Is Bottled Water as Pure as you Think?

When we want purity and quality, we immediately think about bottled water.  A product that is clean and pure, free of bacteria, chlorine and all types of contaminants.  But what if bottled water is NOT as pure as we think?

Most of us believe that bottled water is the most pure form of water, assuming that it comes from the purest sources, regulated frequently, and the safest to drink.  However, we might not know the whole truth about bottled water.

Bottled water not only causes one problem, but many.  Let us begin with the fact that the plastic used for most of bottled water is made with chemicals that are very harmful for our health.  According to an article by Ban the Bottle contaminants we find in bottled water are: Coliforms, Arsenic, Chloride, Iron, Manganese, Phenols, Dissolved Solids, Zinc, Fluoride, Barium, Chromium, Copper, Cyanide, Nickel, Ethyl benzene, Monochlorobenzene, Styrene, Toluene and Xylene. Now, where are these listed on most bottled water?

According to an article by Mercola, BPA, a chemical found in bottles is an estrogen-mimicking chemical that has been linked to a host of serious health problems including: Learning and behavioral problems, Altered immune system function, Early puberty in girls and fertility problems, Decreased sperm count, Prostate and breast cancer, Diabetes and obesity.  These are serious problems we are facing today.  We often seek to find solutions or a fix to our health issues (either medicine or therapy) but we sometimes skip the step where we go back and try to find the cause of the problem, well, this is the cause.  Plain and simple, PLASTIC IS BAD!

 In terms of purity, bottled water is no safer than tap water.  In taste, the only main difference may seem to be that tap water has a chlorinated taste, the reason for the chlorine is to maintain safe water levels and to eliminate any kind of bacteria or contaminant. Although tap water is regulated more frequently than bottled water, that doesn't make it safe to drink.  Contaminants often found in tap water are chlorine, household chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, detergents, fertilizers, industrial chemicals, heavy metals like mercury, lead, nickel, chromium, as well as microorganisms like bacteria, algae, fungi, cysts, cryptosporidium and giardia. 

 In terms of the environment, bottles are made in millions daily.  We are using up all of the earth's resources to mass produce more bottles, making bottled waters creates pollution, both in the air and once bottles are used.  Bottles are often disposed of incorrectly and either end up in landfills or in the ocean affecting the ocean's pH and chemical levels. (remember the chemicals in bottles?) Once the heat from the sun hits those bottles in the ocean.all of those chemicals sift slowly into the ocean affecting the ocean's wild-life.  Did I mention that the same occurs with bottles in landfills as well as all of the waste in the landfill, all of those chemicals end up in our groundwater.

This brings us to our next point.  WATER.  So the water is either taken at the source (waterfalls, springs, groundwater, or it's simply filtered with a reverse osmosis system.) Water from the ground is very likely to have traces of chemicals like listed above.  The other water is being taken at such large amounts, that we are now experiencing droughts more often.  We are simply taking too much out.  How about the water that goes into the Reverse Osmosis filtration system? Did you know that it takes 4 gallons of water to create 1 gallon of drinkable water via R.O.? This is terrible, and just simply a waste of water!

"So?" you say, "I can't drink bottled water and I can't drink tap water... So what do I drink then?"  You can start by getting a BPA Free Water Bottle, and getting a water filtering unit for your home.  Do not get an R.O. system, you will waste a lot of water! A2O Water Co. offers a great line of water filtering units that filter out most of the contaminants in tap water. Sure they might seem like a big expense at first, but they are an investment for your health and our planet.

So there you have it, the problems, causes and solutions!  We hope you seriously reconsider before buying a bottle water next time! Thanks for reading!