Bottled Water vs Tap Water
Elizabeth Young
BIO 220
January 27, 2013
Trent McDowell
Filter This: The Advantages of Bottling Your Own Water Water, life’s most essential element. Is your consumption of this life giving liquid eradicating the Earth as we know it? Bottled water has become a huge trend in the US and the world today. “In 2007, Americans spent $11.7 billion on 8.8 billion gallons of bottled water,” (Palliser, 2010, p1). They are on the shelves of every convenience store, supermarket and vending machine. They are in the hands of some of the world’s most elite, in 2011, “the House of Representatives spent about $750,000 on bottled water,” (Resetarits, 2012, para 5). Is all of this bottling necessary? Is bottled water healthier, better for you, more economical, or better for the environment? If not, why does America continue to drink at such an alarming rate, and is there an alternative? Bottling your own tap water, filtering out the impurities, costs only a fraction of purchasing bottled water, and can save up to 1,000 years of decomposition on each and every plastic bottle that does not get recycled. When choosing your water, there seem to be endless options. There are bottled waters labeled Artesian, Mineral, Spring, Purified, Municipal, and Well. What do each of these mean? Artesian water is “Water that taps an aquifer layers of porous rock, sand and earth, usually deep underground that contain water,” (Klesig, 2004, p2). This water can be very pure due to the layers of sediment that often prevent contaminants from migrating into the water. Despite claims of the bottlers however, there is no indication or guarantee that this water is any purer than ground water. Mineral water is “water from an underground source that contains at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. Minerals and trace elements must come from the water source,” (Klesig, 2004, p2). Spring water is water “derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to
BIO 220
January 27, 2013
Trent McDowell
Filter This: The Advantages of Bottling Your Own Water Water, life’s most essential element. Is your consumption of this life giving liquid eradicating the Earth as we know it? Bottled water has become a huge trend in the US and the world today. “In 2007, Americans spent $11.7 billion on 8.8 billion gallons of bottled water,” (Palliser, 2010, p1). They are on the shelves of every convenience store, supermarket and vending machine. They are in the hands of some of the world’s most elite, in 2011, “the House of Representatives spent about $750,000 on bottled water,” (Resetarits, 2012, para 5). Is all of this bottling necessary? Is bottled water healthier, better for you, more economical, or better for the environment? If not, why does America continue to drink at such an alarming rate, and is there an alternative? Bottling your own tap water, filtering out the impurities, costs only a fraction of purchasing bottled water, and can save up to 1,000 years of decomposition on each and every plastic bottle that does not get recycled. When choosing your water, there seem to be endless options. There are bottled waters labeled Artesian, Mineral, Spring, Purified, Municipal, and Well. What do each of these mean? Artesian water is “Water that taps an aquifer layers of porous rock, sand and earth, usually deep underground that contain water,” (Klesig, 2004, p2). This water can be very pure due to the layers of sediment that often prevent contaminants from migrating into the water. Despite claims of the bottlers however, there is no indication or guarantee that this water is any purer than ground water. Mineral water is “water from an underground source that contains at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. Minerals and trace elements must come from the water source,” (Klesig, 2004, p2). Spring water is water “derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to
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