Water Health Debate: Bottled or Tap?

I recently read an interesting article on bottled water in Fast Company and it brings up a couple wellness issues that I’d like to hear everyone weigh in on.

1. In the article, the author states, “But bottled water isn't healthier, or safer, than tap water” and “24% of the bottled water we buy is tap water repackaged by Coke and Pepsi.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I think there are a lot of unhealthy things in most tap water. Chlorine for example and depending on who you talk to, Fluoride is another reason to avoid tap water.

What do you think? Is reverse osmosis water really worth the expense? (By the way I’ve been doing the research to replace my delivered 5-gallon bottles with an in-home system which ranges from about $150 to $1,595). What about distilled or other purification systems?

2. In the article, they talked about the various places water is bottled from the East Coast to Figi and it got me thinking about the less obvious health impacts of bottled water. Through various research, I deem reverse osmosis water to be the “healthiest” water for me, but I am beginning to wonder about the process of buying it in a bottle? I’ve heard that most plastics leach into my water. (So I’ve bought some special non-leaching reusable bottles.) Then there’s the transportation of the water, which is contributing to global warming. There’s also the extra water, energy and resources used just to make the bottles and to purify the water. So in the long run, is the water really healthier if I buy the 16.9 oz reverse osmosis purified bottles than drinking the “contaminated” tap water? (And have you noticed how hard it is to buy bulk packages of the larger 24 oz bottles anymore?)

I am leaning toward purchasing my own reverse osmosis filter for my sink and using my own reusable bottles, but do you think it is worth the expense and extra hassle?

Note: The original article that prompted this post is really worth reading. It is a balanced article (sometimes for the bottled water industry and sometimes against it) that opens your eyes to many different thoughts and ideas regarding a seemly simple bottle of water.

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