Tap Water Safer than Bottled? Not According to the Facts!

The debate over bottled water versus tap water has recently found new life due to consumer curiosity on how the industry is regulated and enforced. While the argument is not concentrated on the purity of the water itself, the conversation challenges the current rules governing the sourcing and nutritional information bottled-water producers are required to let their customers know. Simply stated, this is a question of consumer choice when it comes to their drinking water.

But when municipal and city water utilities make the claim that their water is safer due to the perception of stronger oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), they are strongly misleading the public. There are many variables to consider when it comes to water quality throughout the country, especially where the tap water suppliers are concerned.

Wherever the product comes from, the filtration process of the bottled water should not be dismissed or discounted. For example, Culligan dealers are independently owned and operated, and the individual franchisees are responsible for their own product. All of their water goes through the reverse osmosis filtration process, which eliminates up to 99.9% of impurities and contaminants despite the source. In terms of labeling and disclosure, the term “reverse osmosis” and “purified” meet all the standards approved and enforced by the Food and Drug Administration.

Before you ban the bottle and run to the tap, keep a few things in mind.

• The AP reported earlier this year there are 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals throughout the country’s municipal water systems. These are unregulated compounds. Quite simply, modern chemistry is outrunning the utilities’ technology.

• The health limits and legal limits provided by the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act are often different, with the legal limit at a much higher threshold than the health limit.

• Water utilities don’t have to include every contaminant in their water. Places like Chicago, for example, are mum on the pesticides and sex hormones in its system.

• Check how your tap water stacked up in one of the most intensive tap water studies ever done by the third-party Environmental Working Group’s Tap Water Database. According to their research, 140 million contaminants with no enforceable regulation are attacking your tap. Residents cannot pick which utility serves their home, but they can choose a consumer water supplier that can ensure its quality.

Culligan constantly develops technologies devoted to sustainable high water quality such as whole-house filtration systems and bottle-less water coolers. Culligan dealers are also quick to point out bottled water is crucial for disaster relief, since it is safely packaged and potable.In fact, an EPA study counted 433,947 documented illnesses and 73 deaths between 1991 and 2002 stemming from tap water. Bottled water has never been cited as a source for a large-scale outbreak.

There are many sides to the bottled water issue, keep the ‘source’ in mind.