Here are a few choice goodies found in the water: Coliform bacteria, caffeine, the pain reliever acetaminophen, fertilizer, solvents, plastic-making chemicals and the radioactive element strontium.
All brands met the federal standards for drinking water, though researchers were concerned enough about two of the brands to release their names.
Sam's Choice sold by Wal-Mart and Acadia of Giant Food supermarkets contained chlorine byproducts above California's (stricter) standards, according to the Washington-based Environmental Working Group, an organization founded by scientists that advocates stricter regulation.
From USAToday:
In the Wal-Mart and Giant Food bottled water, the highest concentration of chlorine byproducts, known as trihalomethanes, was over 35 parts per billion. California requires 10 parts per billion or less, and the industry's International Bottled Water Association makes 10 its voluntary guideline. The federal limit is 80.
Water researcher Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment of the University at Albany, who had no role in the study, singled out trihalomethanes as the biggest concern because of strong research links to cancer.
"These are levels that should not be in bottled water," he said.
Giant Food officials declined to comment. Instead, company officials released a brief statement asserting that Acadia meets all regulatory standards.
Acadia is sold in the mid-Atlantic states, so it isn't held to California's standard. In most places, bottled water must meet roughly the same federal standards as tap water.
The researchers also said the Wal-Mart brand exceeded California's limit by five times for a second chlorine byproduct, bromodichloromethane.
The Environmental Working Group said it notified California's attorney general of its intent to sue Wal-Mart. The group wants the company to label its bottles in California with a warning of cancer-causing chemicals. Wal-Mart did not respond to a request for comment.
Ultimately, the researchers concluded that bottled water was, in some cases, no less polluted than tap water, and a waste of money. They recommended filtering tap water yourself.
Group: Wal-Mart, Giant bottled water shows more contamination [USAToday]
Drink our bottle water, it will cure your head-ache. Made from natural springs flowing behind our parking lot.
]]>Am I the only one that reads "exceeds the health standards" as "does better than the standard" instead of "falls completely short"? I figured out it was "nasty substances exceeds the limit" but when I first saw "two brands exceed", I thought, great, it'll say which brands I should stick to. :(
]]>Tap water is regulated by the EPA, and held to very stringent standards. At the least, assuming nothing is wrong with municipal or your pipes, you're probably going to be quite safe drinking tap water, even if it can have a bad taste in some places.
Bottled water is regulated by the FDA, and while still unlikely to kill you (immediately), it's less stringent.
Basically, tap water is healthier, and if you filter it, doubly so. In fact, I find that with the exception of Poland Spring and Fiji, my local water (NYC and Yonkers) tastes better than all bottled waters. Even so, I don't drink them if I'm buying, because there's no point in wasting the money, unless I'm in an area where there are health risks (developing countries).
]]>Forgot to add those who don't realize that bottled water may be better for you THAN soda or beer but not 'great' for you like a pill or orange juice.
Some think you will not get the benefit of drinking water unless it's bottled.Part of that is marketing but the other is education to the importance of drinking WATER.
]]>There have been so many reports over the years about bottled water.There are idiots out who still do not get it's not necessarily from a spring or purified.It's TAP water with some filtering-if your lucky.
The medication and chlorine in municipal TAP water is older news.And if that didn't grap your attention this year there has been a push to scold you naughty bottled water drinkers for stuffing landfills.
]]>The water industry calls those contaminents: Moose Piss. I think you can figure out why.
Remember, everythig flows downhill.
]]>@MikeF74: I'm the same way. I can taste the chlorine on Dasani as well.
]]>@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: Water bottled and sold in-state is subject to FDA regulation, which means it is required to meet EPA standards for water but not all processes. The biggest significant difference is in the # of samples that are pulled from the water source. Municipal suppliers usually have to test about 7 times a day. Sources for bottled water are tested much more rarely - and imo are less likely to pick up trace disinfection byproducts that cause these kinds of problems on a scale as large as Walmarts.
]]>There's a theory which holds that all the "antibacterial" crap, sterilizing your kids, never letting them play in the dirt, etc. is why so many kids have fatal allergies today, compared to when I was a kid. (In the 1970s). No one used Germ-X - we just used soap!
]]>@alexawesome: Yeah, my tap water tastes just fine. I'm not paying a dollar per bottle for something from a municipal source, meaning tax dollars already paid for its cleaning and filtration at the treatment plant. I have been known to waste my money on occasion, but that's even too stupid for me.
]]>The problem is that people don't return them. I'm all for putting a deposit on water bottles to help with that issue.
]]>The Hoosick area has pretty good water as well.
Western MA doesn't have as good of water but that's mostly due to bad pipes in most homes. Our water is gritty unless we filter it. $10 every 5 weeks or so is a small price to pay for filtered water with a PUR filter considering the crap that is in our water (though it is technically safe, it tastes nasty)
]]>I have been using an Aquasana countertop water filter for all my cooking and drinking needs, and I rely on it to filter minerals out of water for the humidifier (keeps the wicks fresher longer)and a tabletop water fountain.
The filters last about six months, and a replacement set (of two) costs $50.
So for about $100/year, you can have tasty fresh water on tap when you need it, and no nasty plastic bottles to lug around or throw out.
]]>The way to truly pay almost nothing is to filter your water as soon as it comes into your home. I do, bought a PureMaster™ V-750 Premium Whole House Water Filtration System on super sale for $325. Doing that filters all the water that my appliances use, effectively extending the life of my water heater, washer, etc. (Ever seen inside a typical water heater after 7 or 8 years, barf!)
Beyond that upfront cost it is only $10 every 2 months, $10 every roughly 8000 gallons.
