•  Bottled water is over priced, over 95% of cost is bottle, label, lid and transportation.
•  Bottled water is bad for the environment, Millions of plastic bottles pollute our landfills daily.

Any time water is stored for a prolonged period of time in a plastic bottle, it will take on traces of the chemicals used in the plastic such as Pthylate.

Bottled water is a multi-billion dollar business! It is the fastest growing segment of the entire beverage industry and the most profitable.

Millions of dollars are spent each week by water bottlers to give consumers the perception that their water comes from some pristine mountain spring or pure underground aquifer.

The truth is that often bottled water is little more than tap water in a bottle.

The regulations that govern the quality of bottled water only apply if it is transported across state lines, and then only require it to be "as good as" tap water, not better. Most bottled water is bottled and sold within the same state to avoid Federal purity standards. There are no assurances or requirements that bottled water be any safer or better than tap water.

In March of 1999 the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) released a report called "Bottled Water, Pure Drink or Pure Hype?"

NRDC's report points out that as much as 40% of all bottled water comes from a city water system, just like tap water. The report also focuses on the fact that 60-70% of all bottled water is exempt from FDA's bottled water standards, because it is bottled and sold within the same state. According to the NRDC, "bottled water companies have used this loophole to avoid complying with basic health standards, such as those that apply to municipally treated tap water."

Bottled Water Pure Drink or Pure Hype? (Executive summary)

•  City tap water can have no confirmed E-coli or faecal coliform bacteria. FDA bottled water rules include no such prohibition (a certain amount of any type of coliform bacteria is allowed in bottled water).

•  City tap water, from surface water, must be filtered and disinfected. In contrast, there are no federal filtration or disinfection requirements for bottled water.

Most cities using surface water have had to test for Cryptosporidium or Giardia, two common water pathogens, that can cause diarrhoea and other intestinal problems, yet bottled water companies do not have to do this.

•  City tap water must meet standards for certain important toxic or cancer-causing chemicals, such as phthalate (a chemical that can leach from plastic, including plastic bottles); some in the industry persuaded FDA to exempt bottled water from the regulations regarding these chemicals.

•  City water systems must issue annual "right to know" reports, telling consumers what is in their water. Bottlers successfully killed a "right to know" requirement for bottled water.

The Natural Resources Defence Council report concluded that; "Therefore, while much tap water is indeed risky, having compared available data, we conclude that there is no assurance that bottled water is any safer than filtered tap water."

Filtered water treatment, with a quality in home water filtration system, is by far the most economical, the most convenient and the most capable of producing the highest quality water.

Filtering out the chlorine, lead and other contaminants with a quality home water filtration system, at the point of use, just prior to consumption, is the only way to know for sure about the quality of your water.

If I drink tap water should I use a filter and what types of filters are most effective?

The real long-term solution is to make tap water safe for everyone. However, if you know you have a tap water quality or taste problem, or want to take extra precautions, you should purchase filters certified by NSF International (800 NSF-MARK). These filters remove the contaminants of special concern such as cryptosporidium. Such certification is not necessarily a safety guarantee, but it is better than no certification at all.

It is critically important that all filters be maintained and replaced at least as often as recommended by the manufacturer, or they might make the problem worse.