Bottled Water

My interest in bottled water dates back a year or so, but I didn’t decide to research why bottled water was so popular until recently.  Basically, I found it hard to understand the reasoning behind decisions to drink bottled water and not municipal offered water.

In March 1999 the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) completed and published the results of a four-year study of the bottled water industry.  They found “…major gaps in bottled water regulation and concluded that bottled water is not necessarily safer than tap water.” 

The report reviews 185 brands of bottled water.  Sources of the water, if listed, include:

                        Spring  15                                Municipal  12

                        Mountain  6                             Bottling plant without source  102

                        Valley  3                                  No source  47

The reference to bottling plant without source was the Brand’s response.  They chose to identify the facility where the water was bottled, but not the source of the water being bottled.  Additionally, 47 Brands chose not to identify the source of the water.

Nine areas of interest were tested on as many as 10 bottles per brand and as few as 3:

            HPC Bacteria                          Arsenic                            TTHMs

            Chloroform                             BDCM                            DBCM

            Phthalate (DEHP)                   Nitrates                           Other

Descriptive information on these areas may be found at the end of the NRDC report.  Other includes toluene, xylene, coliforms, fluorides, Di(2-ethylhexyl), bromoform,

Di-n-butylpthalate, methylene chloride, aluminum, ethyl benzene, n-isopropyl toluene, 

n-butyl benzene, chlorotolulene, acetone and styrene,

In the nine major areas tested, contaminants were found, as follows:

            Not detected or reported                                            51

            Within acceptable guidelines and standards               71

            In excess of acceptable guidelines and standards      63

In 2004, the total global consumption of bottled water was 154 billion liters (41 billion gallons).  Americans buy about 28 billion water bottles a year with 80% of these bottles ending in land fills or the oceans, despite major efforts of communities and governments at conservation and recycling.  In terms of revenue, the current global industry generates approximately $150 billion with a projection for 2012 of $168.6 billion.

Distribution of Contaminants

         Selected                                                 Contaminant Level

     Contaminant                                    Acceptable            Not Acceptable

Toluene and O-xylene                                     X

HPC Bacteria                                                                                      X

Arsenic                                                                                                X

Phthalate                                                         X

Fluoride                                                           X                                 X

Methylene Chloride                                        X

Aluminum                                                       X

Nitrate                                                             X

Chloroform                                                                                         X

THM                                                                                                   X

Bromodichloromethane                                                                      X

Dibromochloromethane                                                                      X

           

Note:  While the left column under contaminant level reports the selected contaminants level as acceptable, the contaminant is still present in the bottled drinking water.

Is bottled water a reasonable necessity for health or safety, or is it a popular fad or a scam by corporations to generate higher profits at the expense of a gullible publi

Municipalities spend millions of dollars on filtration plants designed to purify water stored in reservoirs. 

“Filtration is still the most widely used method of purification.  In slow filtration, the water is allowed to pass through a deep layer of fine sand; most of the impurities are removed by the top inch or two of sand, which is removed and cleaned from time to time or, in modern plants, is washed in place by special wash water.  In rapid-filtration plants, the water is treated with a coagulant, such as aluminum sulfate, ferric chloride, or ferric sulfate, which flocculates particles, carrying most suspended matter to the bottom in sedimentation tanks.  After this preparation, the water is passed at a relatively rapid rate through small beds of coarse sand that are washed from time to time.  Heavily polluted waters may be chlorinated both before and after filtration.  Aeration (mixing air with the water) is carried out if undesirable amounts of iron and manganese are present; they are held in solution in water only in the absence of oxygen.”  See figures.

So why drink bottled water when highly purified municipal water is readily available?  The reasons are many and varied, but the primary reasons given for drinking bottled water are:

·         Fear that municipal water is contaminated and unsafe;

·         Municipal water doesn’t taste good;

·         A substitute for soda to avoid consuming excess sugar; and

·         Convenience.

By contrast, the production of bottled water generates its own number of problems, most of which the general public is not aware of or chooses to ignore.  Some examples:

• ·         Cost.  Less expensive bottled water is available at about five cents per ounce, though some cost more.  Most municipal water costs less than one cent per gallon.  Compare the cost of bottled water to the price of gasoline.  Retail regular gasoline priced at $2.5 – 5 per gallon varies in cost from 2.0 to 3.9 cents per ounce.  Less expensive bottled water is 1.3 to 2.5 times more costly than regular gasoline.  The actual numbers depend, of course, on the prices of both liquids which vary.  And we complain about the high price of gasoline!

• ·         Health.  Bottle water is regulated by Food & Drug Administration – but is it?  The FDA regulates bottled water in interstate commerce only.  About 70% of all bottled water never crosses state lines and is sold intrastate.  All such water is except from FDA control.  In November 2008, Japan was forced to recall about 8 million bottles of Crystal Geyser water which smelled of medicine or pesticides.  In another incident affecting Crystal Geyser, the company reduced the level of arsenic in its spring water in April 1999 following a law suit.  A review of contaminants found in other brands of bottled water should raise questions by consumers on the health quality of the water they are drinking.

• ·         Pollution.  Besides the pollution affecting health, described above, there are other pollution problems that should be considered.  One that is major was mentioned earlier.  Bottled water companies produce about 1.5 million tons (and rising) of plastic waste each year.  Over 80% of this waste ends up in our land fills or our oceans.

• ·         Resources.  The production of water bottles uses large quantities of fossil fuels during production and shipment.  It takes 3-5 liters of water to make each one liter water bottle.  Much of this water is drawn from aquifers.  The drawdown of water from coastal aquifers reduces aquifer pressure against sea water, resulting in the intrusion of seawater into the aquifer.  A major example of salt water intrusion may be found in the Nile River delta.  With the building of the High Aswan Dam by Egypt, Nile River flow was reduced, water and sediment that had reached the delta during pre-dam time, was reduced, Nile water pressure against the Mediterranean Sea was reduced, and the Mediterranean waters intruded on to Egyptian farm lands.  For a detailed discussion on the construction of the High Aswan Dam, see my essay, The River Nile.

In the summary of the sources of the 185 brands tested, there were 12 firms who admitted using municipal water for bottling.  Of course, there were an additional 149 who didn’t or refused to identify their water sources.  Two well known companies and their sources have been identified from other than the NRDC report.  Both Coke and Pepsi bottle municipal water and sell it as bottled water under the brand names Desani and Aquifina, respectively.  Sources were from many of the United States, including Hawaii, and from at least five foreign countries: England, Canada, France, Italy and Germany.  A larger number of brands tested might have included additional countries.  One cannot but wonder why it would be necessary to import drinking water.

My thoughts are that bottled water is an expensive luxury, a going fad, and totally unnecessary except, perhaps, when convenience may enter the picture.  However, all things considered, people will undoubtedly continue to drink bottled water and the only advice and guidance that could reasonably be expected to follow, is know what you are drinking. Many of the brands included in the NRDC report have no contaminants detected.  Of course, there are no guarantees that a brand tested negative in 1999 wouldn’t test positive in 2009.  You pay your money and take your choice.

And if you think the story ends there, think again.  There is a new kid on the block.  All indications are that the popularity of the new product will match that of the bottled water.

The new product debuting is bottled air.  Yep, bottled air that allegedly claims to match the Alpine air of Switzerland.

Hmmm.  Could this be a new way to part easily impressed individuals from their money?

July 2009