Do you ever think bottled water is safer than tap water? You would be wrong. According to "Bottled Water: The Wrong Choice paragraph 4", it states that the city tap water companies must follow safe strict rules to make sure nothing in the water harms us. The bottles water

Water is an important source in this world and it is a source that all of us humans need. Without water we wouldn’t be living today. Water comes in many different ways but the most common and the most talked about topic is, Bottled Water or Tap Water? There are many debates on which type of water is safer, better in taste, and what is more convenient. The question is usually what tastes better. I read in the article “is tap water as safe as bottled water?” “Tap water and bottled water are generally comparable in terms of safety. So the choice of tap or bottled is mostly a matter of personal preference.” (Zeratsky) I completely agree with this statement. Everyone has his or her own opinions.

Seventy percent of the human body is comprised of water. This makes drinking water quality vital. The EPA estimates the average adult consumes 1.2 liters daily or 115 gallons of community (tap) water daily while the average consumption of bottled water per capita in the U.S. is in excess of 30.8 gallons per year and is expected to continue to increase according to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) and the Beverage Marketing Association’s 2013 report. Bottled water costs anywhere from 240 to 10,000 times more per gallon than the average cost of tap, but people’s perception that bottled water is purer, safer or healthier is driven, in part, by strong bottled water marketing campaigns that focus on news reports about crises that involve municipal water supplies. (NRDC, “Bottled Water Pure Drink or Pure Hype”) The sources for both tap and bottled waters as well as additives to either enrich or neutralize contents of water determine the mineral and chemical composition of drinking water. Is bottled water really any purer or healthier than local tap water?

Tap water is healthier for you and the environment. People always say the bottled water has a better taste and better value than just regular tap water. Why do others say that tap water is bad for you because off all the germs and bacteria that can get inside of your tap water faucets. I believe that people are wrong about bottle water.

In Peter Gleick’s “Selling Bottled Water: The Modern Medicine Show” and Cynthia Barnett’s “Business in a Bottle”, bottled water is argued to be an excessive commodity falsely advertised as healthier and more beneficial than tap water to society and the environment. Both authors discuss that bottled water is actually equivalent in quality to tap water and in some cases even more hazardous to the human body. Public water itself is a less expensive resource that is more accessible to the masses. However, due to fraudulent companies focused on profit and the lack of effective oversight, people are deterred from realizing that there does not need to be an alternative to municipal water. Gleick

If bottled water is supposed to be free of contaminants, then bottled water should contain significantly less contaminants than tap water because that is why bottled water is sold to the public.

The author of “Bottled Versus Tap” said, “In light of such facts, bottled water may seem preferable. But coming as it does from many of the same sources as tap, bottled water is subject to many of the same contaminants2.¨Bottled water may not only have the same contaminants, but it the water may even have more chemicals in it, due to the plastic in the bottle itself2. Of course, in big families, the cost can be high for running tap water, but many researchers have proven that 1 billion water bottles are thrown away every year, almost equaling the high price of gasoline2. The author of “Goodbye Bottled Water?” said,“‘Thronson explained that 1.5 million barrels of petroleum are used to produce plastic water bottles in the United States each year. That’s enough to supply 250,000 homes with electricity for a year´¨. Americans are wasting valuable money on water that we can get very easily out of our faucet. Mayors from all around the United States have held meetings about the idea of banning bottled water2. Many are against the decision of banning bottled water, they argue that by taking away bottled water, the healthiest beverage out there is being taken away too. Although there is reasoning behind why people might be upset about this decision, the environment would greatly improve if people drank less bottled water. It is true that bottled water is very clean and reliable in times of

Many have asked, is bottled water better than tap? Which is better for our health? People have a fascination with bottled water. Somehow, someone decided that tap water was not good for us and along came the idea that bottled water is better. I believe that many of us would agree that the taste of bottled water and the way it provides a more safer way to consume the water we need overrides tap water. As consumers we try to make a safe decision in which water to drink but with all the controversy, which is better? Despite thinking bottled water is the best of the best, bottled water companies have a public system as well, just like tap. As stated in Source two, “ Contrary to what you might hear, the bottled water industry supports a strong public

First, all water is the same, it does the same job as any other water you get and put into your body. “People need to drink more water. The consumption of water, whether from the bottle or the tap, is a good thing and supports people’s pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.” says the Bottled Water Association. So whether or not the water comes from the tap or a process factory, it should not matter because in the end all water should be the same. It is silly that people think that bottled water shouldn’t be used. Bottled water is just the same as tap or any other water besides unprocessed, salt water, or dirty/contaminated water. It nourishes our body the same way and humans need to see that it all does the

Many people believe that their source of water does not matter and has little or no consequences. Most of those people argue that all water is the same but for those worried about our environment, bottled water is highly wasteful because they believe it’s more appealing because it might be contaminated. The reason this should be important to our society is that good clean water is fundamental to a good health. Our current generations purchase their water because they have been convinced that the specific liquid is the purest drink around. But they can’t really say that until they truly know where their water is coming from. Labels can be extremely misleading and deceptive like in one case where a company claimed their water came from pure

First off, tap water is safer than bottled water by any mean. According to "The Truth About Tap" by Andrew Postman. Postman states, "Tap water in big cities must be disinfected, filtered, and removed of pathogens … viruses. Bottle water does not have to be." In other words, there are billions of bottled water companies that are shipping, selling, and letting customers consume their product that may have never been examined by specialist. If the people just want ha glass of water. Just go out and buy a filter; as a result, leading to the perfect glass of water.

As I continued my research, I came across another point of interest regarding tap water veruses bottle water. Most bottled water companies will use the same purification method that states use with some exceptions. Some bottle water companies will use excessive filtration along with ozonation to purify the water befor it is bottled. However, neither one of these processes make bottled water better for a person to drink. The excessive filtration measures will make the bottled water unhealthy to drink because it is inclined to cause the water to become acidic. Beside some bottled water being acidic they lack minerals such as electrolytes that are healthy for people. The majority of bottled water that were evaluated provided a high acidic pH level. Individuals that consume beverages and foods that are acidic are at risk for their teeth to decay and erode as per the American Dental Hygienists Association study (https://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/analyzing-comparing-brands-of-bottled-water/).

This source features information about the pros and cons of drinking bottled water vs tap water. It emphasizes on the bottle companies gimmicks and branding to convince the public to consume bottled water vs tap. The author Martin W. Lewis, who is a senior lecturer at Stanford University and author of Green Delusions: An Environmentalist Critique of Radical Environmentalism, offers a bias point of view on the subject, especially pointing out the influence bottling companies have on the consumers. Most of the research he uses in his source is from water expert Peter Gleick. His intended audience are consumers of bottled water. I like this source because Lewis makes it a point to shine a light on the gains and gimmicks that companies such a Coca-Cola,

Ameribev sums it up nicely, “Bottled water is the purest, safest, and cleanest water possible”

The demand for bottled drinking water has been growing rapidly since the 1980s, increasing nearly 400% in the last decade according to the Council of Bottled Water Manufacturers, as a result of declining consumer confidence in the safety and quality of municipal water supplies. In response, individuals and businesses are purchasing bottled drinking water for use in their homes and offices. Free of contaminants and government-monitored, bottled waters are derived from protected springs or wells or are produced by purifying and processing water from public water supplies. Consumer demand for bottled water is expected to continue to increase, as water supplies worldwide are deemed undrinkable or unhealthy.