FACT OR FICTION

Is Bottled Water Better Than Tap?

It may be trendy to sip brand-name water, but experts say it's no healthier than drinking from the faucet.

By Karen Springen | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Dec 6, 2007 | Updated: 6:13 p.m. ET Dec 6, 2007

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Discuss

Posted By: bloomusa @ 02/17/2008 7:13:55 PM

Comment: Did you know that it takes 8 gallons to make one gallon of bottled water? That is such a waste, also the petroleum that it takes to make the bottles and trasport them is bad for the environment. The water is not better than tap water and it is toxic sitting in those plastic bottles. The only solution is to make your own healthy water. The website www.ReverseAgingWater.com or www.HealthyWaterOnTap.com offers a variety of affordable water machines that turn ordinary tap water into life giving healing water full of natural anti-oxidants and oxygen, and nuetralizes disease causing acid in the body. Water that naturally balances the bodies PH, that is very important to avoid disease and age related illness. Re-Use and Refill, save your health and the environment at the same time. STOP BUYING CORPORATE WATER! Stop getting ripped off by these bottling companies and take control of your own water supply.
Posted By: bloomusa @ 02/17/2008 7:00:02 PM

Comment: Stop buying corporate water, it is bad for the environment, it takes 8 gallons to make one, and it is toxic. The only solution is to make your own healthy water. The website www.ReverseAgingWater.com offers a variety of water machines that turn ordinary tap water into life giving healing water full of natural anti-oxidants and oxygen, and nuetralizes disease causing acid in the body. Water that naturally balances the bodies PH, that is very important to avoid disease and age related illness. Re-Use and Refill, save your health and the environment at the same time. Stop getting ripped off by these bottling companies and take control of your own water supply.
Posted By: bengarcia @ 02/02/2008 11:48:57 AM

Comment: Great idea to have the States report to the Federal Government their tap water analysis. The problem is that the States in order to continue to receive funding from the Federal Government lie about the water analysis. I requested an analysis from South Florida and the list was 0.0 for all chemicals. You could look at the glass of water coming from my tap and smell it and know that 0.0 is imposible. Also in their report it said that they do the analysis and reporting once a year for everithing and twice a year for some things. The analysis is done at the water plant, I get my water after hundreds of miles of old leaky pipes. My tap water is not fit for drinking or cooking.
Posted By: NYSCOF @ 02/01/2008 6:51:23 AM

Comment: When EPA and Grumbles finally do their job and lower the fluoride levels allowed in drinking water, less people will be buying bottled. An expert panel reviewed hundreds of fluoride toxicological studies and find that even low levels of fluoride alllowed in driking water is hazardous to your health.
Posted By: bronxlou @ 01/21/2008 6:40:07 PM

Comment: What an eye-opener! I feel like I've been duped by the Bottled Water crowd. Each step of the way they are exposed for the frauds that they are. They gave tap water such a bad rap that we were made to feel we are drinking poison by drinking out of the tap. As for me, I'm on the lookout for a water filtration system and start saving my money. My good friend John Tesh wrote a blog on this subject at http://johnteshblog.com. Check it out.
Posted By: joyanne @ 12/10/2007 4:04:58 PM

Comment: We, in Europe do not envy your water. On the contrary, we cannot understand why you fluoridate your tap water since to do so is to add a toxin to the water which the human body does NOT need. If it was an essential mineral, Mother Nature would have put it into breast milk. But breast milk contains 250 times less fluoride than you are recommending. Are you suggesting that breast milk is inferior? We have survived with really good dentition for thousands of years without fluoride. It was only when we were seduced with sugared food and fizzy drinks that we, Homo sapiens, began to suffer from dental decay.

A carbohydrate- and sugar-based diet is not the natural diet of human beings. We are carnivores or omnivores, not sugar-suckers.

