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International Bottled Water Association: Which is safer? Bottled water or tap water? (Pro). 

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International Bottled Water Association: Which is safer? Bottled water or tap water? (Pro). 

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Bottled Water vs Tap Water - Bottled Water | IBWA | Bottled Water

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Drinking water - tap, filtered, or bottled - is important for healthy hydration and plays a vital role in people’s lives. Consumers choose bottled water for

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Plastic Bottles & Ocean Pollution—great images of the ocean, sea creatures, and plastic bottle pollution. Text overlay (captions) and charts/graphs. (Con)

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Plastic Bottles & Ocean Pollution—great images of the ocean, sea creatures, and plastic bottle pollution. Text overlay (captions) and charts/graphs. (Con)

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Bottled water help Haitian relief work (Pro)

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Bottled water help Haitian relief work (Pro)

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BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO HAITIAN RELIEF EFFORTS
Statement of IBWA President Joseph K. Doss:
"The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) and the bottled water industry have been working to provide bottled water to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Since we first learned the news of this disaster, IBWA and the bottled water industry have produced, coordinated and distributed critical bottled water supplies through relief agencies and organizations such as 'Clean the World', 'Convoy of Hope,' 'American Red Cross' and 'AmeriCares' and other state and local charities.

A key facet of IBWA involvement has been to provide bottled water companies with specific information regarding staging areas where bottled water shipments may be dropped, as well as other contact information for relief organizations that are seeking bottled water and other contributions.

The bottled water industry has always been at the forefront of relief efforts during natural disasters and other catastrophic events. Throughout the years, bottled water companies have immediately responded to the need for clean water after natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, the earthquakes and wildfires in the West, or the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. More recently, our companies provided bottled water to those in need in the aftermath of the 2009 spring flooding in the Midwest."

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Contact:
TOM LAURIA703-647-4609 office / 703-887-4056 cellphone
Emergency Relief contacts:
Clean the World ( http://www.cleantheworld.org)

Convoy of Hope ( http://www.convoyofhope.com)

American Red Cross ( http://www.redcross.org)

AmeriCARES ( http://www.americares.org)
The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is the authoritative source of information about all types of bottled waters, including spring, mineral, purified, artesian, and sparkling. Founded in 1958, IBWA's membership includes U.S. and international bottlers, distributors and suppliers. IBWA is committed to working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates bottled water as a packaged food product, to set comprehensive and stringent standards for safe, high-quality bottled water products.

In addition to FDA regulations, IBWA member bottlers must adhere to the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice, which mandates additional standards and practices that in some cases are more stringent than federal and state regulations. A key feature of the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice is a mandatory annual plant inspection by an independent, third-party organization.

IBWA is proud to be a partner with Keep America Beautiful and a supporter of Drink Up, an initiative of former First Lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which encourages Americans to drink more water more often - whether from the tap, a filter, or in a bottle. Choosing water is always the healthy choice.

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BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO HAITIAN RELIEF EFFORTS - Bottled Water | IBWA | Bottled Water

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BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO HAITIAN RELIEF EFFORTS Statement of IBWA President Joseph K. Doss: "The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) and the bottled water industry have been working to provide bottled water to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

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MYTH #1:

BOTTLED WATER IS BETTER THAN TAP.

Not necessarily. While labels gush about bottled water that "begins as snowflakes" or flows from "deep inside lush green volcanoes," between 25 and 40 percent of bottled water comes from a less exotic source: U.S. municipal water supplies. ( Bottling companies buy the water and filter it, and some add minerals.) That's not really a bad thing: The Environmental Protection Agency oversees municipal water quality, while the Food and Drug Administration monitors bottled water; in some cases, EPA codes are more stringent.

MYTH #2:

PURIFIED WATER TASTES BETTER.

The "purest" water - distilled water with all minerals and salts removed - tastes flat; it's the sodium, calcium, magnesium, and chlorides that give water its flavor. The "off" taste of tap water is the chlorine; if you refrigerate it in a container with a loose-fitting lid, the chlorine taste will be gone overnight.

MYTH #3:

BOTTLED WATER WITH VITAMINS, MINERALS, OR PROTEIN IS MORE HEALTHY THAN REGULAR WATER.

