The Pros And Cons Of Bottled Water

Five hundred sixty… On average, American consumers spend 560 times the cost of tap water on bottled water. Many people do it because they believe bottled water is best; it tastes good and it is convenient. They do not realize that while it can potentially be bad for you, it can also be bad for your pocket and the environment. Since becoming more readily available in the last 20 years, bottled water has become increasingly popular but there are still many reasons why tap water is a better, and safer, alternative. Bottled water and tap water are regulated by two different federal agencies. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has very strict regulations on the bottled water industry, while the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulations

Spending $1.50 on a bottle of water may not seem like much, in the moment. It does add up though, and after a month, that $1.50 turns to $46.50. Does it still not seem like all that much? Well, consider this: buying a gallon’s worth of 16 oz. bottles of water can sometimes cost up to $7.50. While, in California alone, the average cost of tap water is $1.60 for every thousand gallons. That is $0.0016 per gallon, a small fraction of a penny. The bottled water industry has grown tremendously in the last few decades. The amount of people purchasing bottled water steadily grows with each passing year. Now, bottled water is a multi-billion dollar industry, all for selling something that is readily available to most Americans. As a matter of fact, about half of all water used for bottling comes from public drinking water sources, also known as tap

True, it is faster and more convenient to buy a bottle of water than to take a few seconds to fill a glass with tap water. It can also help track water intake because each bottle clearly states how much water it holds. Many people also use those empty bottles for refilling and reusing. Some believe they are doing something good by reusing these bottles; they are saving money and wasting less plastic, after all. These bottles, however, are not meant to be used more than once and doing so can have adverse effects. The bottles are rarely washed properly before use, which can lead to bacterial contamination in the water that is being consumed. Even when bottles are washed, the materials break down much faster, creating cracks in the bottle that can also become contaminated with bacteria. Aside from that, plastic bottles contain certain substances that are linked to certain health problems. Antimony is a heavy metal that can lead to pulmonary and cardiovascular disease while BPA can affect the brain and even lead to cancer. When some reuse these bottles, they sometimes have the tendency to forget them in their hot car and then continue drinking from them. By doing that, they expose themselves to high amounts of these substances. Antimony and BPA slowly leak out of the plastic on their own, but leaving them exposed to heat increases them by over 300 times. This can potentially lead to