Topic for Aug 18 ( Tue )

[Alex !]

The secrets, Bottled water

Quenching your thirst has become complicated. You may decide which to sip -- and which to skip.

Bottled waters are trending. 

If you do want to try any of these, you're best off ignoring the claims. Just consider them a nice but pricey way to stay hydrated.

Make sure to read labels. Ingredients can vary a lot, even among drinks that seem similar.

In this day and age, it seems like bottled water is becoming more and more popular.  It has practically 

become the icon for healthy beverages. 

Bottled water is the world's fastest growing beverage, but consumers would be better served by simply 

turning on the tap.

Bottlers of water generally capitalize on consumer concerns about municipal water supplies, creating 

demand for their product. Some bottled waters, however, differ from tap water merely by being 

distributed in bottles rather than through pipes, 

Bottled water may be no safer or healthier than tap water, while selling for up to 1,000 times the price. 

The reason, according to the environmental group, is an absence of standards regulating bottled water. 

In fact, there are more standards regulating tap water in Europe and the US than those applied to the 

bottled water industry.

Many people believe that because bottled water goes through a filtration process that improves its taste,color, it's also healthier for you. Filtration eliminates possible contaminants such as lead, parasites and byproducts of chlorine, so it's gotta be better, right? Well, not really. While (filters) can reduce exposure to (harmful) elements, it doesn't necessarily mean bottled water will be better for your overall health.

Clean water is a basic right. 

Protecting our rivers, streams and wetlands will help ensure that tap water remains a service which 

delivers good quality drinking water for everyone at a fair price.

Due to the large difference in price, most people want to know what the difference is between tap and 

bottled water.  Just how much are you willing to pay for bottled water?

So if there is little difference between bottle and tap, is there any reason to spend the extra dough for bottled water? Surprisingly, some experts say yes. While all waters may be somewhat equal, the needs of all people aren't.

Whether from above-ground or underground sources must meet the minimum safety standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency. So whether you're drinking water that came from a rural kitchen tap or one in a city restaurant, it should be safe. In order to make an educated decision about what water to drink, you have to look to individual vulnerabilities.

Pregnant women, babies, the elderly, people who are immune-compromised, patients, or those on long-term steroidal use may benefit from choosing certain bottled waters over their particular tap water, to make sure the water is put through some filtration before being bottled,

No matter how pure the source is contamination can also occur at the bottling plant, so certifications are vital. Bottled water products and public water supplies are not required by either agency to be 100% free of contaminants, but the end product should always meet all federal, state or provincial drinking water standards. Of course, many people buy bottled water for its taste and portability. But if you're buying it because you believe it's safer than tap, you may want to start heading to the sink to fill up your glass.

While drinking bottled water may have its benefits, it also has its drawbacks. 

Bottled water is big business. Water is being called the "Blue Gold" of the 21st century. Thanks to increasing urbanization and population, shifting climates and industrial pollution, fresh water is becoming humanity's most precious resource.

Multinational corporations are stepping in to purchase groundwater and distribution rights wherever they can, and the bottled water industry is an important component in their drive to commoditize what many feel is a basic human right: the access to safe and affordable water.But in terms of sustainability, bottled water is a dry well. It's costly, wasteful and distracts from the brass ring of public health.

public safety groups correctly point out that many municipal water systems are aging and there remain hundreds of chemical contaminants for which no standards have been established, there's very little empirical evidence that suggests bottled water is any cleaner or better for you than its tap equivalent.

Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. Plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce. And while the plastic used to bottle beverages is of high quality and in demand by recyclers, over 80 percent of plastic bottles are simply thrown away.

Further, some environmentalists charge that even when the water is safe to drink, the plastic bottles it comes in pose a hazard to the environment. Manufacturing them helps to pollute the air and burn oil resources, the bottles come back to haunt us a second time when they show up in landfills.

American's demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil a year -- enough to power 100,000 cars. And the Container Recycling Institute reports that 86% of plastic water bottles in the United States end up in landfills. When burned, they produce byproducts that may be harmful to humans and the earth.

Plastic packaging made from fossil fuel, with questionable health concerns. The bottle should not leach chemicals into its contents. And while many recycling plants are not yet equipped to handle the new bottles.