5 Reasons NOT to Drink Bottled Water

It's expensive, wasteful and — contrary to popular belief — not any healthier for you than tap water.

Bottled Water is healthy water — or so marketers would have us believe. Just look at the labels or the bottled water ads: deep, pristine pools of spring water; majestic alpine peaks; healthy, active people gulping down icy bottled water between biking in the park and a trip to the yoga studio.

In reality, bottled water is just water. That fact isn't stopping people from buying a lot of it. Estimates variously place worldwide bottled water sales at between $50 and $100 billion each year, with the market expanding at the startling annual rate of 7 percent.

Bottled water is big business. But in terms of sustainability, bottled water is a dry well. It's costly, wasteful and distracts from the brass ring of public health: the construction and maintenance of safe municipal water systems.

Want some solid reasons to kick the bottled water habit? We've rounded up five to get you started.
 

1) Bottled water isn't a good value

Take, for instance, Pepsi's Aquafina or Coca-Cola's Dasani bottled water. Both are sold in 20 ounce sizes and can be purchased from vending machines alongside soft drinks — and at the same price. Assuming you can find a $1 machine, that works out to 5 cents an ounce. These two brands are essentially filtered tap water, bottled close to their distribution point. Most municipal water costs less than 1 cent per gallon.

Now consider another widely sold liquid: gasoline. It has to be pumped out of the ground in the form of crude oil, shipped to a refinery (often halfway across the world), and shipped again to your local filling station.

In the U.S., the average price per gallon is hovering around $3. There are 128 ounces in a gallon, which puts the current price of gasoline at a fraction over 2 cents an ounce.

And that's why there's no shortage of companies that want to get into the business. In terms of price versus production cost, bottled water puts Big Oil to shame.
 

2) No healthier than tap water

In theory, bottled water in the United States falls under the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration. In practice, about 70 percent of bottled water never crosses state lines for sale, making it exempt from FDA oversight.

On the other hand, water systems in the developed world are well-regulated. In the U.S., for instance, municipal water falls under the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency, and is regularly inspected for bacteria and toxic chemicals. Want to know how your community scores? Check out the Environmental Working Group's National Tap Water Database.

While public safety groups correctly point out that many municipal water systems are aging and there remain hundreds of chemical contaminants for which no standards have been established, there's very little empirical evidence that suggests bottled water is any cleaner or better for you than its tap equivalent.
 

3) Bottled water means garbage

Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. According to Food and Water Watch, that plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce. And while the plastic used to bottle beverages is of high quality and in demand by recyclers, over 80 percent of plastic bottles are simply thrown away.

That assumes empty bottles actually make it to a garbage can. Plastic waste is now at such a volume that vast eddies of current-bound plastic trash now spin endlessly in the world's major oceans. This represents a great risk to marine life, killing birds and fish which mistake our garbage for food.

Thanks to its slow decay rate, the vast majority of all plastics ever produced still exist — somewhere.
 

4) Bottled water means less attention to public systems

Many people drink bottled water because they don't like the taste of their local tap water, or because they question its safety.

This is like running around with a slow leak in your tire, topping it off every few days rather than taking it to be patched. Only the very affluent can afford to switch their water consumption to bottled sources. Once distanced from public systems, these consumers have little incentive to support bond issues and other methods of upgrading municipal water treatment.

There's plenty of need. In California, for example, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated the requirement of $17.5 billion in improvements to the state's drinking water infrastructure as recently as 2005. In the same year, the state lost 222 million gallons of drinkable water to leaky pipes.
 

5) The corporatization of water

In the documentary film Thirst, authors Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman demonstrated the rapid worldwide privatization of municipal water supplies, and the effect these purchases are having on local economies.

Water is being called the "Blue Gold" of the 21st century. Thanks to increasing urbanization and population, shifting climates and industrial pollution, fresh water is becoming humanity's most precious resource.

Multinational corporations are stepping in to purchase groundwater and distribution rights wherever they can, and the bottled water industry is an important component in their drive to commoditized what many feel is a basic human right: the access to safe and affordable water.

When buying bottled water consumers are now advised to take a moment to ensure they’re not poisoning themselves. It’s very simple. All you need to do is check the bottom of the bottle to make sure you’re not buying water packaged in an outdated substance now known to be harmful.

Here’s what you should know about the most common symbols used to indicated the type of plastic used:

 PET or PETE

– stands for single-use bottles. These bottles can possibly release heavy metals and chemicals that affect the hormonal balance.

“PET is one of the most commonly used plastics in consumer products, and is found in most water and pop bottles, and some packaging. It is intended for single use applications; repeated use increases the risk of leaching and bacterial growth. PET plastic is difficult to decontaminate, and proper cleaning requires harmful chemicals. Polyethylene terephthalates may leach carcinogens.”

 HDP or HDPE

– plastic that practically releases no chemicals. Experts recommend choosing these bottles, when buying bottled water, because it is probably the healthiest water you can find on the market.

“HDPE plastic is the stiff plastic used to make milk jugs, detergent and oil bottles, toys, and some plastic bags. HDPE is the most commonly recycled plastic and is considered one of the safest forms of plastic. It is a relatively simple and cost-effective process to recycle HDPE plastic for secondary use.”

PVC or 3V

– releases 2 toxic chemicals that affect the hormones in your body.

