Worth Repeating – Still Want to Drink Bottled Water?

Yet another article that points out that bottled water may not be as good for you as tap water.

Its interesting to see how the companies now try to outdo each other by claiming their water to be the most pure. Marketing at its best!

Good to see that people are finally catching on to this scam.

Thanks to Dave Sills, Co-Chair from the Guelph Chapter of the Council of Canadians for sending this article on.

 

Is that bottle of water better than tap?: Research group says to go with tap water
Janet Conner-Knox, The Wilson Daily Times, N.C., October 21, 2008

If you’ve just started a new health regimen, and at the top of your list is to drink more water, there is news you might want to consider before you grab your favorite brand of bottled water.

The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit public health and environmental research group in Washington, D.C., said it could be healthier to get water right out of the tap.

A research team from the environmental group came to nine states, including eastern North Carolina, and purchased water from grocery stores and other retailers and found 38 chemical pollutants altogether, with an average of eight contaminants in each brand.

Things like fertilizer residue and pain medication were found in some of the bottled drinking water.

The report took two years to complete and results were just published this month.

“Some of the brands had chemicals that exceed legal limits in safety standards the bottling industry has,” said Nneka Leiba, one of the researchers and an author of the report on the group’s Web site. “There were four brands contaminated with bacteria.”

Leiba said that is why EWG is asking the Federal Drug Administration to get involved and regulate water bottlers and to also enforce labeling bottles of water so consumers will know what they are getting.

“There is no way to know, at this point, if the water you get in a bottle is safe,” Leiba said. “There are ways to get around the rules that are in place.”

For instance, one method of purifying water is to use reverse osmosis. But Leiba said if the equipment is faulty, the results are the same — contaminated water. Bottlers are not regulated, so if their equipment breaks down, they can continue using bad equipment.

Leiba said they have found some water bottlers that let consumers know they used reverse osmosis but never told consumers that the water had contaminants because the equipment was broken.

Another loophole that bottlers use, she said, is if the company treats the water, they don’t have to write the source of the water on the label.

“Some people think they are drinking spring water, and it is treated tap water,” said Leiba.

She said 44 percent of bottled water is tap water any way.

During the laboratory studies, Walmart and Giant store brands were not distinguishable from tap water.

The report singled out Sam’s Club water stating it had exceeded legal limits for disinfection by-products (trihalomethanes) in some states.

The report said, “These by-products are linked to cancer and reproductive problems and form when disinfectants react with residual pollution in water.

Walmart’s corporate office issued an e-mailed statement and stands behind its bottled water and said they are puzzled by EWG’s findings.

The prepared statement said, “Both our suppliers’ tests and the tests from an additional external laboratory are not showing any amounts of chlorine or chlorine by-products. We’re disappointed that the EWG has not shared more details with us as we continue to investigate this matter.”

But said she Leiba feels stongly about the test results they got. She also said they were surprised the bottled waters looked so close to tap water, especially at the costs consumers pay for the bottled water.

Bottled water, unlike public utilities, are not required to notify their customers of the occurrence of contaminates, she said.

The U.S. EPA Web site (EPA2007b) states: “Bottled water is not necessarily safer than your tap water. Consumers who choose to purchase bottled water should carefully read its label to understand what they are buying, whether it is a better taste, of a certain method of treatment.”

But the people from LeBleu, whose water was not on the list of contaminated waters, said that customers can be assured quality every time they take a swig of LeBleu water.

David Muller, warehouse supervisor in the Wilson office, said Le Bleu uses a five-step process to make sure they are giving their customers the cleanest water in the industry.

“We filter our water twice, then we steam it,” he said. “As you know, boiled water is pure water.”

Muller said that after the steam process, they discard the other water.

Muller said they run an ultraviolet light through the water at that point.

“That UV light will kill anything that could have possibly survived the steam process,” he said.

After that, he said the Le Blue folks oxygenate the water, which means they run electricity through it. Muller said water from lots of other water companies will turn green if left out in the sun for long.

He said it’s because other companies leave live organisms in the water that begin to grow in the sunlight.

He contends that Le Bleu water will not turn green if left in the sunlight.

The study on bottled water said that even the plastic bottles are not safe.

“That’s because the chemicals in the plastic gets into the water once the water sits in the plastic container,” said Leiba.

What Leiba and other scientists in her group recommend is for consumers to drink filtered tap water instead of bottled water.

Leiba said not only is filtered tap water safer, it costs less, too.

“Americans pay an average of two-tenths of a cent per gallon to drink water from the tap,” said Leiba. “A carbon filter at the tap or in a pitcher costs a manageable 31 cents for a gallon of water. Where else can you get a gallon of water for 31 cents?”

She also recommends buying a stainless container to carry water in,instead of a plastic bottle.

Advertisements