ANOTHER REASON NOT TO DRINK THE BOTTLES

In addition to the cost to the consumer who purchases the bottle of water (ex: average bottle @ $2.00 per liter equals $7.57 a gallon!) and the fact that someone recently pointed out what word Evian spells backwards, a recently released report indicates that bottled water may be more polluted with contaminants than tap water.

The Environmental Working Group published a study at the end of last month that finds ten major brands of bottled water contained 38 pollutants, with an average of eight contaminants in every bottle analyzed. Unlike tap water, where consumers are provided with test results every year, the bottled water industry does not disclose the results of any contaminant testing that it conducts. A wide range of pollutants included disinfection byproducts, caffeine and pharmaceuticals, heavy metals and minerals including arsenic and radioactive isotopes, fertilizer residue and a broad range of other, tentatively identified indiustrial chemicals.

Go to Water Quality to read the City of Tallahassee's 2008 report on water quality.

In conjunction with this testing program, EWG conducted a survey of 228 brands of bottled water, compiling information from websites, labels and other marketing materials. Fewer than half describe the water source (i.e., municipal or natural) or provide any information on whether or how the water is treated. Walmart and the chain, Giant, are bottling tap water.

Water bottle production in the U.S. uses 1.5 million barrels of oil per every year, according to a U.S. Conference of Mayors’ resolution passed in 2007, enough energy to power 250,000 homes or fuel 100,000 cars for a year and millions of bottles end up in landfills, incinerators and as trash on land and in our streams, rivers and lakes.

Posted in: bottled water,Environmental Working Group,water quality