“PVC is a soft, flexible plastic used to make clear plastic food wrapping, cooking oil bottles, teething rings, children’s and pets’ toys, and blister packaging for myriad consumer products. It is commonly used as the sheathing material for computer cables, and to make plastic pipes and parts for plumbing. Because PVC is relatively impervious to sunlight and weather, it is used to make window frames, garden hoses, arbors, raised beds and trellises.”

LDPE

– this plastic cannot be used in the production of bottles, but plastic bags, even though it does not release any chemicals into the water.

“LDPE is often found in shrink wraps, dry cleaner garment bags, squeezable bottles, and the type of plastic bags used to package bread. The plastic grocery bags used in most stores today are made using LDPE plastic. Some clothing and furniture also uses this type of plastic.”

PP

– another white colored or semi transparent plastic, used as a packing for syrups and yogurt cups.

“Polypropylene plastic is tough and lightweight, and has excellent heat-resistance qualities. It serves as a barrier against moisture, grease and chemicals. When you try to open the thin plastic liner in a cereal box, it is polypropylene. This keeps your cereal dry and fresh. PP is also commonly used for disposable diapers, pails, plastic bottle tops, margarine and yogurt containers, potato chip bags, straws, packing tape and rope.”

PS

– releases some carcinogenic substances and it is commonly used in the production of coffee cups and fast food casings.

“Polystyrene is an inexpensive, lightweight and easily-formed plastic with a wide variety of uses. It is most often used to make disposable styrofoam drinking cups, take-out “clamshell” food containers, egg cartons, plastic picnic cutlery, foam packaging and those ubiquitous “peanut” foam chips used to fill shipping boxes to protect the contents. Polystyrene is also widely used to make rigid foam insulation and underlay sheeting for laminate flooring used in home construction.”

PC or non-labeled plastic

– the most dangerous plastic in the food production which releases BPA chemicals and it is often used in the production of sports water bottles and food containers.

This category was designed as a catch-all for polycarbonate (PC) and “other” plastics, so reuse and recycling protocols are not standardized within this category. Of primary concern with these plastics, however, is the potential for chemical leaching into food or drink products packaged in polycarbonate containers made using BPA (Bisphenol A). BPA is a xenoestrogen, a known endocrine disruptor.

As of today, check the bottom of the bottle twice!

So what bottles can you use?  Good question, personally I prefer a glass bottle.

What can you do about it?

There's a simple alternative to bottled water:  Tap water... Don't like the way your local tap water tastes? Ultra Filters will turn most tap water sparkling fresh at a fraction of bottled water's cost.

Please contact our customer support center for help with your water ionizer questions.

Stay Alkaline

www.purifyself.com

Source: Alkaviva, Real Farmacy

Bottled water – you’ll see a ton of different kinds, many claiming to be from a prestigious mountain stream.  Others will claim reverse osmosis or distillation.  Some will have added minerals, while others are just plain ol’ municipal water (the same kind supplied through the kitchen tap) filtered and bottled! I venture to say that these bottled waters all have one thing in common: they are very acidic. Many have been found to test at 7 on the pH scale.  In some cases, maybe an 8 pH (these are usually the waters that are labeled as alkaline). Whatever bottled water, whether measuring a 4 on the pH scale or a 7, it is not the best thing to put in your body. Here’s why: - See more at: http://www.alkavivanews.com/2012/11/27/bottled-water/#sthash.ogHBI9aP.dpuf

Bottled water – you’ll see a ton of different kinds, many claiming to be from a prestigious mountain stream.  Others will claim reverse osmosis or distillation.  Some will have added minerals, while others are just plain ol’ municipal water (the same kind supplied through the kitchen tap) filtered and bottled! I venture to say that these bottled waters all have one thing in common: they are very acidic. Many have been found to test at 7 on the pH scale.  In some cases, maybe an 8 pH (these are usually the waters that are labeled as alkaline). Whatever bottled water, whether measuring a 4 on the pH scale or a 7, it is not the best thing to put in your body. Here’s why: - See more at: http://www.alkavivanews.com/2012/11/27/bottled-water/#sthash.ogHBI9aP.dpuf

Bottled water – you’ll see a ton of different kinds, many claiming to be from a prestigious mountain stream.  Others will claim reverse osmosis or distillation.  Some will have added minerals, while others are just plain ol’ municipal water (the same kind supplied through the kitchen tap) filtered and bottled! I venture to say that these bottled waters all have one thing in common: they are very acidic. Many have been found to test at 7 on the pH scale.  In some cases, maybe an 8 pH (these are usually the waters that are labeled as alkaline). Whatever bottled water, whether measuring a 4 on the pH scale or a 7, it is not the best thing to put in your body. Here’s why: - See more at: http://www.alkavivanews.com/2012/11/27/bottled-water/#sthash.ogHBI9aP.dpuf

Bottled water – you’ll see a ton of different kinds, many claiming to be from a prestigious mountain stream.  Others will claim reverse osmosis or distillation.  Some will have added minerals, while others are just plain ol’ municipal water (the same kind supplied through the kitchen tap) filtered and bottled! I venture to say that these bottled waters all have one thing in common: they are very acidic. Many have been found to test at 7 on the pH scale.  In some cases, maybe an 8 pH (these are usually the waters that are labeled as alkaline). Whatever bottled water, whether measuring a 4 on the pH scale or a 7, it is not the best thing to put in your body. Here’s why: - See more at: http://www.alkavivanews.com/2012/11/27/bottled-water/#sthash.ogHBI9aP.dpuf