Sales of bottled water have ballooned in the last 10 years, tripling to about $4 billion a year, says the Natural Resources Defense Council's report, "Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype." According to the Sierra Club fact sheet, "Bottled Water: Learning the Facts, Taking Action," U.S. consumers of bottled water rarely recycle plastic water bottles--throwing away more than 30 billion of them each year. These bottles will be around in landfills for up to 1,000 years.
Less Regulated
The Sierra Club's Bottled Water Campaign explains that the Environmental Protection Agency regulates tap water while the Food and Drug Administration regulates bottled water. FDA water-safety rules are much looser than the EPA's. In "Learning the Facts," the Sierra Club states that although the EPA inspects water filtered at municipal water plants 100 or more times each month, the FDA allows bottled-water companies to perform inspections as few as four times a month.
Toxins in a Bottle
E. coli bacteria come from feces. The NDRC's "Pure Drink or Pure Hype?" points out that while tap water cannot legally contain E. coli, bottled water can. The NDRC states that if municipal water supplies contain high levels of toxins, by law, the toxins must be reduced or removed. But highly contaminated bottled water need only be labeled "containing excessive chemicals" or "excessive bacteria." Almost 1/4 of the bottled waters tested in an NRDC study contained more arsenic and synthetic toxins than is allowed in tap water.
Environmental Harm
According to the NRDC, 2 million tons of bottled water bottles stuffed U.S. landfills in 2005. The Pacific Institute's "Bottled Water and Energy" reports that in 2006, 17 million barrels of oil produced plastic for bottled water. Delivering bottled water burns additional oil. Bottled water generates enough spent oil to fill 1/4 of a plastic bottled water bottle, according to the NRDC. This oil may contribute to global warming. Plus, the group says, when corporations tap natural springs, it can lead to depletion in wetlands, lakes and wells.
References
- Natural Resources Defense Council: Bottled Water Pure Drink or Pure Hype? Executive Summary
- Sierra Club: Bottled Water: Learning the Facts, Taking Action
- Sierra Club: Corporate Water Privatization, Bottled Water Campaign
- Natural Resources Defense Council: Bottled Water
- Pacific Institute: Bottled Water and Energy, A Fact Sheet
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