" Vitamins, color, herbs, protein, and all the other additions to water - those are a marketing ploy," says Marion Nestle, Ph.D., professor of nutrition studies at New York University. Plus, the additives are usually a scant serving of the vitamins you really need in a day, adds Amy Subar, Ph.D., a nutritionist with the National Cancer Institute. Enhanced waters usually contain sugars and artificial flavorings to sweeten the deal and can pack more calories than diet soda. When it comes to providing fluoride, tap water usually wins, though that element is increasingly being added to bottled waters.

MYTH #4:

YOU NEED EIGHT 8-OUNCE GLASSES OF WATER EACH DAY.

The Institute of Medicine recommends about 91 ounces (a little more than 11 8-ounce glasses) of fluid daily for women. But here's the thing: It expects 80 percent of that to come from water, juice, coffee, tea, or other beverages and the remaining 20 percent from food. That means if you drink a 12-ounce cup of coffee and a 12-ounce can of diet soda, you only need 48 more ounces (three 16-ounce glasses, or four soda cans' worth) for the day.

MYTH #5:

AFTER AN INTENSE WORKOUT, BOTTLED WATER IS BEST.

There's a reason volunteers hand out Gatorade during marathons. If your workout lasts longer than an hour, you need to replace the water and electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, that you've lost (that's what sports drinks generally do). For less intense workouts, regular water is fine.

MYTH #6:

WATER BOTTLES ARE EASY ON THE ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE THEY CAN BE RECYCLED.

Wouldn't it be nice? And it's not just the bottles. Eco-costs include manufacturing, trucking, shelving, and marketing. And meeting the annual U.S. demand for plastic bottles requires enough oil to keep 100,000 cars on the road for a year, says Janet Larsen of the Earth Policy Institute. Sure, the 70 million empty water bottles the U.S. produces per day can be recycled, but the sad truth is, about 86 percent of them end up in the trash. Hardly worth it, for what flows out of the tap and into a reusable glass for free.

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MYTH #1: BOTTLED WATER IS BETTER THAN TAP. Not necessarily. While labels gush about bottled water that "begins as snowflakes" or flows from "deep inside lush green volcanoes," between 25 and 40 percent of bottled water comes from a less exotic source: U.S. municipal water supplies.

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Ideas and Insight From National Geographic

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The Amount of Plastic in the Ocean (Video)

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The Amount of Plastic in the Ocean (Video)

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From National Geographic News, banning bottled water - Yahoo Video Search Results

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The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web.

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Despite organized anti-bottled-water campaigns across the country and a noisy debate about bottled water's environmental impact, Americans are buying more bottled water than ever.

In 2011, total bottled water sales in the U.S. hit 9.1 billion gallons - 29.2 gallons of bottled water per person, according to sales figures from Beverage Marketing Corp.

The 2011 numbers are the highest total volume of bottled water ever sold in the U.S., and also the highest per-person volume.

Translated to the handy half-liter size Americans find so appealing, that comes to 222 bottles of water for each person in the country - four bottles of water for every man, woman and child, every week.

Indeed, bottled water sales aren't just growing - it's fair to say they're booming. Volume increased by 4.1 percent in 2011 - five times as fast as the 0.9 percent growth in the sales of beverages overall, according to Beverage Marketing. Bottled water sales, in fact, are growing twice as fast as the economy itself.

"Americans are drinking more bottled water because they find it convenient, appealing and also healthy," says Gary Hemphill, who is managing director for information services at Beverage Marketing, and a longtime observer of bottled water and beverage sales in the U.S. and around the world.

The resurgence of bottled water - sales dropped in 2008 for the first time in 31 years, and again in 2009, tracking declines in overall drink sales because of the recession - may be surprising given the debate about its value as a product in the last five years.

The record sales year comes as more than a dozen colleges and universities have taken the extraordinary step of banning sale of bottled water on campus, often under pressure from student organizing campaigns that encourage students to drink tap water.

