Opinion: The truth about bottled water

By Liska Koenig
CHIEF COPY EDITOR

Humans need water to live — yet the way we consume the life-giving fluid is killing us and our planet.

During the past two decades American consumers have stepped away from drinking tap water and instead opt for bottled water, sold at a much higher price than water from the faucet. Every day more than three million water bottles are thrown away and end up in land fill.

In 2007, bottled water sales reached 8.82 billion gallons, worth $11.7 billion according to beveragemarketing.com, a Web site that tracks beverage industry data.

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission sells water for about $0.003 per gallon, but — depending on your beverage of choice — bottled water costs more than $1 per 12 oz, which amounts up to $12.00 or more per gallon, according to a fact sheet created by the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Bottled water manufacturers want us to believe their product is better and healthier. Promotional campaigns are saturated with images of clear mountain lakes, beautiful glaciers and pristine springs and companies often assert a cause that exceeds their greed for profit while justifying selling water at a price that’s hundreds, sometimes thousands the price of tap water.

Fiji Water claims to be carbon-negative by reducing the amount of packaging, optimizing their bottling process, etc. The distance between San Francisco and Suva in Fiji is 5,447 miles – it’s hard to believe that transporting water all this way benefits the planet.   Also, any corporation can simply purchase carbon credits to officially change its impact on the environment and global warming.

The bottled water industry has brainwashed us into believing that it’s healthier to drink water from a plastic bottle. Recent studies by the Sprecher Institute of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. have shown, that exposure to sunlight and scratches to water bottles, even hard plastic sports bottles, can release environmental estrogen, like the chemical bisphenol-A, into the water. These chemicals mimic the body’s natural estrogen, and even small amounts can significantly increase the risk of breast cancer.

Tap water quality is monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which requires extensive water testing every year. The quality of bottled water, however, is monitored by the Food and Drug Administration, which doesn’t have testing standards, according to a statement given to Congress by Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch. Companies manufacturing water don’t provide detailed  information about water quality and source on the bottle label.

Take Aquafina for example: in 2007 Pepsi-Cola, the owner of Aquafina, publicly announced it would change the labeling on Aquafina bottles. Previous labels said “bottled at P.W.S.,” short for public water source, which translates to tap water. The new labels only advertise the company’s “state-of-the-art purification system,” but don’t say anything about where the water is coming from.

Anybody can learn about the quality of local drinking water by looking up data provided by the EPA on epa.gov/safewater.

The active refusal to buy bottled water saves money, reduces the manufacturing of plastic bottles and avoids huge amounts of waste and landfill waste. Research conducted by the State of California Department of Conservation, found at least 1 billion water bottles were not recycled in 2003. That translates into nearly three million empty water bottles ending up in the trash every day! Consumption of bottled water has increased significantly since then, it’s estimated that annually 38 billion empty bottles go into landfills nationwide.

It takes over 1.5 million barrels of oil to manufacture a year’s supply of plastic water bottles, which is enough to fuel 100,000 cars, according to Earth911.com. A good and safe alternative to plastic bottles are glass or stainless steel bottles, widely available at health food, hardware and outdoor stores.

San Francisco tap water comes from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park and is generally known to be of good quality. If you are still concerned about possible toxins, you can buy a water filter to purify the tap water at your home. The initial cost of a filter system attached to the faucet might be more expensive, but will pay off in the long run because filter cartridges last longer. Also, pitcher filters like the popular Brita filter are less efficient, they leave more toxins in the water. Comparative information about water filter systems, their effectiveness and pricing can be found on www.waterfiltercomparisons.com.