Cost and Safety

Cost: Given the choice between water and a high-calorie beverage, water - either bottled or tap – is more healthful. But tap water is many hundreds -- if not tens of thousands--of times cheaper than the bottled variety. And its social and environmental costs (see below) are significantly lighter.

Safety: In general, bottled water, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, is just as safe as tap water, which is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Both are allowed to contain low levels of various contaminants (remember, water is a universal solvent: it can pick up traces of whatever it passes through or over). But there are serious differences in testing and reporting. Tap water is tested far more frequently than bottled water, and consumers who drink from community water supplies receive an annual water-quality report; bottlers are under no obligation to reveal the results of their tests. Also, while utilities test water throughout the distribution system, bottlers test only at the plant. The longer that water sits inside plastic – in warehouses and on store shelves -- the more likely it is for chemicals to migrate into the water.