Some people think that buying water in bottles is a waste of money and ask, "Why buy water in bottles when you can get it for free from your kitchen faucet?" Others like having a choice of water to drink. They say that they want to know what they are putting in their bodies. "Have you ever tested your tap water and your bottled drinking water?" ask those who drink from the tap.
No matter what you think, you should be careful about the water you drink. You might even want to test the water or read about the results of tests that have already been done on the water you can drink.
Take bottled drinking water. Many people think that because the water is in a bottle, it is clean. Does it? Could it be that the "water criminals" in your bottled water come from the same place as the ones in your tap water?
Words for Bottled Drinking Water
On the labels of bottled drinking water, the following terms are often used to describe the water's qualities, sources, and ways of being treated. You might be surprised. These definitions come from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's pamphlet "Bottled Water Basics."
- Drinking water is water that is meant for people to drink and is sealed in bottles or other containers. It does not contain any other ingredients, but it may contain safe and effective disinfectants. Fluoride can be added, but only up to the limits set by the standards for the quality of bottled water.
- Distilled water is made by condensing the steam from boiling water and putting it in bottles. Microbes are killed when water is distilled, and the water loses its natural minerals, which gives it a flat taste.
- Mineral water: Ground water with 250 parts per million or more of total dissolved solids.
- Artesian water, ground water, spring water, and well water all come from an underground aquifer and may or may not be treated. Through a well, you can get water from a well or a spring. You can collect spring water as it flows to the surface or through a borehole. Either way, ground water can be.
Have you seen...?
- Bottled water may have minerals, even lead, in it.
- Bottled drinking water may have fluorides and disinfectants in it, just like tap water.
- Bottled drinking water may come from an aquifer that has been treated with chemicals or hasn't been treated at all. Most tap water has been treated.
- Bottled water isn't always pure, just like tap water isn't always pure.
- Bottled drinking water can have a lot of things in it that tap water is not allowed to have, like human or animal waste.
Often, bottled water is not as clean as you might think.
Standards for Bottled Drinking Water
The USFDA does set rules for water that comes in bottles. If you really want to give your family clean water to drink, you will want to read them.
Bottled drinking water sold in interstate commerce in the United States, including water that was bottled outside of the country, must meet the following minimum federal standards:
- Bottled drinking water has to meet FDA standards for physical, chemical, microbial, and radiological contaminants. When the EPA sets a new standard for a contaminant in tap water, the FDA must set a new standard for the same contaminant in bottled drinking water or decide that the EPA's new standard does not apply to bottled drinking water.
Bottled water doesn't have to be better than water from the tap. In fact, it might even be held to lower standards.
- Bottlers must put the name of the product and the type of water on their labels. They must also put the name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor, as well as the net content.
Labels on bottled drinking water don't have to say what has been added to the water.
- A state or local government must sign off on new sources of bottled drinking water. Bottlers must also test their sources and finished bottled drinking water at least once a week for microbiological contaminants and at least once a year for physical, chemical, and radiological contaminants.
Once the government has approved the source based on EPA and FDA rules, it is up to the bottler to keep it clean.
- If the FDA finds that bottled drinking water has been tampered with or is dangerous to health, it can seize domestic products and refuse to let imports into the country.
No one can guarantee the purity of water that comes in bottles. Enforcement actions can only be taken if real risks are found.
- Bottlers must run their plants according to the FDA's good manufacturing practises to make sure that their bottled drinking water is safe and made in a clean and safe way.
Your bottled drinking water is supposed to be made in a safe and clean way, but the actual contents are not strictly regulated.
Having bottled drinking water on hand in case of an emergency is a good idea, but don't think of it as pure drinking water. Purity can be different between brands and between batches of the same brand.