Just last week, Loyola University in Chicago announced it would stop selling bottled water in cafeterias and on-campus stores this fall, and remove bottled water from vending machines starting in 2013. Loyola joins at least 15 other schools in the U.S. and Canada in banning bottled water sales, including the University of Vermont, Washington University, DePauw University, and Harvard's School of Public Health.

At least four major municipalities - New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Chicago's Cook County - have banned use of government funds to purchase bottled water.

Despite the record amount of water sold - 2011 beat out the previous, pre-recession year of 2007, when volume was 8.8 billion gallons - 2011 was not a record year in dollar sales of bottled water.

At retail, Americans spent $21.7 billion on bottled water in 2011, just under 2007's spending.

The big three bottled water companies - Coke, Pepsi and Nestlé - have been discounting water heavily in the last few years, to sustain sales through the recession and the growing opposition.

"Pricing in this category has been aggressive," says Hemphill, "which has helped."

Although the U.S. has among the safest tap water in the world, the U.S. remains the largest market for bottled water. The next two, in order, are China and Mexico, both countries in which tap water is either unavailable, or typically not considered safe to drink.

The increase in Americans' consumption of bottled water is extraordinary - the growth having more in common with digital-era products than typical consumer products.

As recently as 2001, per person consumption of bottled water was just 18.2 gallons per person.

Despite the size and visibility of the business, the amount of water actually sold is relatively tiny, compared to tap water volumes. U.S. water utilities supply more than 1 billion gallons of tap water an hour, every hour of the day.

The total amount of water in the bottles Americans buy in a year would only supply U.S. tap water needs from midnight until 9 a.m. on January 1.

Charles Fishman is an award-winning investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author who has spent the last four years traveling the world to understand and explain water issues. He is the author of The Big Thirst, which is being released in paperback tomorrow with a whole new chapter.

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U.S. Bottled Water Sales Are Booming (Again) Despite Opposition - National Geographic Blog

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Despite organized anti-bottled-water campaigns across the country and a noisy debate about bottled water's environmental impact, Americans are buying more bottled water than ever. In 2011, total bottled water sales in the U.S. hit 9.1 billion gallons - 29.2 gallons of bottled water per person, according to sales figures from Beverage Marketing Corp.

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Kunahadhoo Island - On a very hot, very typical, mid-morning in the Maldives, I walked the streets of this tiny island just north of the equator.

Most of its 800 residents had gathered at the shoreline to greet visitors from a nearby island. While they focused on a first-of-a-kind beach cleanup along the rocky coast, accompanied by a drum band and dancing, I took a small walking tour looking for something the Maldives doesn't have much of: drinking water.

(A late morning visit to its elementary school provided another interesting glimpse into island life. While most of the students raised their hands and said they knew how to swim, virtually none had ever worn a mask and snorkel, so had no idea of the rich life that surrounded their island home.)

It was quickly evident from the jury-rigged plumbing systems fitted to the exteriors of most of the one-story cement homes that the options for delivering clean water were few. Some homes had barrels for collecting rainwater; others had wells dug into the rocky island terrain. Most of them, they admitted, leaked.

A recent news story from another Maldivian island group exemplified the problem, reporting that a dozen islands had nearly run out of water completely. Everyone on the island also admitted that if it weren't for the arrival of the weekly cargo boat, and its bottles of water in plastic, they wouldn't last a week on what they had in storage.

"I am very upset with the government because we need water," 42-year-old Jameela Aboobakuru from Gaafaru had explained to the Maldives Bug. "We ran out of water, so we borrowed water from our brother. When he ran out of water we started buying bottled water imported from Male."

She said her 12-member family was spending $22 a day to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking, on a combined daily income of just $26.

"She said her 12-member family was spending $22 a day to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking, on a combined daily income of just $26."

That means 85 percent of their income was going to buy fresh water.

The response from the government in Male was that it was installing water makers in a boat that could travel from island to island to help out in such emergencies.

Just two days before my walk around Kunahadhoo, the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu had actually declared a state of emergency due to a severe shortage of fresh water. Officials in that Indian Ocean island group were reporting that some parts of the country had only two days of water left. Its tiny island of Nukulaelae reported it had just 60 liters of drinking water left for 330 people.