]]>This isn't "dirty" water. It's enhanced with caffeine and pain reliever. Now you don't need to buy Starbucks or suffer in pain. This water provides it all in one!
]]>They can keep on giving their children bottled water, adding to the landfills and wasting money. And giving me dirty looks, I might add, as I don't think anyone should pay too much attention to that kind of stuff.
]]>I always used to say that Aquafina tasted like pool water. I knew I wasn't crazy.
]]>I don't think people are worried about germs in their tap water though. I think it's more about chlorine and pharmaceuticals.
]]>I live in BFE and my tap water smells like eggs. All my neighbors water smells nasty too.
I have a water cooler that I refill and use its water for drinking, cooking, and making tea.
(TY, Dana Carvey)
]]>I drink tap water right out of the tap.
I don't get what the obsession with "purer" water is, but if you want "pure" water, purchase your own filtration systems. They might be a good idea if you live in an older building where the pipes are lousy, and they will always cost less and be more effective than bottled water. Which is inevitably bottled tapwater with a nice label.
]]>We fill the same 8 bottles with tap water and put them in the fridge. Then we have cold, fresh bottled water anytime we want.
]]>Sounds like the makings of a great weekend to me...
]]>Clean is one thing but I just think it's unnatural to sterilize and make everything antibacterial. How else will your body know how to fight things off if it's never exposed to anything to built up antibodies.
You can pretty much identify dirty water if you look. Tap is fine for me.
]]>We've got the cleanest, best tasting water in human history, and for daily consumption, it's pretty much free (that is to say, if you drink 8 glasses of water a day, it'll cost you like less than $0.02), but people willingly pay $5 for a 12 pack of plastic bottles every time they turn around.
]]>@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: I think the "watchful eye of the Food and Drug Administration" bit should set off warning bells for everyone.
]]>People dumb enough to pay for bottled water have $hit for brains ... why not drink some of it ?
]]>It's entirely unsurprising that bottled water is no less polluted than tap water, considering that the vast majority of bottled water is bottled from municipal (read: tap) water sources.
Combined with the fact that the bottles themselves end up in landfills, and the plastic and transportation involved are an excessive use of petroleum in various forms, bottled water is all around a VERY bad deal for both the consumer and the environment. The advantage of bottled water is the convenience of carrying it with you, but a Nalgene bottle fixes that problem quickly.
The US has some of the most stringent public water supply quality standards, and it's a shame we don't take advantage of them more often. Many many other countries (even developed ones) don't have the same level of free, publicly accessible potable water that the US does.
]]>@taylorhempel: Actually, if taken properly salt can help you keep properly hydrated. Granted this requires the consumption of additional water after the salt, but if it's in the water anyway that isn't an issue. Most survival literature will have a bit about this where you are essentially pulling the water from you body with the salt, and then providing it with plenty of water to resuply with. You're body will absorbe more than it lost from the salt.
]]>@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: My issue with bottled water has never really been the toxicity levels in relation to the locally available water supply, but more the efficientcy of the whole process. The last statistic I recall (what's with that huge grain of salt...ooooh) a bottle of water required over 5x the volume it contained to produce and market it. It's asinine.
Your situation is different thowever where the locally available supply isn't palletable, and filtering is both expensive and inefficient. If you were interested in it though, there are other alternatives. You could attempt to distill your well water (which could have cursory benefits), or if you get a lot of direct sunlight, you could do a solar-evaporation method (like is used for desalination). Or you could continue to buy bottled water because it's easy and doesn't taste like sulfer.
]]>I'm taking an environmental engineering class at the moment and we're covering drinking water right now. Honestly, I feel better drinking from the tap knowing it's covered by the EPA and completely understanding the process that they use to treat the water - from the source until it comes out of the pipe. Bottled water can really get questionable because I really don't think the FDA has the ability to manage all it along with everything else that it has to take care of.
]]>@Angryrider: To clarify, for something to be considered a "mineral" it has to be naturally occuring and produced through a geological process. Few toxic substances, and all feces fail to meet that qualification.
Now I have to go dunk my head in water as pennance for being the nit-picking asshat.
]]>Bottled water falls under the watchful eye of the Food and Drug Administration, which is required to uphold the standards set for tap water by the Environmental Protection Agency. Although state governments may adopt higher standards, although there have been no incidents of food-borne illness attributed to bottled water, there is no reason to assume that it is safer than what is supplied by your municipality.
Well, and most bottled water (if you look at the ingredients) has sodium in it.
Granted this is probably for taste, but what else does salt do to you?
Everybody say it with me now..."makes you thirsty!" That's right! Good job everyone! SO proud! ;)
/sarcasm off :D
]]>I wonder if "an organization founded by scientists that advocates stricter regulation" might be completely objective ...
]]>Oh Mr. Black, how I love thee.
]]>Municipal Water has Federal regulations under the EPA. Whereas bottled water is considered a food product and is only regulated if it is bottled and sold across state lines. If the product never crosses a state line then it's up to individual states to regulate it.
Bottled water is really just more convenient than bottling it yourself.
]]>That'll show 'em
]]>New York has the best water in the country.
]]>@MikeF74: Coke's bottled water is Dasani, Pepsi bottles Aquafina. Both are just soda without the carbonation or syrup.
]]>But so does grilling your own hamburgers and McDonalds still makes a lot of money.
]]>Nuff said.
]]>I got one of those filters on the door of my fridge. The water out of it tastes better than any bottle water I ever drank.
]]>I really think bottled water is a total racket. We filter at the sink here and pay almost nothing for it.
]]>