Why is bottled water better than tap water in your home? In the US, many companies were forced to STOP saying that there products were better, safer or purer, than the publicly treated supplies in the country.
When Coca-cola attempted to release Dasani in the UK, they used advertising ploys, indicating that their bottle beverage was "purer" than what the people had in their homes. The government decided to test their product to get at the truth behind their advertising slogans.
What they found were high levels of a cancer-causing chemical called bromate. A recall was forced, of course, and the product was never re-released in the country. One thing that makes this story interesting is that the source used by Coke was a public supply outside of London and bromate is not present in that source.
So, tell me again, why is bottled water better than tap water?
Most people think it tastes better. Try installing a good filtration system on your kitchen faucet. Fill a glass pitcher or bottle and let it chill in the refrigerator. If the system that you buy includes an ion exchange step, you will not find anything better tasting in a plastic bottle, anywhere.
You are fooling yourself if you think that those plastic bottles contain spring-water. There are two sources used by bottling companies; wells and publicly treated supplies. If there is a Pepsi bottling plant in your vicinity and you buy Aquafina, you are actually buying a plastic bottle that contains your own tap-water. The same holds true for Coke and Nestle Pure-life.
So, one more time, why is bottled water better than tap? If you have a home purifier, it is not.
The bottling companies use a reverse osmosis system that cannot remove chemicals like chlorine and bromate. Bromate is a THM and no reverse osmosis system can remove THMs. No one knows why bromate was found in Dasani, since it wasn't present in the public's supply. Something about Coke's process caused it to form.
The best home systems remove THMs, like bromate and it's a good thing that they do. Recent research indicates that exposure to THM, at levels normally found in homes with chlorinated water, doubles your risk of bladder cancer. Exposure can also occur in the shower. Can you shower in bottled-water? Can you cook with it, make coffee with it or brush your teeth with it? You could, but it would get awfully expensive.
Is bottled water better than tap when it comes to the environment and our dwindling freshwater sources? Are you recycling all of those plastic bottles or throwing them in the trash? It is estimated that 80% of the bottles do not get recycled. Did you know that there are cities in Maine that ran out of water? The cause was the massive amount of groundwater that Poland Springs pulls out of that aquifer.
Hopefully you see the answer to why is bottled water better than tap. Buy a home purifier and help save the environment.
