Unlike tap water, which is regularly tested and results made public, the bottled water industry is not mandated to disclose their results…if any testing is done at all. Bottled water is not held to the same safety standard as tap water; all the beautiful images of high mountain streams and cool, deep springs doesn’t make it safer; nor do prices 1,900 times tap water. Instead, bottled water can contain disinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue and pain medication…not to mention the chemicals the plastic bottle off-gases into it. Chemicals such as phthalates or Bisphenol A, both with carcinogenic effects and now linked to obesity by triggering fat-cell activity.To read the full EWG Report click here.
It would be so much healthier to put a charcoal-filter on your tap water and re-fill your own hard-plastic water bottle for the road. Do it; our land-fills are choking on throw-away bottles and our seas are filling up with garbage!
Click that last link or this one to discover two new 'continents' in the middle of our ocean (shown above) ...made entirely of plastic; 100,000,000 tons of it.
Consider this an update to my blog entry: Don't Flush Your Drugs!, More on Water Wars, and Bottle Your Own! Yeah, you could say I'm a little concerned about the water I drink.
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9 comments:
Lack of testing has long been the "dirty little secret" of the bottled water industry. There are few or no regulations requiring testing as there are for public water systems. There may be a clear mountain spring pictured on the label, but the water can come from anywhere.
One caveat for carbon-filtering of water, which I used for years when I lived in the city. There have been reports (which I've read, but not verified) of certain bacteria which can grow in the filters, and can cause illness, if you have non-chlorinated water, as I have with my well, but then my water tastes lovely without it.
Exactly!
...and by the way, your mayor has been on the forfront in trying to undo the damage:
http://newmexicoindependent.com/857/mayors-battle-bottled-water :)
About the carbon-filtering; I imagine, like fishtanks and refrigerators; one must change the filters from time to time. But...doesn't the charcoal remove more than just the taste of chlorine?
I hate to ask this...but when was the last time you had your well-water tested? I have never used a water-filter...but after reading what's in my water here in town AND in the local wellwater...I'm looking into it. [shudder]
Lordy...is anything safe anymore? Can you believe what pigs we are? That whole mess out at see absolutely shocks me!
Here ya go:
http://www.uc.edu/gissa/projects/drinkingwater/msa.asp?area=31
Probably not exactly the same for well-water; but it's still from the same area...no?
Arsnic? That's scary...
Truthfully, I had never thought about the environmental impact of bottled water until I moved up to the mountains a few months ago. I always recycled the plastic bottle, but it is far far better to reuse them. I haven't bought bottled water in a while and probably won't after reading this.
Debbie, thanks for leaving your comment here! Sometimes I seem to be haranguing on and on about stuff that is just not so much fun to think about. Still…if we DO think about it; perhaps change will happen! I’m glad you aren’t going to buy bottled water anymore; I don’t either. I have purchased a couple really good re-usable bottles that are made of better material and don’t leach chemicals into the contents, either!
Why pay so much for bottled water when it’s likely no better than tap, anyway?
Thanks again…and to think I nearly didn’t publish this…my fourth piece on water.
There was a lot of talk about water bottles and leaching chemicals on one of the local blog sites. The consensus seemed to be that your best bet is stainless steel. Last time I was in REI they were featuring a line of stainless steel water bottles.
They are selling this one for less than $10.
Yup...I've mentioned it as well; but figured I'd not go into the science of it all. As if I'd truly understand it; all I know is:
People laugh when they see an expiration date on the packaged water bottles...but it is because of that leaching of chemicals INTO the water that they don't want it on the shelf too long! Ewwwww!!!
That's a really good price for the reusable bottles, Bill. Thanks!!!
Amen!
I see those commercials showing a clear, crisp mountain stream and I think, "Did a deer just pee upriver? Is there a dead, bloated raccoon up there somewhere?" Gross, but that's what pops into my head.
We have a filter on our fridge and we love that water. If I am forced to buy a bottle, I use it until it disintegrates. And I still feel guilty.
And what about birth control pills, etc, in the water supple turning frogs into hermaphrodites? Well, with the anti-depressants in the water, too, I guess the frogs don't care.
: )
LMAO Thanks! I needed that!!!
I appreciate all the comments here... and encourage everyone to use the link I included to check the water quality in YOUR area. The state of our water is pretty shocking!
We need to do more than just refuse to pay for tap water in a bottle...we need to clean up the water we drink...and stop just wondering why cancer is an epidemic.
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