Is bottled water really better than tap?

[Kevin]

Is bottled water really better than tap? By Megan Rauscher
Thu Apr 5, 3:31 PM ET



NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Bottled water is not necessarily healthier or safer than tap water, Tampa, Florida-based sports nutritionist Cynthia Sass told the American College of Sports Medicine 11th annual Health & Fitness Summit in Dallas.


Twenty-five percent of all bottled water is actually repackaged tap water, according to Sass.

"Bottled water doesn't deserve the nutritional halo that most people give it for being pure," she says. "If you're not an exclusive bottled water drinker, you may find it worthwhile to check into filtering your tap water to save money."

In a recent Gallop survey, most consumers said they drink bottled water because they perceive it to be purer than tap water. Taste and convenience are also factors.

Because bottled water is considered a food, it is regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration. Tap water is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Both types of water are subject to testing for contaminates.

But Sass points out that an estimated 60 to 70 percent of all bottled water in the U.S. is packaged and sold within the same state, which exempts it from FDA regulation. And 1 in 5 states do not regulate that bottled water.

Moreover, tests on 1,000 bottles of 103 different brands of bottled water found man-made chemicals, bacteria and arsenic in 22 percent of the bottles.

Tap water is also not immune to contamination problems. While most cities meet the standards for tap water, some tap water in the 19 U.S. cities tested was found to contain arsenic, lead, and pesticides, Sass told the conference.

While most healthy adults can tolerate exposure to trace amounts of these contaminates, some people, such as cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, individuals who are HIV positive or recovering from a transplant or major surgery, pregnant women, children, and the elderly, are more vulnerable.

For these individuals, Sass favors bottled water treated with reverse osmosis, distilled water or city tap water with a filtering system certified by the National Sanitation Foundation.

As for the fitness water craze, skip it, Sass says, noting that fitness and specialty waters with not give an athlete an advantage or edge. In fact, vitamin-fortified waters may pose a risk for over-supplementation.

"Think of your one-a-day vitamin," says Sass. "Some of these waters are multi-vitamins in a bottle, so read the label and compare with the rest of your daily intake, including food," she advises.

[Valo's Moirana]

was trying to "preach" that to people i know for the longest time... best solution IMO is using tap water with a water filter

[Kevin]

agreed. . .

[jplinville]

Same here. I grew up on a farm in southern Ohio...On the second highest peak in the state! We couldn't drill deep enough for a well, so we caught rain water during the rainy season and ran it through a homemade filter system, then during the dry season we would get water from the pond by the bucketful and filter it as well. Kool-Aid and Coffee tastes so much better than city water.

My wife and I agree on this though...DeJa Blue is the BEST tasting bottled water there is. We have even talked about how clean we would feel if we could bathe in it! LOL

[txbird]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Is bottled water really better than tap?...Tap water is also not immune to contamination problems... individuals who are HIV positive or recovering from a transplant or major surgery, pregnant women, children, and the elderly, are more vulnerable..... For these individuals, Sass favors bottled water treated with reverse osmosis, distilled water ...

I would add to the list, parrots like eclectus that are sensitive to things in trace amounts in tap water. For that reason I have used distilled, reverse osmosis,carbon filtered water bought at the grocery store in gallons for many years. The tap water here is like a mild version of swimming pool water when it's good; in the summer it smells of the algae growing in the lake it comes from.

[jimpierce7]

Thats one thing I miss about Contra Costa county is the water. The tap water there really isn't that bad. The water in Marina is from a well and very hard. I buy drinking water by the gallon for the birds because it has fewer chems in it. Although distilled water should be as close to "water" as can be.
I read an article not long ago about that same thing. It also goes along with "organic" doesn't mean its safe either!!

[Suz Stickville]

I have a welll... so the water out of tap is not city (treated) water.....

Also.. my area is in a 3 year drought..negative 70 inches for rain fall in the past 3 years.. and the water table is down by 45 feet in the aquafir....

Due to this and possible baterical contamination ... the birds get bottled water.... to drink and bath with....

I figure ... that I am better "Safe than sorry" when it comes to the health of my fids...

[AmandaB]

Our water is terrible here, it's really hard and they put a lot of chlorine in it. I have a Pur filter on the kitchen faucet, and we use the filtered water for us, the birds and the dog.

[ROYJOY]

the water, here in utah, is good, it tastes like water.i refuse to pay for water, but i do have a tap filter. it has payed for itself.

[jplinville]

What has this world come to?? We now go to the store to purchase water, dirt and rocks!! LOL