Facts on Bottled Water

The bottled water used can also be sourced from public water sources and the purity and safety depends largely on the regulation of quality adotped within a country. The regulation is conducted and recorded ensure that the bottled water quality is safe.

The label on the bottled water containter or bottle accurately reflects bottle contents, or at least it is expected to. In many developing and under developed nations, these standards are variable and less stringent. This makes the safety of the bottled water for consumption questionable.

The bottled water companies are now dealing with criticism on consumer concerns about the environment. The process of packaging and shipping the water is known to consume energy and contribute to global warming. This is being questioned.

The empty plastic bottles simply add to litter and solid waste. This is a growing concern and the fact that plastic is not entirely degradable is a concern.

The bottled water is no safer than the water that we source from the municipal water systems. The flaunted ‘added minerals’ is just a sales gimmick and the world over, authorities are urging supporters to consume less bottled water since home water filtration is a good enough viable option.

In developed countries, the demand for bottled water is based on the perception that bottled water is safer than local municipal water and people develop taste preferences. The whole packaging and advertising of the bottled water companies further foster these perceptions.

Even though many municipalities, particularly in the developed world, provide quality and regulated water, there are occasional problems with contaminants present. The cities that claim to provide the citizens "safe" tap water also have on record contaminants like bacteria to heavy metals. This is another factor that continues to drive up bottled water sales annually.

In the case of the developing countries, the demand for bottled water is driven by factors like the lack of potable groundwater in many areas, the lack of reliable municipal water in urban areas and the risk of being exposed to chemical and organic pollution of ground water.

There is no doubt about the convenience of bottled water relative to boiling or otherwise treating accessible water. However, bottled water may provide an alternative to unsafe drinking water only for those who can afford it.

The sales of bottled water has surpassed the sales of all other beverages, except carbonated soft drinks and the mint is rolling the dough for the bottled water companies even though the popularity of bottled water has been criticised by environmentalist, economists and care takers and givers.

80% of the used bottled water containers end up in landfills. The damaged is furthered with the fact that unlike tap water, bottled water uses up oil and other fossil fuels to be produced and shipped. This is basically a show of wasted money and there is no evidence of additonal rigourous filtering and cleansing processes being implemented.

The process of making the plastic bottles for the bottled water uses a large amount of oil per year and the manufacture of every ton of PET produces an alarming 3 tons of carbon di oxide! The bottled water is transported long distances by ship, truck or rail and hence consumes a fair amount of energy is utilized to move a single plastic bottle from where it is made, to the filling facility and then to the store. The average energy cost to make the plastic, fill and transport the bottle to the market is compared to ‘filling up a quarter of every bottle with oil’!

The quantity of water used to manufacture and fill the bottled water bottles is a fraction of the amount of global water withdrawals, but the growing concern is within communities with large bottled water plants who are tapping into local aquifer resources. Large commercial bottlers are trying to meet the growing demand for bottled water by increasing the pumping of water from relatively smaller water bodies like springs on private properties. This could result in the drying up of these resources!