MBS > NUTRITION FOR LIFE

Is Bottled Water Better Than Tap water?

You'll be surprised what you learn
bottled water
Email
Print
Comment
Add to Facebook Facebook
Add to Digg Digg
Add to Delicious Delicious
Add to Reddit Reddit
Add to MySpace MySpace
Add to StumbleUpon Stumbleupon
by Perrin Braun
May 20, 2008

I don't know about you, but the debate over bottled water has been on my mind for some time. Think about it - you probably have a tap not very far from where you are right now, but chances are you'll grab a bottle of water from the refridgerator or a store before you'd sit down with a glass of tap water. Am I right?

It's mind boggling to think the bottled water industry is a multi-million dollar one. Can you imagine going back in time and telling the early settlers one day the water they were pulling up from a well would be sold in bottles because we didn't trust our drinking water supplies anymore? Due to a heightened national awareness of health and fitness issues, there are countless "brand name" bottled waters to choose from, each claiming their water is more pure than the other.

Okay, reader, let's talk about the bottle vs. tap debate--

Twenty five to 40 percent of bottled water comes from municipal water supplies. Say what? I'm buying tap water? Basically, the bottled water companies buy their water from regular reservoirs, which are monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency. Although the Food and Drug Administration regulates the quality of bottled water, their quality standards are sometimes less stringent than those of the EPA. Tap water may taste differently, but that doesn't mean that it's not safe to drink. In fact, the purest water is free of all minerals and salts, which makes it taste flat. Chlorides, sodium, and calcium are what give bottled water its flavor. The Safe Drinking Water Act ensures your tap water is constantly checked for dangerous substances.

Tap water may actually have health advantages. Tap water contains fluoride, the mineral dentists use to keep your teeth strong and prevent tooth decay. Most bottled water companies remove the fluoride through the distillation process. Water enhanced with vitamins and supplements is not necessarily healthier. "Enhanced" waters often contain extra sugar, artificial flavors, and calories that are most definitely NOT good for you. Those many bottled water companies claim their brand provides additional vitamins and nutrients. They usually end up containing only a minute fraction of your daily requirements. Tap water is easy on the environment! While many companies claim that their plastic bottles are eco-friendly, the truth is most of them just end up in the trash. Not only can you save money by sticking to tap, but using a regular kitchen glass is much better for the environment.

When I discovered these facts, I was as surprised as you probably are. It all comes down to convenience, doesn't it? What are we spending our money on when all we really need is right there in our taps in two flavors - hot and cold!

Quick Note: Why don't you get a steel bottle from this link or this link at MyGreenClick's Amazon store? MyGreenClick gives a portion of every sale towards planting trees and helping the environment. Every time we shop, we use MyGreenClick's Amazon store and you should too!

 
Add to Facebook Add to Digg Add to Delicious Add to Reddit Add to MySpace Add to StumbleUpon
COMMENT ON ARTICLE
 
