Is Bottled Water Harmful To The Environment?

by Brian Fuller

For the past decade or so, sales of bottled water have been
steadily increasing by 7 - 8% per annum. The level of global
consumption is estimated to have more than doubled between
1997 and 2005.

Around 200 billion bottles of water are consumed every year.
The biggest market by far is the USA, which makes up about
25% of worldwide sales.

However, there has been a recent backlash against the use of
bottled water. One area of concern is bottled water's
environmental impact. The actual bottles are usually
manufactured from Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is
a recyclable material - but the actual level of recycling is
held to be lower than 25%.

The energy needed for the manufacture, shipping and eventual
disposal of the plastic bottles is also a source for concern
from an environmental perspective. In comparison with
ordinary tap water, the carbon emissions generated by
bottled water are greater by a factor of 5,000 times per
litre.

In spite of the marketing of bottled water as healthy, there
is no evidence to support the assertion that bottled water
is, in developed countries, any better for your health than
ordinary tap water. In fact, some bottled waters have been
found to contain uranium and estrogenic chemicals. Most
bottled waters contain sodium - which is not good for your
blood pressure.

Likewise, when it comes to the taste of the water, there is
little evidence to support the notion that bottled water is
better than tap water. In the USA, a 2007 episode of Penn
and Teller clearly demonstrated that restaurant diners
couldn't differentiate between water drawn from a hose at
the back of the restaurant and bottled water. Over in the
UK, London tap water (hardly famed for its flavor) came
third in a blind taste test of 24 different varieties of
water - some of which were expensive bottled brands.

Bottled water costs several hundred times more per litre
than ordinary tap water. This will vary from brand to brand
of course - the ratio could be even higher for some of the
luxury brands.

Whatever way you look at it, whether from a health, taste,
cost or environmental stance, there really isn't much to
recommend the use of bottled water. If you really find the
taste of the water that comes out of your tap at home to be
unsatisfactory, then you could always use some type of home
filtration system.

When you're at home, a home filtration system is ideal - but
if you want to have something portable to drink when you're
out and about why not use a bottle which you can fill and
refill before you leave. Irish designer Orla Kiely partnered
with Brita to produce the "Wottle" - the world's first
designer reusable bottle, manufactured from 100% recycled
materials. On the other hand, why not save even more money
and do a bit of your own recycling by using and old Seven Up
or Pepsi bottle?

Get great tasting water using a
(http://www.water-filter-facts.com) Brita jug filter - and
you can also economise by getting
(http://www.water-filter-facts.com/?p=105) Brita replacement
filters online too.