Ah - perhaps we are suckers after all. Seriously, our teeth are perfectly adequate and have evolved to cope with a natural diet. It was only when we started to eat sugar that we began thinking that we could race ahead of evolution. But our bodies are not evolved enough to cope with sugar. Why should we be forced to eat sugar when we have not evolved to cope with it? Big Business is ruling our actions and our wish for sweet things. But is Big Business right?
Posted By: Karl1West @ 12/10/2007 12:05:40 PM

Comment: Interesting article for all those that desire to be "GREEN". Drink it from the tap. If taste is an issue, purchase a filter. As I learned over thirty years ago in college marketing, "Never underestimate the stupidity of the American public.???
Karl
Posted By: Karl1West @ 12/10/2007 12:04:59 PM

Comment: Interesting article for all those that desire to be "GREEN". Drink it from the tap. If taste is an issue, purchase a filter. As I learned over thirty years ago in college marketing, "Never underestimate the stupidity of the American public.".
Karl
Posted By: jlazgin @ 12/09/2007 7:45:16 PM

Comment: Newsweek December 9, 2007 Re: Is Bottled Water Better Than Tap? (Karen Springen, December 6, 2007) Nestlé Waters agrees there is a time and place for both tap water and bottled water. In our mobile society, 70 percent of what people drink comes in a bottle or can. Bottled water is a convenient and accessible way for people to drink refreshing water when they are out and about or when they don't like the taste of their tap water. We also recognize bottled water has an environmental impact, just like all other packaged goods, and we're working hard to reduce ours. One of these ways is with our new Eco-Shape bottle, which uses up to 30 percent less plastic than the average plastic beverage container. These bottles are fully recyclable -- including the clear caps -- and 98 percent of them are manufactured at our bottling facilities, reducing transportation emissions and saving fuel. While not trivial, the environmental impact of bottled water also needs to be viewed in perspective. Used bottles contribute less than one percent to the municipal waste stream in this country. To truly make a difference, we need new recycling programs that would keep all household containers -- regardless of what they hold -- out of landfills. Sincerely, Jane Lazgin Director, Corporate Communications Nestlé Waters North America 777 West Putnam Avenue Greenwich, CT 06830 (203) 863-0240 Email: jane.lazgin@waters.nestle.com
Posted By: Greener Grass @ 12/09/2007 10:31:08 AM

Comment: Comment: "Bottled water is also stripped of fluoride, which is known to help prevent teeth decay, but many manufacturers add it back to their brands."

Why would I want to drink rat poison again? Oh yeah, because my dentist ordered me to do so and I always listen to authority no matter how ill-gotten their facts were derived (think GWB and Iraq).
Posted By: emailskip @ 12/08/2007 4:59:09 AM

Comment: In third world countries bottled water wins out hands down.
Posted By: waterwatchofutah @ 12/07/2007 3:52:40 PM

Comment: "Bottled water is stripped of fluoride, which is known to help prevent tooth decay....." The fluoride that is added to toothpaste is not the same fluoride that is added to public drinking water supplies. The artificial fluoride added to water supplies is generally fluorosilicic acid, a waste by-product that contains not only fluoride but additional contaminants including arsenic and lead. As fluorine is the most negatively charged element on the periodic chart and the most aggressive in seeking a partner, it is acknowledged to be the most interactive of all the elements. It may be dissociated but it will not remain so. As fluorine is utilized by the pharmaceutical industry because of it???s ability to enhance the effects of other components, does it exacerbate the effect of arsenic and mercury in the birds and fish? As it is a member of the halogen family, are unintentional by-products, similar to the disinfectant by-products, Trihalomethane (THM???s) being formed?

element on the periodic chart and the most aggressive in seeking a partner, it is acknowledged to be the

most interactive of all the elements. It may be dissociated but it will not remain so. As fluorine is utilized by
Posted By: Clean&SafeH2O @ 12/07/2007 3:38:19 PM

Comment: The daily swallowed DOSAGE of ???fluoridated drinking water??? swallowed by especially Pregnant Mothers, and very SMALL CHILDREN is UNCONTROLLABLE! Read this article about Amer. Dental Assoc. and CDC [Center for Disease Control] WARNINGS to prevent Babies/Infants from getting ???fluoride???:
http://www.mothering.com/sections/news_bulletins/november2006.html#fluoride
Posted By: TJFranco @ 12/07/2007 12:19:28 PM

Comment: "Bottled water is also stripped of fluoride, which is known to help prevent teeth decay, but many manufacturers add it back to their brands."

