Cool down and have a drink of bottled water. No matter where you go, from rural roadside gas stations to ethnic groceries, gourmet stores, and supermarkets here and around the world, you will find numerous brands of bottled water. Bottled water in the USA alone is a $4 billion industry, with consumption growing at a rate of 45% from 1992 to 1997. In 1976 Americans drank 1.5 gallons of bottled water per person. In 1999, they drank 17 gallons per person making bottled water the fastest growing beverage in the country and more popular than fruit drinks.
Americans are still just novices when compared to Europeans who have known about the benefits of bottled water for years. “Mineral” water is the term used for water that is rich in “beneficial” minerals. It usually comes from deep underground springs or artesian wells and contains at least 250 parts per million of dissolved solids (usually calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, silica, and bicarbonates). Some minerals, such as sulfur, have given health spas their reputation for amazing cures. Is it any wonder? Many of our medicines are sulfa drugs. Some foreign sources of mineral water bottled at their source include:
Once considered to be a convenience service industry providing water coolers for offices, schools and public buildings, bottled water is now sold in pints and quart bottles and considered a gourmet item by some, while others consider it a necessity. But where does bottled water come from? It can trickle down from mountains or spring up from deep artesian wells. Spring water comes from the earth flowing naturally from an underground spring. Some spring water is naturally carbonated, others have added carbon dioxide to make the bubbles. Mineral waters are spring waters with high counts of mineral salts that are renowned for their ancient healing qualities. They can also be naturally carbonated, or improved with added carbon dioxide gas. Some bottled drinking waters are municipal waters that have been cleaned up through filtration and/or ozonation. Unlike regular tap water, this water is purer and has never traveled through miles of aging underground pipes. By and large, bottled waters are a boon to our health and safety, but they are not without their problems.
Problems with Bottled Waters
In 1998, the National Resources Defense Council completed a 4 year test of 103 bottled waters and found that one-third of them contained bacteria and other chemicals exceeding industry standards. It showed deficiencies in industry regulation. That is likely because 43 of the 50 US states have the equivalent of fewer than one single staff person dedicated to regulating bottled water. Some states have no regulations at all for bottled water. In an early pilot survey on bottled water, the Environmental Protection Agency found that the actual chemical composition of the water did not always match the label information, and trace amounts of chlorine, nitrates, copper, manganese, lead, iron, zinc, mercury, and/or arsenic were found. Chemical and bacteriological analysis was not performed regularly, and when they were, there were quality control problems such as incomplete chemical analyses for the source water or the processed (bottled) water.
Some bottlers treat their water with ozone, deionization, carbon and micron filtration, and ultraviolet light to purify it. Perrier, for example, uses ozonation to treat their bottled water in several of their American plants. Perrier's bottled water brands include Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water, Perrier, and Zephyr hills.
Mineral waters may also be high in minerals like sodium, arsenic, or cobalt. When Consumer Reports Magazine tested bottled waters in the summer of 2000, it found several brands above the EPA's proposed standard for arsenic. Previous investigations have found sodium counts as high as a whopping 397 milligrams. (People on low-sodium diets should avoid water with high sodium content.) .FDA regulations require bottled water be processed, packaged, transported, and stored under safe and sanitary conditions. Bottlers must monitor their source waters and their finished products for contaminants.
The International Bottled Water Association, the industry trade group, sets strict inspection standards covering everything from sanitation rules for employees and filling room equipment, to annual chemical and physical tests including possible surprise inspections.
One of the oldest and best known American mineral waters is Mountain Valley, which is forced up through a bed of marble in the remote valley of Hot Springs, Arkansas. In 1832, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned a study of the water that eventually led to the establishment of our first National Park preserving the land and the 47 thermal springs in it. So deep is the spring that chemical assays of the water have remained virtually unchanged for 100 years.
The world's deepest known source for bottled spring water is Trinity Springs in Paradise, Idaho, adjacent to the Sawtooth National Forest. The spring is 2.2 miles deep; that is equivalent to standing eight Empire State buildings on top of each other. Trinity's geothermal water forces its way up through faults in this mass and reaches the surface at a seething 138°F. A batholiths of solid granite carbon dated at 16,000 years, protects the water from contamination by other ground waters.
