Dangers Of Bottled Water

If you asked a group of people what they thought was safer, tap or bottled water, many of them would say bottled water. There is a great deal of media attention given to bottled water and many slick advertising campaigns do a good job of encouraging consumers to choose bottled over tap. Some people mistakenly think there are bacterial contaminants in their tap water. If your water comes from a municipally regulated source there is little to worry about as far as safety is concerned. As a matter of fact, there are hidden dangers of bottled water that many consumers may not even be aware of.

The biggest danger comes from reusing water bottles and drinking out of them for too long. Various kinds of toxic bacteria can grow in reused water bottles that would cause a shut down of your local water facility if found in a sample of tap water. You would think that a simple solution would be to wash the water bottles more thoroughly before reusing them, but this isn't a good idea either. Washing a plastic water bottle too many times or too thoroughly may cause the plastic to break down which could possibly cause hazardous chemicals to migrate from the bottle into the water.

Much of the bottled water on the market comes from municipal water sources, meaning it is no better than the water that comes from the tap. Because of the plastic container it is housed in, it might actually be worse. Another problem associated with bottled water is pollution. Plastic bottles build up in landfills and are certainly not good for the environment. While it would be healthier and more eco-friendly for water bottles to be made from glass, this probably will never happen on a widespread level. There are a few brands you can buy that come in glass bottles instead of plastic such as San Pellegrino which is a mineral water and HiOSilver which is an oxygenated water.

There are a few things you can do to reduce the dangers of bottled water. If you are determined to drink bottled water, make sure you drink from a fresh bottle each time rather than reusing the same bottle. Also, try to recycle your empty bottles if at all possible which can help reduce the strain on the environment. Of course, the best way to avoid the hazards associated with bottled water is not to drink it. Municipal tap water in the United States is considered safe for consumption by most health experts, but if you have questions you may want to talk to someone at your local government building.



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