Major parts of the Mid-West like Eastern Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, etc water supply contains high levels of flouride, in fact when we first moved here in the state of New Mexico we were given a brochure on how bad the water conditions are here because of the amount of flouride. And you can tell who's been drinking it for years (mainly locals) because their teeth are a mustard yellow near the gums and are rotting away. People also say that their pets lives are being cut short because of the tap water they are feeding them. And simple made for home filters like Brita or the ones inside refrigerators can't reduce the amount of flouride at all. Thats why I am a fan of bottled water and filtered water through reverse-osmosis and ultraviolet light. Until I move to the palce where Newsweek just talked about, I will stick to bottled water.
Posted By: TJFranco @ 12/07/2007 12:19:08 PM

Comment: "Bottled water is also stripped of fluoride, which is known to help prevent teeth decay, but many manufacturers add it back to their brands."

Major parts of the Mid-West like Eastern Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, etc water supply contains high levels of flouride, in fact when we first moved here in the state of New Mexico we were given a brochure on how bad the water conditions are here because of the amount of flouride. And you can tell who's been drinking it for years (mainly locals) because their teeth are a mustard yellow near the gums and are rotting away. People also say that their pets lives are being cut short because of the tap water they are feeding them. And simple made for home filters like Brita or the ones inside refrigerators can't reduce the amount of flouride at all. Thats why I am a fan of bottled water and filtered water through reverse-osmosis and ultraviolet light. Until I move to the palce where Newsweek just talked about, I will stick to bottled water.
Posted By: TJFranco @ 12/07/2007 12:18:47 PM

Comment: "Bottled water is also stripped of fluoride, which is known to help prevent teeth decay, but many manufacturers add it back to their brands."

Major parts of the Mid-West like Eastern Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, etc water supply contains high levels of flouride, in fact when we first moved here in the state of New Mexico we were given a brochure on how bad the water conditions are here because of the amount of flouride. And you can tell who's been drinking it for years (mainly locals) because their teeth are a mustard yellow near the gums and are rotting away. People also say that their pets lives are being cut short because of the tap water they are feeding them. And simple made for home filters like Brita or the ones inside refrigerators can't reduce the amount of flouride at all. Thats why I am a fan of bottled water and filtered water through reverse-osmosis and ultraviolet light. Until I move to the palce where Newsweek just talked about, I will stick to bottled water.
Posted By: Lauradar @ 12/07/2007 9:47:54 AM

Comment: I'd be much more interested in an article that explained why environmental groups are attacking the bottled water industry instead of Coke or Pepsi for harming the environment. I'm sure the soft drink industry does much more damage to the environment because of the sheer number of consumers. Most people I know only drink bottled water when traveling simply because it's a healthy alternative to soft drinks. I prefer to drink water whether I'm at home or away, so why should my choice be attacked? We drink tap water at home and bottled water when there's no alternative. And yes, I'm dorky enough to fill up my own reusable plastic bottle with tap water whenever I leave the house.
Posted By: choltrn @ 12/07/2007 8:28:10 AM

Comment: Thanks for the great information, but I prefer not to drink chlorine and floride and God knows what else. You all go right ahead, though. I don't drink much bottled water, though. Reverse osmosis tastes better.
Posted By: NYSCOF @ 12/06/2007 8:34:35 PM

Comment: Fluoride is neither a nutrient nor essential for healthy teeth. Drinking fluoride-free bottled water does not lead to more tooth decay. This misinformatoin has been repeated so often by fluoridationists with absolutely no science to support it. 100 million Americans don't drink fluoridated tap water. No one ever advised them to buy fluoridated bottled water. I guess I expected more from Newsweek. First it was Karl Rove. Now this.

I guess I
- Posted By: choltrn @ 12/07/2007 8:30:28 AM
  
  Comment: Here here.
  - Posted By: Acedoh @ 01/30/2008 5:49:21 PM
    
    Comment: I am employed with a company that has a spring well located in the Sierra Nevada of California. This spring supplies numerous large scale spring water companies. I have always preferred the taste and quality of spring water. As good as the quality of tap water may be it still tastes like tap water. I refill my bottle throughout the day with spring watter from the cooler. I don't understand the effort to stop the spring water industry. Like someone pointed out earlier the issue should lie with the soft drink industry which uses millions more plastic bottles than the spring water industry. If people recycle like they are supposed to this shouldn't be an issue in the first place.