Happily, the people at Trinity are committed to not altering the water from its organic state in any way. It is neither pasteurized nor ozonated, but bottled in the traditional European way, without processing. This water has been classified as a mineral dietary supplement under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) because of its silica content.
Non-Source Bottled Water
According to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), there is a one in four chance that your bottled water has been drawn from municipal taps. America's best selling bottled water is Aquafina, which is treated tap water packaged by Pepsi. Not to be outdone, Coke makes the popular water Dasani. Even New York City is bottling its water and selling it throughout New York State with the motto: “Forget the rest, drink the best.” These are called “non-source” waters because they do not arise from a spring, artesian well, or other natural source. In fact, they can come from anywhere. Aquafina, for example, originates from 16 not-very-exotic sources such as Detroit, Fresno, and Munster, Indiana. Typically, they are treated with ozone, de-ionization, carbon and micron filtration, and ultraviolet light to improve their quality and keep them safe. Essential water of Woodinville, Washington has huge reverse osmosis machines to clean up their water as does Aquafina and Dasani. Le Bleu Ultra Pure of Winston Salem, North Carolina, and Nascar Premium steam distill their waters as does Le Glaceau (Energy brands). These non-source bottled waters can be safer and cleaner than natural waters. Choose the treatment method you trust most, when purchasing non-source bottled waters.
Plastic Bottles and Storage Containers
Some bottlers, such as Mountain Valley, Perrier, and S. Pellegrino, use glass. Unfortunately, glass costs 1-2 times more than plastic and is heavy and breakable. Plastic bottles thus dominate the marketplace.
Some kinds of plastic can impart a plastic taste to water. This means it is imparting plastic. This is a frustrating irony considering the reason you purchase bottled water in the first place is to avoid pollutants. Water bottled in PETE (or PET-polyethylene terephthalate), a clear, strong plastic, is considered the most inert. Look for #7 in the triangle on the bottom of the bottle. Some PETE bottles are firmer than others, meaning the bottler uses thicker plastic for a more durable product. Gallon and 4 liter jugs are often bottled in high-density polyethylene (HOPE), a flaccid, opaque plastic bottle that has the greatest potential to impart a plastic taste. It has #2 in the triangle on the bottom of the bottle. Polyvinyl chloride, PVC, is much sturdier and less likely to impart taste, but is not as widely used. It has #3 in the triangle on the bottom of the bottle. Polycarbonate plastic is strong and rigid and is the kind most often used for 5-gallon water cooler jugs. It is highly inert, and imparts no taste and has been used for water bottles, baby bottles, and food storage containers for 35 years. Look for #7 in the triangle on the bottom of the bottle.
Convenience and Availability
Logistics is another consideration when using bottled water. For example, what would you do if your bottle ran dry and it was 11 p.m. on a snowy mid-winter night? Would you hop over to the grocery in your pajamas, fighting the cold, snow, and ice? Most of us would simply drink from the tap and rationalize: “....a little bit is okay...” But the risk of drinking any amount of contaminated water is not worth it. Getting clean water should not involve questions of convenience. And that includes weight. (Imagine lugging in a bundle of groceries and a couple of jugs of water up the stairs!) If you drink bottled water, you'll have to pay a little extra for delivery service.
The availability of pure water ought not to involve considerations of price. But, the average household uses between 1 1/2 to 3 gallons of water each day for drinking and cooking purposes. That adds up to about 1,000 gallons or, about $1,000 dollars per year. That is quite a sum for something that should be free in the first place! This does not even include usage for such things as watering your plants, feeding your pets, growing sprouts, etc. But it should! Plants and animals like people prefer non-chlorinated water.
Read The Label
Another problem with bottled water is fraud. Many waters represented as “spring” or “spring fresh” water, are in fact filtered municipal water. Some companies legally slip this by the consumer with clever labeling. One label has “spring” in the name of the brand, for example “Paterson SPRING Water Co.” Since the word “spring” is the largest word on the label, consumers take it for granted that it is spring water. The logo for Great Bear bottled water from Breinigsville, PA is a polar bear on ice, but it is not glacier water.
Fortunately, the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), sets standards about purity and labeling for its members. But assuming that bottlers are true to their advertising may be asking a lot. Brand trustworthiness has been challenged in the highly competitive climate of the marketplace. Your decision is tough. Should you spend more money for a “name brand” or is “brand X” just as good? The answer requires a little detective work.