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Tap Water vs. Bottled -- What Should You Drink?
Tap Water vs. Bottled -- What Should You Drink?
Glug, glug, glug. That’s the sound a ginormous number of us make as we drink bottled water in our cars, at the gym, and behind our desks.
The sound you don’t hear is the thwack of 60 million bottles a day being tossed into U.S. landfills, where they can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.
If that’s not enough to turn your conscience a brighter shade of green, add this: Producing those bottles burns through 1.5 million barrels of crude oil annually -- enough fuel to keep 100,000 cars running for a year. Recycling helps, but reusing and reducing are even better. So invest in a couple of portable, dishwasher-safe, stainless steel bottles like Klean Kanteens that won’t leach nasty chemicals into your water. (Don’t get into the habit of refilling the plastic water bottle you just emptied; the polyethylene terephthalate it’s made of breaks down with multiple uses.)
4 Reasons to Turn on the Tap
1. Tap water is tested daily. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, local water suppliers are required to test tap water daily and to provide an annual report on the quality of the water. By comparison, the FDA examines bottled water only weekly, and consumers don’t have access to the results. Get the lowdown on the quality of your state’s drinking water.
2. Tap water is a bargain. Bottled water costs about 500 times more than tap. And if you’re into really fancy labels -- up to 1,000 times more.
3. Tap water is a tooth saver. It has more fluoride than bottled water, and that helps prevent tooth decay. (That’s right, you never outgrow your need for fluoride.)
4. Tap water can be tasty. Some places (New York City for one) have delicious water, but if you don’t love the flavor of your city’s H2O, the solution is simple: Run your tap water through a Brita or Pur filter system to help remove unpleasant tastes and odors. The average home filter goes for $8.99 and produces the equivalent of 300 large (16.9 ounce) bottles of water before it needs to be replaced. That’s about $0.03 cents a bottle versus the $1.25 or so you’d pay in a market.
One last thing: Don't just think about making this switch; actually do it. Today. It’ll do the world -- and you -- good.
Are you drinking enough water? Find out here.
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: Comments (9)
Comments
I do not trust the water from the tap. I live in California and the water tastes like chlorine and other things. The water from other places tastes different, i.e., the NY water is sweet. I buy water from those reverse osmosis places --and I do not like to be wasteful and buy water bottles. Posted by: carmen | April 30, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Everyone should get a water filter for their sink and stop buying so much bottled water. If you get a good filter, it will take out all of the chemicals in the water (including the added fluoride). Even a good quality water filter is much cheaper to use than buying bottled water. You can compare some of the better ones at www.WaterFilterComparisons.com Posted by: Michelle | April 02, 2008 at 01:00 PM
Had I signed in to RealAge.com earlier, I would have been much younger.Better not late any further is my urgent call to my friends, collegues,students and relatives which I am mailing to them ere long. Posted by: Dr.Ramakrishnan | April 02, 2008 at 09:07 AM
Could you please tell me if using brita water filter are good for me? I live in Spain the water from tap has a after taste,Thank you
sincerely
Ann King Posted by: vichol | April 02, 2008 at 08:52 AM
Had I signed in to RealAge.com earlier, I would have been much younger.Better not late any further is my urgent call to my friends, collegues,students and relatives which I am mailing to them ere long. Posted by: Dr.Ramakrishnan | April 02, 2008 at 08:48 AM
Fluoride in our water not good for us. European countries have stopped putting fluoride in their water. For further information Check out this website http://www.slweb.org/ftrc.html and also www.mercola.com Posted by: Eva Gairabetoff | March 31, 2008 at 03:44 PM
"It has more fluoride than bottled water, and that helps prevent tooth decay. (That’s right, you never outgrow your need for fluoride.)"
I hope this makes someone think for themselves
The chemists refer to this material as silicofluorides and have now conclusively shown that the fluoridation material is linked to other heavy metal toxins that are found in drinking water—lead, arsenic, aluminum and cadmium for example.
In the March 2001 issue of the journal Neuro Toxicology, a team of researchers led by Dr. Roger Masters of Dartmouth College reported evidence that public drinking water fluoridated with fluorosilicic acid is linked to higher levels of lead in children.
After pointing out that since 1992 only about 10 percent of America’s fluoridated communities use sodium fluoride and 90 percent use fluorosilicic acid, the researchers stated that about 140 million Americans have this chemical placed in their water.
They also pointed out that sodium fluoride was tested on animals and approved for human consumption, but fluorosilicic acid had not been so tested and approved.
The research team studied the blood-lead levels in more than 400,000 children in three different samplings. In each case they found a significant link between fluorosilicic acid-treated water and elevated blood levels of lead.
In the latest study, the blood levels of about 150,000 children ranging in ages from infant to 6 were analyzed.
The samples were collected by the New York State Department of Children’s Health from 1994 through 1998.
Researchers concluded that the fluorosilicic acid-treated water was equal to or worse a contributor of blood-lead levels as old house paint.
Dr. Masters said these preliminary findings correlate the fluorosilicic acid water treatment and behavior problems that are due to known effects of lead on brain chemistry.
Additionally, a study in Germany showed the fluorosilicic acid water (SiFs) may inhibit the enzyme cholinesterase which plays a key role in regulating neurotransmitters.
“If SiFs are cholinesterase inhibitors, this means that SiFs have effects like the chemical agents linked to Gulf War Syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome and other puzzling conditions that plague millions of Americans,” Masters said. “We need a better understanding of how SiFs behave chemically and physiologically.”
Last March, Dr. Masters testified before New Hampshire legislators in favor of the Fluoride Product Quality Control Act. The bill would put the SiFs to a series of tests, and perhaps further research on neurotoxicity and behavior.
“If further research confirms our findings,” Masters said, “this may well be the worst environmental poison since leaded gasoline.”
The EPA admits it has no data on the health and behavioral effects of SiFs.
Dr. Masters asked: “Shouldn’t we stop intentionally exposing 140 million Americans to an untested chemical until the risks are extensively and objectively evaluated by independent researchers?”
And, the final insult: There is no conclusive evidence that fluoridation of drinking water significantly improves the teeth of children at all. ™ By Tom Valentine
Posted by: LaneW | March 26, 2008 at 07:46 PM
i live in mexico and out of a few cities all the water is not drinkable. so i refill my bottles till they look bad. Posted by: celia | March 26, 2008 at 12:57 PM
i live in mexico and out of a few cities all the water is not drinkable. so i refill my bottles till they look bad. Posted by: celia | March 26, 2008 at 12:57 PM
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