COMMENTS & DISCUSSION
by Jenn
So if we had absolutely no bottled water companies and bottled water in all shapes or form.....Ask survivors of Katrina, could they drink their local tap water?
by Paris
See, I told you we can drink TAP WATER!
by carol
"Did you know" that you can boil your water, and it is just as good as the bottled water. When you look close, buying bottled water, is somewhat the same as paying a water bill, so when it comes to tap! water I agree that it is just as good as bottled water. If I may add better.
by Joni
Well i would like to say this about tap water. The FDA says its ok to drink the tap water and all the total desolved solids (TDS) in it because they want to cause panic about the poisions in the water, and towns cities and municipalities cant or wont afford to provide clean water. The TDS count in water should be 9 or less to consider it clean. Distilled water no mater where it comes from is clean . The water is empty of TDS and is the only water that should be consumed by humans. Studies have been done and if u would have done a little bit of research u would have found that the gouvernment has lists and amounts of how much poisions and pesticides ,fecies etc...are exceptable to be left in the tap water. It has been proven that heavy metals contribute to many dis eases and cause all kinds of pain to the muscles and cause brain difunction in the body. The water treatment centers put clorene, arsnic, and aluninum, and the floride that is used in the water will rot your teeth and well who wants to eat rat poison. Who knows what else it does to your system. So i will continue to buy distilled water and always have for 30 yrs. And the minerals u need are not suppose to come form water they are suppose to come from food. In water they are too imbalanced. So the next time u write and artical about something u should do some research about the subject instead of turning your artical into a comercial for a steel bottle, which by the way polluted the air to be made. And our bodies are about 80% water so it has everything to do with our health. I cannot believe Belinda thinks we dont need water and her words where" water has absolutely no health benifits". Without water u die. You can live without food longer than u can live without water. Dont people read anymore before they write these statements. Clean water is needed for suvival. Water that is clean isnt suppose to have any taste, so get educated and read what u are consumeing. Quit being sheep and stop thinking u know eveything, get educated and take control of your lives and be responible about what u consume. I can be the difference of good and bad health as you grow old. Trust me or not there is more information about whats in your tap water just look for it. If u drink water and get a stomace ache then u know there is something bad in that water. Thats how i can tell when i have to drink water that there is no information about its contents on the bottle.
by Belinda
Yes...there is no reason to continue to invest money in bottled water...it is a million dollar industry and the water has absolutely no health benefits. Now...should you drink tap water...I would be skeptical as a health promoter to suggest this to people since along with the flouride...tap water contains chlorine and chlorine is a chemical that is used to kill bacteria ...so what is the alternative...ionized water. As usual...America is behind when it comes to this topic. Ionized water has been used in homes, hospital and clinics for years in Korea and Japan. Ionized water is recognized as a medical treatment as well. Now before you say...they are expensive...there are many different ionizers and I definitely advocate choosing one that fit your own personal need and your financial budget. My blog http://www.healnpowerofwater.blogspot.com has a link to visit a site that you can see a variety of ionizers as well as a e-book for the benefits of ionized water.
by Lee-Lee
I think that tap water is by far the most safest water to drink.
by Deb
Flouride is a controlled chemical....why would I want to drink it? It has topical benefits for teeth -but injesting it!?! That is why bottled is preferrable.
by Lisa
While tap water is cheaper than bottled water, where I live it has a bleachy taste all the time. I've even tried chilling it before I drink it and can still smell it. It may just be my taste buds, I've noticed that since I have changed my eating habits that all my senses are very strong. But on the up side, I have lost about 14 inches total off my entire body and went from a size 14 to a size 6/8 in about a year. NO DIETING INVOLVED!
by Linda
I am not sure if my tap water is safe to drink? We are on well water? What do you think? I buy water all the time for drink.
by Linda
I am not sure if my tap water is safe to drink? We are on well water? What do you think? I buy water all the time for drink.
by Paul
Boy,you really need to get up to date on your facts.Flouride is a poison that is being used by the "Powers That Be" to dumb us down as a soceity,make us docile and thereby easier to control and feed us their pablum that they want us to believe.Flouride was sold as a main ingredient in rat poison back in the early 1950,s before flouride was put in the municipal water supplies!!!!!Do you really want to drink a poisonous ingredient found in rat poison in your drinking water?Wake up and smell the coffee!!! It,s time to wake up!!!The year 2012 is right around the corner---wake up!!!Go to FlourideAlert.Org and educate yourself on the true deadly realities of flouride!!!People need to stop being such sheeple and take control of their lives,their health!!! I will only drink tap water if it has no flouride put in it.
by Virginia
I have heard this before about bottle water, However I was diagnosed with irritable bowel sydrome. Somehow I don't know if it is psychological,but when I drink bottle water I don't get abdominal pain. Tap water does not taste as good as bottle water, and it causes abdominal discomfort for me. Tap water comes from our resoviors, and it's treated before it leaves it. It must contain small amounts of ecoli, because this is found in people stool. I recommend you drink bottle water
by Virginia
I have heard this before about bottle water, However I was diagnosed with irritable bowel sydrome. Somehow I don't know if it is psychological,but when I drink bottle water I don't get abdominal pain. Tap water does not taste as good as bottle water, and it causes abdominal discomfort for me. Tap water comes from our resoviors, and it's treated before it leaves it. It must contain small amounts of ecoli, because this is found in people stool. I recommend you drink bottle water
by dorlise
The water in my apartment has a high rust content. The shower curtain is orange and the drain is constantly rusting. I do not think this is very safe to drink either
by Debbie
There is a huge difference in how our ancestors got water from a well and how we today get our water that is treated with chlorine and can have both mercury and arsenic in it. A better suggestion would be to buy a filter for your kitchen sink to help clean out the yuckie stuff and many now have a PH system which can boost the PH level of your water which is much better for you body anyway. Especially since the chlorine our local water is treated with reduces the PH level to below neutral.
by Judy
Well, I don't know about the water taste where you live, but where I live it tastes like chlorine bleach, and not to mention the fact that I don't want flouride added to my water for own benefit?. Flouride isn't getting a good rap these days. I don't buy a lot of bottled water, but I do filter it to get the taste of chlorine out of it.
Yuck. When I do bottled water it is distilled and much better for my disabled son. There aren't so many heavy metals in it and his organs aren't that taxed in filtering it.
by suwannee
Fluoride is not good for brain. It's a must to drink it filtered. Buy good water filter, fill up in glass container. I always carry glass container everywhere esp. to the gym. It's heavier than plastic bottle, of course. But I'm willing to carry it to save our world. Please don't use too much plastic in your life.
by sue
it is aiknown fact flouride is NOT good for us and the city water of LONG BEACH is full of chemicals
safe to drink? I think not...
by Charles
I use reverse osmosis water that I purchase from a local store and I always carry my reusable container that is very convenient-no more disposable plastic bottles to harm the evviornment. Despite all the latest hype about tap water being considered safe, I feel more comfortable using reverse osmosis water for now, until I can afford to purchase a system.
by Farrah
I find this article interesting but more importantly I'd like to know where your reserach and data are gathered from?
by MindBodySanctuary - Editor Katherine
Hi everyone,

