The annual report of tests of Monroe city water came in the mail recently. This report to customers is required by state statute. The quantities of all the bad things were zero or very nearly zero (modern analytic methods are amazingly sensitive). Lead quantities were well within the tolerance levels, but not quite so near zero as the rest. Mike Kennison, administrator of our water department, confirmed that only in recent decades have there been consistent efforts to get rid of lead in plumbing, and the tests are run on randomly-selected customers' faucets.
Not long afterward, I noticed a number of shopping carts in the checkout line at the grocery store with cases of bottled water - no doubt costing 1000 times more than tap water. Even in my childhood, it was widely and correctly believed that public water supplies were safe to drink all over the U.S., except for brief emergencies when we were asked not to drink the water without boiling it. Americans drank bottled water when traveling to places like Mexico, and some European countries considered piped domestic water supplies to be for all domestic use except for drinking. But in the U.S., we felt confident in the safety of our water supply.
How could bottled water have become so popular in America? I doubted it actually could be safer than tap water with all the detailed testing mentioned above. The testing of many small producers of bottled water seems likely to be much less reliable. A little research led me to the fact that bottled water sold in only the state of its origin has no federal testing requirements and five states have no requirement that bottled water needs any testing. I also ran across a recent report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which tested more than 1,000 samples of bottled water of 103 different brands. One-third of the samples flunked at least one of the tests for a contaminant, either heavy metals, arsenic, synthetic organic chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides, or bacteria. Their definitions of contaminating levels all were similar to those required of public water supplies throughout the U.S.
It seems purveyors of bottled water have managed to create some doubt in the public's mind about the appropriateness of drinking tap water. Compare this with politicians' spin doctors creating doubt about the reliability of each other to the point of fostering distrust of government. I am not trying to imply that politicians are anywhere near as reliable as public water supplies - testing them is much less sophisticated than tests for water quality.
I seldom frequent ritzy restaurants where the waiter would look askance if you ordered the house wine instead of a vintage bottle from their exclusive wine cellar. But Hemisphere, one of the airlines' give-away magazines, recently had a humorous article about how such restaurants are starting to promote imported water (at the price of house wine) so that you can "obtain all of the ambiance" of the region from which your favorite cuisine originated.
I am grateful to the UCS (Union of Concerned Scientists) for confirming the above with additional data about the hidden costs to society of our enormous bottled water consumption.
Our increasing consumption of bottled water - more than 22 gallons per U.S. citizen in 2004, according to the Earth Policy Institute - fuels an unsustainable industry that takes a heavy toll on the environment.
Approximately 1.5 million gallons of oil - enough to run 100,000 cars for a whole year - are used to make plastic water bottles, while transporting these bottles burns thousands more gallons of oil. In addition, the burning of oil and other fossil fuels (which also are used to generate the energy that powers the manufacturing process) emits global warming pollution into the atmosphere.
The growth in bottled water production has increased water extraction in areas near bottling plants, leading to water shortages that affect nearby consumers and farmers. In addition to the millions of gallons of water used in the plastic-making process, two gallons of water are wasted in the purification process for every gallon that goes into the bottles.
Only about 10 percent of water bottles are recycled, leaving the rest in landfills, where it takes thousands of years for the plastic to decompose.
The next time you feel thirsty, forgo the bottle and turn to the tap. You'll not only lower your environmental impact, but also save money - bottled water can cost up to 10,000 times more per gallon than tap water. And because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's standards for tap water are more stringent than the Food and Drug Administration's standards for bottled water, you'll be drinking water that is just as safe as, or safer than, bottled.
If, however, you don't like the taste of your tap water or are unsure of its quality, you can buy a filter pitcher or install an inexpensive faucet filter to remove trace chemicals and bacteria. If you will be away from home, fill a reusable bottle from your tap and refill it along the way; travel bottles with built-in filters also are available. Finally, limit your bottled water purchases for those times when you're traveling in countries where water quality is questionable.
- John A. Frantz, M.D., is Monroe's city health officer and a member of the Green County Health Committee.
Not long afterward, I noticed a number of shopping carts in the checkout line at the grocery store with cases of bottled water - no doubt costing 1000 times more than tap water. Even in my childhood, it was widely and correctly believed that public water supplies were safe to drink all over the U.S., except for brief emergencies when we were asked not to drink the water without boiling it. Americans drank bottled water when traveling to places like Mexico, and some European countries considered piped domestic water supplies to be for all domestic use except for drinking. But in the U.S., we felt confident in the safety of our water supply.
How could bottled water have become so popular in America? I doubted it actually could be safer than tap water with all the detailed testing mentioned above. The testing of many small producers of bottled water seems likely to be much less reliable. A little research led me to the fact that bottled water sold in only the state of its origin has no federal testing requirements and five states have no requirement that bottled water needs any testing. I also ran across a recent report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which tested more than 1,000 samples of bottled water of 103 different brands. One-third of the samples flunked at least one of the tests for a contaminant, either heavy metals, arsenic, synthetic organic chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides, or bacteria. Their definitions of contaminating levels all were similar to those required of public water supplies throughout the U.S.
It seems purveyors of bottled water have managed to create some doubt in the public's mind about the appropriateness of drinking tap water. Compare this with politicians' spin doctors creating doubt about the reliability of each other to the point of fostering distrust of government. I am not trying to imply that politicians are anywhere near as reliable as public water supplies - testing them is much less sophisticated than tests for water quality.
I seldom frequent ritzy restaurants where the waiter would look askance if you ordered the house wine instead of a vintage bottle from their exclusive wine cellar. But Hemisphere, one of the airlines' give-away magazines, recently had a humorous article about how such restaurants are starting to promote imported water (at the price of house wine) so that you can "obtain all of the ambiance" of the region from which your favorite cuisine originated.
I am grateful to the UCS (Union of Concerned Scientists) for confirming the above with additional data about the hidden costs to society of our enormous bottled water consumption.
Our increasing consumption of bottled water - more than 22 gallons per U.S. citizen in 2004, according to the Earth Policy Institute - fuels an unsustainable industry that takes a heavy toll on the environment.
Approximately 1.5 million gallons of oil - enough to run 100,000 cars for a whole year - are used to make plastic water bottles, while transporting these bottles burns thousands more gallons of oil. In addition, the burning of oil and other fossil fuels (which also are used to generate the energy that powers the manufacturing process) emits global warming pollution into the atmosphere.
The growth in bottled water production has increased water extraction in areas near bottling plants, leading to water shortages that affect nearby consumers and farmers. In addition to the millions of gallons of water used in the plastic-making process, two gallons of water are wasted in the purification process for every gallon that goes into the bottles.
Only about 10 percent of water bottles are recycled, leaving the rest in landfills, where it takes thousands of years for the plastic to decompose.
The next time you feel thirsty, forgo the bottle and turn to the tap. You'll not only lower your environmental impact, but also save money - bottled water can cost up to 10,000 times more per gallon than tap water. And because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's standards for tap water are more stringent than the Food and Drug Administration's standards for bottled water, you'll be drinking water that is just as safe as, or safer than, bottled.
If, however, you don't like the taste of your tap water or are unsure of its quality, you can buy a filter pitcher or install an inexpensive faucet filter to remove trace chemicals and bacteria. If you will be away from home, fill a reusable bottle from your tap and refill it along the way; travel bottles with built-in filters also are available. Finally, limit your bottled water purchases for those times when you're traveling in countries where water quality is questionable.
- John A. Frantz, M.D., is Monroe's city health officer and a member of the Green County Health Committee.