Like the Maldives, Tuvalu relies almost exclusively on rainwater collected from the roofs of homes and government buildings to supply a population of 10,000.

Speaking at the WaterWoMen conference I was attending on the neighboring island in Laamu Atoll, Dr. Jacqueline Chan, president of Water Charity, which helps communities around the world find clean water and sanitation, reminded us all that the lack of clean water was certainly not a problem faced by the Maldives or Tuvalu alone.

"There are 884 million people in the world without access to safe water," she said. "That's the equivalent of the populations of the U.S., Vietnam, Germany, the U.K., Kuwait, Russia, Thailand, France, Italy and Qatar combined. "If all those countries had no water, would we do something? Or just stand by and watch?"

In a lively debate that concluded the day, Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age) was specific in his prediction about the planet's future when it comes to clean water: "Long before we run out of water, we'll go to war over it.

"Nature loves cockroaches and algae as much as it does people, and it's possible only they will survive."

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Sea Levels Rise in the Maldives, and Drinking Water Diminishes - National Geographic Blog

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Kunahadhoo Island - On a very hot, very typical, mid-morning in the Maldives, I walked the streets of this tiny island just north of the equator. Most of its 800 residents had gathered at the shoreline to greet visitors from a nearby island.

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Discover the resource demands that mass consumption of bottled water is responsible for.

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Bottled water has gotten very popular these days. In addition to being convenient, some parents have the idea that is also safer and healthier for their kids.

Bottled Water vs. Tap Water

Does bottled water have any benefits over tap water besides being convenient?

Not really. It isn't safer or healthier. In fact, in many cases, the bottled water that you buy is simply the tap water from a major city that goes through a filtration process before it is put into all of those little plastic bottles.

If you don't like the taste of your tap water, which is another reason people often use for drinking bottled water, then consider getting an inexpensive water filter for your tap. Alternatives include water filter pitchers or larger dispensers that go in the refrigerator or a built-in filter for your refrigerator's water dispenser. You can even get reusable water bottles with a built-in water filter.

Fortunately, simple faucet, refrigerator, and pitcher type water filters, like from BRITA and PUR don't filter out fluoride. A more sophisticated reverse osmosis system likely will, though, so talk to your pediatrician or pediatric dentist about fluoride supplements if you have one in your home.

Fluoride in Water

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, infants begin to need fluoride supplements when they are six months old. If your local drinking water (tap water) contains at least 0.3 parts per million (ppm) of fluoride, then it is usually best that they get that fluoride from fluoridated water.

While you can instead give your child fluoride drops, there is the risk that he will get too much fluoride if he also drinks fluoridated water and gets too much fluoride, which can cause tooth staining (fluorosis).

In addition to fluoridated tap water, you can also buy bottled water with added fluoride, including 'nursery' water for babies.

Well Water

There is another alternative to bottled water and tap water-well water.

Many families still get their water from private wells, which can be a source of nitrates, volatile organic compounds, pesticides, bacteria, lead, and other substances. Well water can also have naturally occurring fluoride although it might not be at recommended levels.

All of these factors make it important that the well water be tested before it is used and at least once a year. The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends that well water be filtered to at least remove lead, Cryptosporidium species, and some volatile hydrocarbons.

Drinking Water

Kids need to drink water. Well, not necessarily water, but they need to drink and they need fluoride. That makes tap water a great option for your kids.

Water doesn't have any calories, which makes it a great alternative to soda, tea, and fruit juice. And it doesn't have any caffeine, like soda or the energy drinks that some teens have started to drink.

Plus it's safe and cheap and can be nearly as convenient as bottled water if you use your own reusable water bottles, without all of the extra plastic.
American Academy of Pediatrics. Preventive Oral Health Intervention for Pediatricians. Pediatrics. December 2008; 122:6 1387-1394 American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement. Drinking Water From Private Wells and Risks to Children. Pediatrics Vol. 123 No. 6 June 1, 2009. pp. 1599 -1605

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Is Bottled Water Better Than Tap Water for Your Kids?

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Bottled water has gotten very popular these days. In addition to being convenient, some parents have the idea that is also safer and healthier for their kids. Does bottled water have any benefits over tap water besides being convenient? Not really. It isn't safer or healthier.

