Is Bottled Water Really Better?

If you drink bottled water because you think it's purer than tap, you may be disappointed to find that it's not all what it's marketed to be. On the flip side, you may be happy to know that tap water isn't as bad as you thought either.

Water that is bottled in the same state where it is sold is exempt from federal regulations. Unfortunately, the majority of bottled water is packaged and sold in the same state, and therefore, is unregulated.

Earlier this year, Cynthia Sass, RD a sports nutritionist, presented her findings on bottled and tap water at the American College of Sports Medicine's Health & Fitness Summit in Texas. Sass found that almost a quarter of the bottled water she tested contained synthetic chemicals, bacteria and arsenic. Furthermore, the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) found that 25 percent of bottled water comes from municipal tap water.

On the other hand, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that more than 90 percent of water systems meet their quality standards. To find out where your area's water comes from and what's in it, read EPA's annual water quality report.

To ensure pure, uncontaminated drinking water, especially for those living in areas with poor quality tap water, you can install an independently certified water filter in your kitchen. NRDC's Web site lists a number of options. Sass recommends a reverse osmosis filter, which is found in many water bottling plants. It can be installed under the kitchen sink where it will filter out 98 percent of all impurities. Specifically, reverse osmosis removes certain parasites as well as cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, arsenic, barium, nitrate/nitrite, perchlorate and selenium.

I'm also a big fan of reverse osmosis for purifying tap water. As soon as I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, my dear husband quickly became concerned about the possibility of lead in our 90-year-old home's water pipes. He researched the various filters, decided reverse osmosis was best for us, and quickly ran out to buy one.

The best part of having reverse osmosis is that I no longer have to carry those heavy bottles of water from the grocery store. I also bought some stainless steel bottles so I can take my purified water on the go. In addition to saving money and my back on bottled water, it's also a lot better for the environment.

Sources:
Alternative Medicine, September 2007
MedicalNewsToday.com