Tap Water Vs Bottled Water

The Better Choice

The human body is made up of approximately 70% water, and water is one of the necessities of life. Being that it is such an important part of people’s lives, it is assumed that people would take into consideration the type of water they drink. Tap water is a first world luxury that most people take for granted because of other options that are available. Americans should increase the consumption of tap water over bottled water for many reasons. Tap water has been known to be more safe than bottled water. Also, tap water is a lot cheaper than bottled water and is highly more monitored. To begin with, tap water is safer than most people think. Americans today turn their heads away from tap water because of the many issues
regarding contamination in city waters. There’s a simple solution to this problem. A filtration system installed into a home’s water pipe’s is a way to ease people’s minds. Not only do they know the water is being filtered through it’s main source, it is also being filtered once again before reaching their glass. That is a more reliable source than drinking from a bottle of water that no one really knows what’s contained inside of it. “Plastic leaches into the water it holds, which has been linked to health issues like reproductive problems and different types of cancer,” (Schriever). Those are just a few issues that come with bottled water but can be avoided by drinking filtered water through the tap. In addition to being safer, tap water is a lot cheaper than bottled water.
Without having to manufacture millions of bottles and use factories to fill those up with water, the cost of tap water in relation to bottled water is significantly lower. In an online article it states, “at an average cost of $1.22 per gallon, consumers are spending 300 times the cost of tap water to drink bottled water” (Boesler). Gas prices in some areas are as low as $1.50 and slowly declining, so Americans might soon be spending the same amount on a gallon of gas that they’re spending on water. Tap water has been known to be used for less than 1 cent per gallon. With such a huge gap in between the two, it seems that tap water should be the number one choice. In another article online sources state that bottled water is made a lot from tap water, “Tap water is free, and a bottle of water typically costs at least $1, which adds up. In fact, 40 percent of bottled water is actually just tap water, so it's a rip-off to pay for it” (Fitness). In a blind study conducted in an English Composition class, the results showed that most people cannot even tell the difference between tap and bottled
water. Despite the different incidents of contaminations of tap water as mentioned before, the amount of regulations and monitoring for tap water is way higher than that of bottled water.
Tap water is ran all throughout cities, from small ones to major ones. That water reaches millions of people, so in order to not harm so many the water has to be looked over. “Researchers found bottled variety is subject to far less stringent safety tests than tap water and is much more likely to be contaminated or become a source of infection.” (Reporters). This article speaks about the difference in testing in bottle water and tap water. The writer also elaborates on the fact that companies that run bottled water manufacturing only have to inspect their water once a week. Federal testing on tap water is done every day in order to make sure no contaminations
occur.
With bottled water, comes convenience for many people. Many Americans live a fast paced life and see bottled water as an easy way to get their daily supplement of H2O. However, the convenient lifestyle is not always the best one, especially for our environment. “They may take centuries to decompose while sitting in landfills, amounting to endless billions of little environmentally poisonous time bombs”, this is how Norm Schriever describes the millions of bottles that are doing nothing but causing harm to our environment. A simple solution to the piles of bottles may seem logical, everyone just recycle. It is a known fact that most Americans just do not take the time out of their day to recycle. “For every 10 bottles we drink, only two end up in the recycle bin,” Schriever states this while adding, “Our national recycle rate for PET's is only 23 percent, which means we throw 38 billion water bottles into landfills a year. That's $1 billion worth of plastic that should end up in the "recycling stream".” After so long, those plastic bottles that are stuck in those lands mind will start seeping all their processes and chemicals into our land. Bottles may seem like a blessing to some people but in reality they do nothing but add to everything else that is already wrong with our environment. Every person has to drink water in order to survive. The water we drink comes to us in many different options, and it’s good for people to understand what the best one is. Bottled water may have many perks, but those perks will never exceed the amount of benefits that come with tap water. Tap water is the healthier choice, and will always be safer than drinking bottled water. People are able to make sure they are drinking safe tap water. Tap water is monitored on a regular basis to ensure there is no contamination. When it comes to money, everyone is always trying to find ways to pinch a penny here and there. Switching from bottled water to tap water could easily save you thousands of dollars. Tap water is the best water and should be the main choice in everyone’s lives.