We're so glad to see discussion happening about this topic. You're right, there is so much talk about bottled water vs. tap water. As you can see, there are so many questions about what the real issues are and we hope to have more articles about future findings on the topic. The writer discusses some of her findings and, like many of us, it's an ongoing study she's going through. Will we ever have all the answers on the issue? Who knows, but the fact is that we're all aware that our water quality as well as the use of plastics and purchasing power is worthy of discussion. Let's keep talking about it. This is so important!
by maria
There is no debate. If you keep up on the EPA, you will find that 12 water plants from southern california all the way to new jersey are being investigated for not purifying the water correctly. So either way you look at it, there are pharmasuticals in our water from tap to bottled. So boil it.
by Sam H.
Why don't you have a response to the comments that the readers have made in regards to this article you wrote on tap water vs. bottle water
by Bill
FLUORIDE IS A POISON TO THE HUMAN BODY. THIS REALLY IS A FACT AND WHAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR ARTICLE PROCLAIMED AS "FACT" IS A "LIE".
This is what I recommend: when you use the word "FACT" in future articles investigate it thouroughly. These purported findings and facts you are issuing are "told" by the dentists and doctors associations who want people to be sick and in pour health so these organizations can rake in the billions of dollars in profits alone from the death, darkness they have created.
LIVE, LOVE, LIGHT!
by Nineta
Environment is an important issue for us these days. The bad was done long time ago and we are the children of those who started to sell water in plastic containers, while the water pipes they planted inside the walls of our houses started to rust... We are caught inside a trap: we cannot drink tap water cause we don't trust those who prepare it when they say it is good to be drinken; and we cannot give up the bottle water cause we don't know how they prepare it hoping it is healthy. So, we have to chose between two situations we have no guarantee for. What we need is more information and a healthy attitude towards what is good for us to maintain a healthy state, physically and mentally!
by Rachel
Well-you've lost me as a potential paying subscriber....I guess it is true that a majority of "alternative health" proponents just toe the line and spout the same lies-lite maybe but lies nonetheless.
Fluoride is a poison. Period. And why pick on bottled water only if its the plastic they 're concerned with . Everything is bottled in plastic!
Myself, I plan on using the Prill beads I purchased on ebay to purify my water of fluoride and all the rest---And help save the environment at the same time. Yes Prill water will restore the water on earth once it goes down the drain.
by Sandy
Hello, am I missing something here? I thought aluminum was not healthy for us to be using. Does it not contribute to alzheimer's disease, etc.?
by pam scott
I read an article that the plastic that holds the "good water" is leaking carcinogens into it when it gets heated or used too many times. So to use a bottle only once is not good for the environment, To have nasty chemicals leak into the water from the bottle and to add floride is also a bad thing I it's ok to filter deadly metals, and harmful chemicals such as pharetcueticals but we are also doing ourselves a disservice by not doing enough studies to see how a product like the "miracleproduct" plastic might harm us before they put it on the market.
by DANIEL THOMAS
IT IS TRUE THAT THE NATURAL WATER IS BETTER THAN BOTTLE WATER. WHAT DO USE TO TREAT OUR WATER BEFORE DRINKING?
by MindBodySanctuary Editor - Katherine
Hi Sandy,

