When reaching out for a bottle of water in a supermarket you expect to get a safe, high value drink that replenishes your bodily fluids and supplies the organism with valuable minerals. But is this always the case? The truth may surprise you.

Nowadays, consumers have become more and more aware of their rights and have requested manufacturers to provide information that enable them to make good choices. Surprisingly, the bottled water industry finds this already established trend difficult to accept and follow.

As bottled water can cost up to 1,900 times more than tap water, is it too much too expect to be well-informed on the product? What is the water’s origin? Has it been purified? If so, what techniques have been used in this process? Has it been tested for quality? Have the tests found any contaminants? In many cases this basic information is difficult to find on the label or on the producer’s website.

EWG's Bottled Water Study

Environmental Working Group (EWG) carries out an annual survey on the level of transparency of information among the bottled water brands in the United States. In 2011 the group has reviewed 173 bottled water products and compared the results with those from the previous year.

It has turned out, that nine of the best-selling brands, including Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Nestle, do not answer at least one of the above questions. The survey results have revealed that 18% of the products do not provide the location of water source, 32% of brands do not disclose any information on the treatment or quality of water, and 13% of product are supported by ‘water quality reports’ that lack actual testing results.

Comparing the results with previous year findings, very slow progress was noticed. Over 50% of the surveyed brands did not improve, or even worse, included less information than in 2010. Only 39 brands scored better in information transparency in 2011 versus 2010. Even the best scored brads were not faultless. Believe it or not, some of them provided out dated water tests from 2008!

Bottled Water Vs Tap Water

It may be a surprise, but most companies producing bottled water source it from municipal tap (Food and Water Watch data). Moreover, the plastic material used for making bottles may incorporate chemical substances like BPA (Bisphenol A) that can leach into drinking water.

According to federal regulations bottled water is not much safer than tap water, as the chemical pollution standards are almost the same. As so many bottled water producers keep information on water quality to themselves, it is possible that most of the time you are paying for bottled tap water without even knowing it.

In addition to water quality arguments, there are serious environmental reasons for giving up bottled water. Between 2004 and 2009 the consumption of bottled water in the United States increased by 24%. It is estimated that every 27 hours U.S. citizens drink enough bottled water to circle the equator with empty bottles and each year more than 4 million of plastic containers go to the landfill nationwide. These are not good statistics!

Producing bottled water also has a high carbon footprint price – it takes 20,000 times more energy to produce bottled water than the same amount of tap water. In the United States, the production and transportation of bottled water is responsible for the level of CO2 emission comparable to that produced by two million cars.

Drink Filtered Tap Water

What are EWG’s recommendations then? Their main call is: Drink Filtered Tap Water.

A good quality domestic filter system lasts over 10 years. It can save you money and allow you to do your part in contributing to a cleaner environment. There is a wide variety of water filter systems that can be used indoors, outdoors or even during travelling. Good quality systems successfully remove bacteria, chlorine, organic solvents, VOCs, lead, mercury, nitrates and nitrites as well as other harmful substances. We believe the berkey water filter provides the highest quality filtration for the lowest initial and ongoing maintenance costs. There is also a different berkey water filter model available to accommodate every family size. Here's a comparison of berkey and other top consumer water filters on the market. Regardless of what model or supplier you choose, they should provide you with detailed system specifications and ongoing maintenance costs estimates, so you will know exactly what you will be paying for.