The Californian, Kim Painter
Published September 3, 2007
As the warm weekends of summer wind down, many of us will reach for a few cold ones - drinks of water, that is.
But should that water come from a tap or a bottle? And does the choice make any difference for consumers' health?
Those questions are timely after a summer in which bottled water took a few hard knocks. First, the U.S. Conference of Mayors called for a study of the environmental effect of all those plastic bottles, most of which are not recycled. San Francisco banned city employees from spending tax dollars on bottled water. And Pepsico changed the label on its Aquafina bottles to more clearly reflect the fact that the stuff inside is filtered tap water (as are several other popular brands, including Dasani, from Coca-Cola).
One reason that change raised eyebrows is that tap water has its own image problems. This summer, the spotlight was on Washington, D.C., where a watchdog group found elevated levels of toxic chlorination byproducts in the drinking water - levels that local officials said were probably temporary.
But "we could have done that study in any city and might have found the same thing," says Jane Houlihan, vice president for research at the Environmental Working Group.
What's a consumer to do?
Before you reach for a soda, rest assured: Water remains the ultimate health drink - free of calories or sweeteners, perfectly suited to hydrate the human body and, in the United States, almost always safe, whatever its source.
"The United States continues to have some of the best drinking water standards in the world," says Jon Coifman, spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council. The non-profit group has studied the safety of both bottled and tap water. (For information, visit
www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/brief.asp).
Bottled water, which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, "is not tested as thoroughly or as frequently" as tap water, which is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, Coifman says. "It's not that bottled water is going to kill you. But there's also no reason to believe it's better," despite marketing that is all about "health, wholesomeness and purity."
Houlihan concurs: "People may be turning to bottled water because they don't trust their tap water. But you don't have any assurance of better safety."
Water bottlers, for their part, say they don't claim their products are safer.
"It's unfortunate that people are turning this into a tap-water-vs.-bottled-water issue," says Joseph Doss, president of the International Bottled Water Association.
"We don't disparage tap water. We think if consumers are drinking water, whether it's bottled or tap, it's a good thing."
