Bottled Water Vs. At Home FilterFirst, a few eye opening facts about the bottled water industry (we advise you to sit down for this):

  • 60 million water bottles end up in landfills and incinerators every day.
  • A gallon of bottled water costs three times a gallon of milk.
  • The bottled water industry is estimated to be worth $334 billion by the year 2023, showing just how much bottled water we consume.
  • In 2016, 4 billion pounds of plastic packing for water bottles were used.
  • 64% of bottled water actually comes from municipal tap water.

After reading that, we’re sure you were as shocked as we were when we first researched the bottled water industry. These startling facts point to a number of concerns to our health and environmental safety. Let’s take them one at a time.

Harming the Environment

With the millions of plastic water bottles ending up in landfills every day and the sheer enormity of plastic being used to create those water bottles, it is no wonder our environment and sea life are in trouble. Because water bottles aren’t biodegradable, they just break down into smaller pieces which end up absorbing toxins that pollute water sources and contaminate the soil. As if that weren’t enough, most plastic water bottles end up as trash on the street and in the ocean, leaking chemicals, killing sea life, and destroying ecosystems.

Harming your Wallet

Think about it this way: bottled water costs anywhere from 89 cents per gallon to $8.26, as opposed to a fraction of penny for filtered tap water. As one water bottle is only two cups of water, it is safe to assume many people go through a few water bottles a day. Buying a reusable water bottle and refilling it multiple times a day from a filtered faucet will be easier on your bank account.

Harming your Health

Over the past decade, people are buying into the bottled water industry solely for health and well-being. Smart and eye catching packing and marketing, means it is easy to buy into an industry that tells you because there are snowy capped mountains pictured on the water bottle, it means the water inside must be straight from those mountains. On the contrary, the majority of bottled water comes straight from municipal tap water. Yes, some brands do actually source their water from natural springs, but it is impossible to tell the difference. For a quick reference guide, check out this short video to know if the water bottles you’ve been drinking have actually been sourced from your own town.

The bottled water sourced from local municipalities means they are no cleaner than your tap water. In fact, public water has a lot more regulations set by the EPA, as opposed to bottled water, which have regulations only set by the FDA. Also, water that sits in plastic bottles absorb the plastic, especially when sitting in a hot car or near other sources of heat. If you are buying bottled water for health concerns, why not actually know your water is being properly cleaned through the use of an at home filtration system? A filtration system is guaranteed to remove all harmful chemicals and contaminants, as well as provide you with the freshest water possible. The same cannot be said for bottled water. 

For most consumers, the bottled water industry is misleading and confusing. If health and safety is a number one priority for you, a home filtration and purification system is the only way to go, to give you that peace of mind, saving you time, money, and worry.

Sources: Foodandwaterwatch.org, gogreen.org, buisnesswire.com, containerrecycling.org.