Marie Claire magazine recently pointed out the top myths about bottled water. Here are the Top 5 bottled water myths with some bonus info from your friendly water filter experts:

1. MYTH: Bottled water is better than tap water. In reality, nearly half of all bottled water comes from municipal water supplies. That’s right – it’s tap water in a bottle. Plus, while the EPA oversees tap water quality, the FDA regulates bottled water quality. In many cases, lax FDA regulations allow bottled water to be even more contaminated than tap water.

2. MYTH: Bottled water tastes better. Okay, so tap water and even well water can taste pretty funky sometimes. But you can get rid of unpleasant tastes with a home water filter. And have you ever sipped water from a plastic bottle that’s been sitting in the sun? Talk about bad taste! What you’re actually tasting are chemicals leaching from the plastic.

3. MYTH: Bottled water with added vitamins is healthier than tap water. Marion Nestle, PhD, professor of nutrition at NYU, explains, “Vitamins, color, herbs, protein, and all the other additions to water – those are a marketing ploy. If you’re drinking “enhanced” water, you’re likely drinking added sugar along with those vitamins. Oh, and don’t forget about those chemicals from the plastic.

4. MYTH: Bottled water is eco-friendly since plastic can be recycled. The sad fact is that most plastic bottles (nearly 90 percent!) are not recycled. They end up in landfills and oceans. There’s an island of plastic trash the size of Texas floating in the Pacific. Plus, the manufacturing and transportation of bottled water requires the same amount of oil that it would take to power 100,000 cars for an entire year.

If you really want to go green, use a reusable stainless steel water bottle or glass water bottle.

Green your office (and save money) with a bottleless office water cooler.

5. MYTH: Bottled water is worth the high price. Bottled water is about 4,000 times more expensive than tap water. And keep in mind that much bottled water is simply tap water in a plastic bottle! In fact, regular tap water may be even cleaner and safer than bottled water, since the plastic bottles can leach chemicals. To get the healthiest and most cost-efficient water, invest in a home water filter.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 12:01 am and is filed under Bottled Water. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.