Bottled Water: A Comparative Analysis

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

Bottled water has become a controversial topic as of late. There are always two sides to every argument, some think that bottled water is beneficial to society, whereas some people think that it is detrimental to society as a whole. Bottled water is detrimental to society because it costs the country an abundance of money. It is also harmful to society because it is damaging to the environment. A lack of sanitation in bottled water has also been connected to illnesses among people who drink it. Bottled water is in no way shape or form worth the price that one will spend financially, nor is it worth the gamble of becoming sick from all the harsh chemicals that come from the bottle itself.

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.

Bottled water manufacturers’ marketing campaigns capitalize on isolated instances of contaminated public drinking water supplies by encouraging the perception that their products are purer and safer than tap water. But the reality is that tap water is held to

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?

In fact 22% of test water bottle brands had chemical contaminants higher than the state limit (ABC, 1). So why do Americans think bottled water is so great? Maybe it’s because of how much companies advertise the product, advertising expenses for bottled water totaled $61 million in 2012 ("International Bottled Water Association" 1). Whatever the reason may be, bottled water is the second most popular beverage in the U.S.A., and more and more bottles of water are being produced and distributed this very second.

Do you enjoy that taste of pure, bottled water after a long, hot, sweaty day? Sure, everyone turns to bottled water when they are clenching of thirst and need to get water conveniently. An average American drinks around 31 gallons of bottled water each year. Without a doubt, bottle water is convenient. But have you ever thought about what happens after you throw it away, or where the water comes from? Bottled water needs to be limited, or even banned from schools.

In a qualitative study performed in the United Kingdom, “the majority of participants associated bottled water with having fewer impurities than tap water, and were more likely to trust the quality of bottled water than tap water” (Ward). Individuals with well water should also be attentive to the purity of their water supply, as it is not even held to regulation standard. Looking at the facts though, bottled water is regulated by Food and Drug Administration in equivalence to the Environmental Protection Agency who holds the public officials accountable for the standards of tap water (Hogan & Larsen). This is not to say, though, that there is not human error on both sides that can cause room for contamination of a drinking supply and jeopardize the safety of the

Gleick supports this argument and cites specific grounds that disprove bottled water companies’ false claims. For example oxygenated water is said to “strengthen your immune system…and even brain function” despite scientific testing done proving that a single breath of air contains more oxygen than the product itself (Gleick 118). Next, the author recalls someone who drank nothing but super-hydrating Penta Water, which cost over sixty dollars a case. This costly expense was proven to be futile, because scientific evidence proved that Penta did not have any health benefits superior to those of ordinary water (Gleick 129). Barnett incorporates a qualifier which states that it is difficult to conclude whether bottled or tap water is healthier. However, this does not take away from the fact that the EPA, which regulates municipal water, is more strict than the FDA is with regulation over bottled water. Bottled water companies claim they intensely purify their products despite this evidence. These seemingly astonishing claims mislead consumers who do not possess the knowledge nor the equipment necessary to test the water themselves. Consumers spend money to purchase products that turn out to have no outstanding health benefits. They may additionally put their health at risk by consuming bottled water which may contain pollutants detrimental to the human body.

Tap water is extremely cheaper than bottled water is. According to Livingston, tap water costs only $2.00 every thousand gallons, whereas the cost per gallon of bottled water is $1.21. "That means, priced by gallon, bottled water is more than 600 times more expensive than tap water" (Livingston). Buying a bottled water may be cheaper at the time, however, that $1.00 or so adds up. When people buy bottled water, it is often the same as tap, just that’s been filtered or purified (Livington). So, why spend money on bottled water when it's rather identical to tap, with no

“But no one should think that bottled water is better regulated, better protected or safer than tap,” says Eric Goldstein. Most people don’t know that they are drinking “glorified tap water” when they are drinking a bottle of water that claims it is from a pristine source but is actually from a public water source. About 25% of bottled water comes from municipal supply. Water coming from areas near hazardous sources sell water to bottlers. This water may then be passed off as “spring water” or “pure glacier water.”

The use of bottled water dates as far back as the year sixteen-hundred and twenty two in a town called Malvern in England. They would bottle and sell water from a site called the Holy Well because it was believed to having healing properties.() Nearly four hundred years later we still bottle water, but our reasons have changed from the superstitions of the seventeenth century. Yet despite the reason why being different, the idea is still rooted in superstition. In the modern day, instead of believing that bottled water has healing potential it has become the idea that only bottled water is safe to drink and that water from the tap is unclean and dangerous. These ideas were bred by companies looking to make money off a fear. The reality is that

Bottled water should not be used as often as it is because of the greater the number of bottled water that is consumed, the greater the increase in the amount of pollution that will be in the environment. One may argue that water bottles can be recycled after use so that more can be made from it. One also may be right with this statement because recycling is known to be a useful task for the environment, however, they forget to recognize Casey’s studies that show, “there is no legal way to recycle…without adding a new layer of virgin plastic” (Casey 232). Not only does plastic pollution become a problem when bottled water is excessively consumed, but the natural resources that get used to package it can begin to run out. The more that bottled water is used, the more oil that will be needed to package and ship the bottles, therefore using up a valuable resource that could be preserved (“Bottled Water”). If bottled water would be consumed less often, there might be a chance that the government could spend less time and money on attempting to regulate bottled water and spend that resource on continuing to make our tap water

Americans live in a consumer society where majority of products are packaged ready for use. This is attributed to the availability of disposable merchandise that is favorable and efficient in delivering the various products that are on demand. Among the various favorably consumed packed products is bottled water. It does not however, make sense for people to buy bottled water and throw the container away after they have emptied it. This is because the plastic bottles have a number of defects to the environment as well as to the general welfare of the economy. For example, in 1976 an average American drank 1.6 gallons of bottled water and since then the quantity has increased to an average of 30

Bottled water is one of products popularly consumed back to a few decades. Result from the production of bottled water, people likely prefer to drink bottled water than tap water while some researches find out the fact that water in bottle are not as safe as water provided by state companies. Why people choose to drink bottled water and whether bottled water is pure as advertisement are the crucial concerns, together with the effect of bottled water on human being’s health and the natural environment.