Drinking Water

I talked about all of the plastics floating in the ocean one time, and I really see a lot of water bottles in the streets heading toward the storm drains. There are very wide drains in Maryland and many have a message stenciled across the top of the curb, “Don’t Dump—Chesapeake Bay Drainage.” You probably know that tens of millions of plastic bottles are thrown away per day in the U.S. alone. Although water bottles are not the biggest contamination problem the bay is facing, Maryland has a solar powered Mr. Trash Wheel that will pick up 100,000 water bottles this year out of Baltimore Harbor alone. Believe it or not, Americans are still dumping motor oil, antifreeze, paint, and other contaminants into storm drains. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation says one quart of oil can contaminate up to 250,000 gallons of water and create an oil slick two-acres in size.

Besides using less plastic, drinking filtered tap water can be cleaner than bottled water. The Environmental Working Group tested ten brands of bottled water and found mixtures of 38 contaminants, including pharmaceuticals, fertilizer, and industrial chemicals. There were toxic byproducts of chlorination in Walmart’s Sam’s Choice and Giant’s Acadia brands, at levels no different than what’s routinely found in tap water.^[1] Tap water is regulated by the EPA, which requires yearly public reports identifying the contaminants found in local water sources. But bottled water is regulated by the FDA, which has less stringent requirements.

A four-year study by the National Resources Defense Council, released in 1999 found one fifth of the bottled waters sampled contained known neurotoxins and carcinogens. Based on the report from that study, in July 2013 the FDA agreed to more stringently regulate bottled water safety and test for and ban water sources contaminated with E. coli and to regulate the level of phthalates (DEHP) consistent with EPA regulations.^[2] Once you open a bottle of water and have it sitting out unrefrigerated, bacteria immediately starts to grow.

Now that people are more willing to move away from the convenience of bottled water and fill their own bottles, most of them are using plastic bottles because they’re cheaper and easier to find than steel. Phthalates are hormone-disruptors that leach out of the plastic liner of water bottles into the water especially if the bottle is in the heat. The best way to store and drink you water is from glass, but since that doesn’t transport well, get a refillable stainless water bottle – mine was $4.99 at Marshalls.

As far as important minerals found in water, calcium and magnesium, whether you get them in your tap water depends on where you live, and all bottled water brands have different amounts (from very low to very high). But much of the bottled water including large jugs is actually repackaged tap water. If it is labeled as “purified” or “drinking water,” chances are it came from a municipal water supply, and the mega-beverage conglomerates Coke, Pepsi, and Nestle hold most of the market share.  They are not really getting that water from the mountain spring pictured on the label.