You're right! Our mistake. The bottle is actually steel, NOT aluminum!
by APRIL LAWRENCE
I have to agree with you. tap water has been around and never hurt anybody(FDA) is just looking for america to spend more money.
by Gwendolyn King
I thank you for this information,because I always wonder about it. but I am glad I started using tap . That is the least I could to save the trees.
by VINCENT
I TOO AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE FLOURIDE IN THE WATER, SURE, IT'S GREAT FOR THE TEETH...OR SO THEY SAY. BUT WHY DO WE NEED IT INSIDE OUR BODIES? WE DON'T...AND FROM WHAT I'VE READ IT IS THE CAUSE OF A LOT OF TODAY'S DISEASE. IF I THOUGHT A WATER FILTER WOULD TAKE THE FLOURIDE OUT, I WOULD USE ONE. I GET TIRED OF LUGGING CASES OF WATER UP A FLIGHT OF STAIRS, AS IT IS MY KNEES ARE FADING FAST. ASIDE FROM ALL THE CRAP THEY DO TO THE WATER AT THE WATER PLANTS, IT'S WHAT HAPPENS TO IT BEFORE IT GETS THERE THAT BUGS ME. I JUST CAN'T FATHOM DRINKING WATER, OF ANY KIND, THAT HAS BEEN URINATED IN, POOPED IN, HAD DRUGS POURED IN, AND COUNTLESS OTHER DISGUSTING THINGS WE WON'T DISCUSS HERE. IT'S MORE OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTOR THAN ANYTHING. THE BOTTLED WATER COULD BE JUST AS BAD OR WORSE, BUT THE FACT THAT IT'S "SUPPOSED" TO BE BETTER FOR US, IS WHAT MAKES OUR MINDS REST AT EASE ABOUT IT. HONESTLY, I WISH I KNEW OF A SURE FIRE WAY TO GET QUALITY WATER,WITHOUT ANY HARMFUL SIDE-EFFECTS, NOT ONLY TO ME, BUT TO THE ENVIRONMENT AS WELL...BUT ME FIRST! I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO USE TAP WATER, BUT I HAVEN'T FOUND A WATER FILTER SYSTEM YET THAT TAKES OUT FLOURIDE, ALONG WITH THE SLEW OF OTHER NASTIES IN OUR WATER TODAY!

Subscribe to MindBodySanctuary

MOREBY TOPIC