Hey! There's a NEW POLL on the right! ------------------->>>
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11%
5%
5%
57%
22%
While it shows that the bottled water brands exceed 10ppb regulations (e.g., 23ppb in Oakland, CA), it also shows the tap water exceeding these specifications (e.g., tap water results range from 7.8 to 88ppb). The organization that did the study (Environmental Working Group) takes pains to emphasize that bottled water buyers may be "deceived" into paying a lot for bottled water that may not be safer, but they fail to highlight the elephant in the room -- the TAP water is also not so good. I think it's because they started the study with the intention of attacking bottled water, e.g., they emphasize bottled water waste, etc. Read the whole report here.
Addendum: Grist makes much the same point, emphasizing "bottled is not better than tap" but also bringing the debate back to improved tap water supplies.
For a flash back into time, read this 1974 Consumers Reports article, "Is the Water Safe to Drink?"
Meanwhile, Pepsi's bottled water sales have fallen by "double-digit" percentages while carbonated beverages are off by only 3 percent. How will the industry respond?
PepsiCo is creating new packaging and logos for many beverages, and plans to introduce new products in the coming year.New products? As in NEWater? I'd hate to see Pepsi and Coke lose an entire generation. Imagine that -- kids who have their teeth and are not fat. Horrors!
“Because of the economy, there is some movement, probably temporarily, back to tap water,” said John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest, an industry publication. He predicted that both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola would ratchet up their efforts to improve beverage sales in 2009.
“Unless both Pepsi and Coke do something quickly, they could lose a generation of carbonated soft drink consumers,” Mr. Sicher said.
While Pepsi looks for new ways to sell old water, Nestle is taking more direct action -- threatening to sue Miami-Dade's water supplier for ads that say:
You think bottled water is purer and safer? You think it's better? Well, you're wrong. It's just the opposite. Bottled water is not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Tap water is. That's why you always can be sure Miami-Dade tap water is superior. Stop wasting your money!Bottom Line: I'm not sure which is safer, but competition on quality between bottled and tap water sellers can only help us.
hattips to CW and WaterSISWEB
3 comments:
While bottled water may not be regulated by the EPA it is regulated by the FDA.
Tap water is not regulated by the FDA.
Which regulations provide better water?
Don't know. My guess is that they are both probably quite similar and quite lax as compared to other countries.
My impression is that EPA sets standards but local/state authorities implement them. More: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html
In this post, I report that the FDA has "less than one person" in charge of bottled water quality.
I am guessing that many people work on quality -- both tap and bottled -- but that tap water is monitored more intensively, mainly because of universal service and the bureaucracy that comes with it.
I'll agree that any competition between water quality if a good thing. I grew up on well water with extra mineral taste and am healthier than so many people I know. I know it's unscientific but I like to think it's because of the well water I grew up on. As much as I'd like to think tap water will be the way people will go for its smaller environmental impact, there still will be people who buy water bottles. With that said, there's room to make bottled water greener and biodegradable at least. I've tried using a Pur filter at home but have not been able to get the rest of my family to leave their Aquafina non-biodegradable bottles at the store.
If you are interested, there's an effort to pressure PepsiCo to switch to biodegradable bottles for Aquafina water. Check it out at http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/put-aquafina-in-biodegradable-bottles-or-else
I just joined as I feel we need to just get one of the bottled water makers to make the switch and that will hopefully encourage other water companies to follow their lead.
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