Tap Water vs. Bottled Water

“Is there lead in your drinking water?”

“Antibiotics found in drinking water causes super bacteria.”

“Cancer causing chromium found in cities’ drinking water.”

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Tap water is gross, right?  And bottled water is cleaner.  At least, that’s what most people think.  That is why the bottled water industry is raking in the dough.  In addition, warnings like those above frighten us into buying bottled water and forsaking our tap water as a drinking water source altogether.

But is bottled water really safer?

Hmmm… do you see where I’m going with this?  Honestly.  For just one moment, look at your bottle of water. Where would you assume it came from? Do you think it came from the mountainous stream depicted on the label?  Perhaps it comes from a clean spring somewhere where pollution and industry has not yet arrived.  Maybe it’s from a snowy mountainous region with clean water runoff.

Or maybe it’s just some jerk using a garden hose.  I’m not kidding.

Maybe not a garden hose per se, but it’s tap water.  It’s nothing more than filtered tap water.

Do you feel cheated?  Well, you should.  You’re paying tons of money for water you could’ve gotten out of your tap for much cheaper.  Are you pissed yet?

In addition, there are studies to suggest that bottled water is actually worse than tap water.  Between a lack of FDA regulation of bottled water and the evidence that points to the plastic used being toxic, you may actually be making yourself sicker when you pick up a plastic bottle of water vs. filtering your own and drinking from a glass or metal water bottle you can refill and reuse.

And don’t even get me started on all the trash bottled water creates.  Whether you recycle them or not, these bottles are bad for the environment. Period.

Currently I use a PUR water filter.  Sometimes I even re-filter it in a Brita Water Pitcher.  I then use a stainless steal water bottle that fits 3-8oz cups of water and drink from that all day, avoiding all plastic, just to be on the safe side.

I don’t know if the plastic is really toxic, but I don’t really care.  If the water in the bottle at the store costs more than my tap water, but it’s the same quality water, why would I buy it?

What do you know about bottled water vs. tap water?

In addition to a ton of Internet research, I learned about tap water vs. bottled water from a couple of sources.

First, I’m a huge fan of Penn & Teller, and they did a show on this years ago during their very first season of Penn & Teller – Bullsh*t!.

If you’re interested in something a little more professional, though, and you have Netflix, check out TAPPED. It’s a documentary about bottled water that’s currently streaming, so you can watch it online now.

Thoughts? Opinions? What do you think about Bottled Water vs. Tap Water?