Bottled Water – Know it, before you buy it!

I found it really shocking that the regulations for tap water are much stringent than that of bottled water. Even in the countries like the USA, where safety for health is prior to all other social responsibilities, the USFDA (The United Sates Food & Drug Administration) has only some degree of power in validating and regulating the quality of the bottled water.

The situation is much worst in the developing countries like India; in these countries, the regulations regarding the bottled water are applied at their least. Besides, there are no local jurisdictions or authorities that are working effectively in the field of prohibiting the presence of bacteria within the bottled water, unlike the tap water. Thus, the situation is getting grey with every passing minute. After a four-year case study by the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), having tested 1,000 bottles from 103 brands, it was found that a great deal of them contained bacteria and various other contaminants.

A frequently overlooked element of the so called "pure water" is its effect on the atmosphere. Tens of millions of plastic bottles accrue in the landfills daily, only 10% of which are actually recycled. Additionally, each required as much as 2,000 times more energy to provide the same water as that from the faucet. Some associations and governmental bodies have already executed anti-bottled drinking water measures.

The bottled water industry stands in Rupees 20 billion in India alone annually and is perhaps the most profitable beverage on the market. Besides, this industry in India is growing at the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25%, which is the highest in the world. In reality, the bottled water can cost anywhere from 1500-2000 times more than tap water, for at best the same quality. To put it more directly, we are paying for the plastic, shipping, and marketing for water no more pure than that out of tap.

So in a nutshell, all evidences are opposing the facts that water contained in a plastic bottle is safer or purer than that of water coming from the faucet. Thus, these mediums should be banned. However, the next question that arises is “how to get safe and pure water?” Today, many people are considering the home water purification systems. This might be a fruitful decision in the direction of getting pure and safe drinking water, as nowadays, many of the purifiers are using RO & UV based technologies in them. As the result, the people can get the purified water on demand and that too without paying any extra cost for the plastic bottle and without causing damage to the immediate environment.