Bottled Water VS Tap Water - Is There a Winner?
Now, if you compare home filtered tap versus bottled water, that's a different story.
Here, you can learn about what the bottling companies are actually selling you and why you can do a better job at home.
Size is a big part of the story.
To produce thousands and thousands of gallons on a daily basis, both bottling companies and public treatment facilities have their work cut out for them.
At home, we might need to produce three gallons a day.
So, purification is simply easier for us.
If you compare the purity of bottled water VS tap water that has been purified at home, the bottle loses, as long as you have an effective filter.
Except for a few rare exceptions, you and the bottling companies start out with the same source.
If it isn't your tap-water, it is someone else's.
The next step that most (not all) companies take is to use reverse osmosis to further reduce contaminants.
The problem with reverse osmosis is that it does not remove common chemical contaminants like chlorine and disinfection byproducts.
When you compare a carbon and resin block on your tap versus bottled water purification methods, your method is more effective.
Your method will not de-mineralize your waters.
But, let me give you a few specific examples.
The Environmental Working Group recently pitted tap versus bottled water.
They found that some companies were not using any purification method, at all.
They were simply bottling waters from local sources.
They are allowed to do that.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration, those bottles do not have to contain something better, only the same as tap-water.
So, obviously, as I said in the beginning, the comparison of bottled water VS tap water is pointless.
But, over the years, there have been some interesting happenings regarding tap versus bottled water.
Dasani was recalled in the United Kingdom, because governmental authorities found that the bottles contained high levels of bromate, a carcinogen.
That's interesting because the source that they used (a public supply outside of London) did not contain bromate.
So, when it comes to Dasani bottled water VS tap water, London's tap-water was actually safer, even without additional purification.
Home purifiers can remove nearly all traces of chlorine and cancer-causing chemicals.
So, why pay a company $1 to $25 per gallon to do something that you can do at home for less than a dime per gallon.
When it comes to the environment, comparing tap versus bottled water is a no-brainer.
The industry wastes about three times that amount that they actually put in the bottle.
The bottles are filling up the landfills at a fast pace.
Try taking the "green" approach and buy a purifier, instead of buying what you already have in your home.