The Retort

Bottled Water: Not Worth the Cost

April 19th, 2010 by Leah Campbell Of The Retort Staff

Water is the very thing that makes life possible on earth and is essential to human life. Water is easily defined as vital, life-giving, or crucial, yet that definition is changing with the latest fad. The fad, identified as “chic”, is bottled water, and it is changing the way Americans view water. Convenience, quality and image all play a role in the growing number of bottled water consumers and the 430 bottling facilities that exist in America alone.

Most bottled water consumers prefer bottled water for its obvious convenience. A bill, a selection, a push of a button and fresh, spring water is in hand. To some, the money spent on bottled water is worth the time one may waste filling up a reusable water bottle. Those that refute tap water also discern tap water for its lack of convenience. However, in the long term, the price is more than one might assume. It costs from 240 to 10,000 times more per gallon to purchase bottled water than it does to purchase a gallon of tap water, as stated by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Also according to the NRDC, over half of all Americans drink bottled water and four billion dollars are spent on bottled water per year to satisfy the desire for tasteless liquid in plastic. Other hidden costs include transportation of bottled water which burns large amounts of fossil fuels. Water bottles also form the base of many landfills across America and continue to pile up.

The sudden demand for bottled water has occurred within the last century as some people have come to question the purity and quality of tap water. Also in the last year, another conflict has arisen that has contributed to bottled water usage. Despite efforts to “go green” by using re-usable water bottles, studies now show that reusable, polycarbonate water bottles leak BPA, a hormone that can cause or lead to cancer. In the long run, BPA consumption can be very dangerous to health. However, both aluminum and stainless steel reusable water bottles are a safe bet.

Bottled water companies promise both purity and quality in their logos and counter the consumption of tap water for its “lack” of purity and quality. Yet, bottled water is packed with minerals like magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, and sodium minerals with water advertised as coming from a “fresh spring.” A single “fresh spring” is unlikely to provide millions of bottles of water continually for years on end. Marketing in the bottled water industry stresses contamination problems in tap water, yet cities require specialized water treatment facilities to fulfill specific requirements as set by the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Treatment facilities of tap water must control and treat tap water on 2- hour cycles, and reports from the treatment facilities are published monthly for public viewing online.

The quality of bottled water can be very questionable in itself despite advertisements. The NRDC estimates about 25-30 percent of bottled water sold in the U.S. is straight from the tap and simply treated further. The percentage of bottled water derived from city taps is predicted to rise. One account presented by the NRDC website listed the brand Everest with a mountain pictured on the label. The advertisement of the bottled water claimed the source of the “pure” water supply to be from Corpus Christi and it was noted later in New York Times that “Corpus Christi is by the Gulf of Mexico and nowhere near Everest or any other mountain.” It would seem likely that consumers of bottled water prefer bottled water not only for its “fresh spring taste,” and convenience, but also from the fear that comes from false advertising that tells consumers that tap water is unhealthy. Yet, a quick look or call to a city’s water plant or visit to a website will prove otherwise, but that seems to go against the ethics evolved in American convenience.

Whether it is the push of a button, the crisp taste of further filtered tap water or the sophistication of landfills plagued with plastic bottles, the decision remains in the hands of American consumers (and their wallets). False advertising and tempting marketing ploys make Americans gullible at the consequence of the consumption of useless minerals, unwarranted burning of fossil fuels for bottled water transportation and over-flowing landfills. It seems almost unethical to place the purity of human existence in the very things that may ruin it.