Bottled Water

Has everyone been paying attention to the latest news on bottled water? I'm not sure that we can call it the latest news because I've noticed that researchers have been trying to tell us the same things about bottled water for the past 5 to 7 years. News has it that your bottled water may be no different than your tap water. I stopped purchasing bottled water when I read an article stating that you can save $300 a year if you stop purchasing bottled water and use a filter system. So I purchased one of those Brita filter pitchers. I calculated and found that I saved $240 last year. Many of the bottled waters are not from the source that they are reported to be from. Glacier water is not from a glacier. It's from Greeneville, Tennessee.  There is no evidence that bottled water is healthier than tap water. "Vitamins, color, herbs, protein, and all the other additions to water are a marketing ploy," says Marion Nestle, Ph.D., professor of nutrition studies at New York University. The vitamins added to water are not enough to make any nutritional difference.

The bottled water industry is a billion dollar business. Coke and Pepsi got into the business in order to compensate for their decreased soda sales. It is estimated that about 25% of the bottled waters consumed in the U.S. come from municipal water supplies. That includes your Dasani (Coke product) and your Aquafina (Pepsi product). Most go through significant processing such as reverse osmosis, deionization, activated carbon filtration and other treatments.  Read the label carefully. If it is packaged as "purified" or "drinking water," chances are it came from a municipal water supply, and unless the water has been substantially altered, it must state on the label that the water comes from a municipal source.

Ever wonder why your bottled water has a date on it? The longer the water has been in the plastic container, the more chance that substances have been released into the water from the plastic. So if you're going to purchase bottled water, make sure that the date on the the bottle is closest to the date of purchase. If the date is 6 months out, that means that water has been sitting in that bottle for a long time.