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How Clean Is Tap Water (Health Infographics)

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Health Infographics - Water Infographic. How Clean Is Tap Water. Always Though Tap Water Was Clean? Think Again.

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Environmental Impact of Plastic Water Bottles

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We want all you kids out there to always remember to drink a lot of water and stay hydrated. However, if you mainly drink your water out of plastic water bottles, we want you to stop sipping for a moment and think about WHY you do it.

Plastic water bottles are definitely convenient. You can buy them pretty much everywhere, in every convenience store, every shopping mall, every movie theatre and even out of vending machines across the country. But what about the environmental impact of all that plastic?

Plastic bottles are polluting the environment

Most folks drink their bottled water on the go and there is no convenient way to recycle the plastic bottles. In 2003, about 40 million bottles a day went into the trash or became litter. These billions of bottles take up valuable landfill space, leak toxic chemicals into the ground water and take a whopping 1,000 years to biodegrade, if ever.

The high price of bottled water is not for the water but, in reality, to pay for the cost of the bottling, packaging, shipping, marketing, retailing and transporting it all over the globe. Next time you pick up a bottle of water, think about the distance the water in that bottle has traveled before it hits your lips.

BELIEVE IT: TAP WATER IS CLEANER THAN BOTTLED WATER

If you believe in the myth that the water that comes out of the tap in your kitchen sink isn't as clean as water you buy from the store in a plastic bottle, YOU'RE 100% WRONG. In fact, tap water is highly regulated in terms of its cleanliness and safety by our governments; NO ONE REGULATES THE COMPANIES THAT PUT WATER INTO PLASTIC BOTTLES, possibly making it much less safe, clean and healthy than the water that comes from your kitchen sink.

Remember tap water is free!

Not to mention, tap water is pretty much free for the taking - a WHOLE LOT CHEAPER than the bottled kind.

Tap Into Alternatives

If you're still not so keen on drinking water straight from the tap, there are other things you can do than buying water in plastic bottles. Why not ask your mom and dad to make a one-time purchase of a filter - either one for your sink that converts tap water into filtered water automatically or a Brita Water Filter, which is plastic jug with an attached filter on top that you fill with regular old tap water. The water drips through the filter and into the clear jug below and VOILA! Filtered "tap" water whenever you want it!

A Brita water filter will reduce the number of plastic bottles in your house

The other thing you (and every member of your family and all of your friends) should do is invest (one time) in a reusable, portable metal water container you can fill up at home and take with you whenever you go.

And if you do happen to buy a plastic bottle, just remember to recycle it!!!

Related Stories:

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H2O So You Know-Plastic Water Bottles: Bad For The Environment

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We want all you kids out there to always remember to drink a lot of water and stay hydrated. However, if you mainly drink your water out of plastic water bottles, we want you to stop sipping for a moment and think about WHY you do it.

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May 6, 2005 &#151; -- It started with Perrier. Somehow, a French company convinced people it's cool to buy bottled water. Today, Evian has surpassed Perrier in sales and now it's the chic French water of choice. Why? It costs about 5 bucks a gallon! Why do people pay so much for something they can get virtually free?

If they're not buying Evian, they buy Aquafina and Dasani and the dozens of new brands that are jumping into this billion-dollar business, including bizarre ones like Venus, the Water for Women, and Trump Ice, with "The Donald" scowling on the label. I'd have to be very thirsty to buy that.

Many people say they buy bottled waters because they taste better. We spoke with people in New York City, asking them why they liked bottled better than tap water.

"I drink Dasani. It tastes good, it tastes crisp, like -- natural," one girl said.

"I think tap water kind of tastes like sewer," said another.

People also say they drink bottled water because they believe it's safer than tap water.

One man told me he's the only one "who's brave enough" to drink tap water at home. His family's afraid to drink tap water because of germs, he said.

At recent Earth Day celebrations, a lot of people told us they believe tap water is unhealthy. "As a parent I feel more comfortable giving her bottled water," one father told us.

Bottled water, we were told, is cleaner, safer, healthier.

Watching bottled water ads, you'd think that tap water might not be healthy. But it's not true.

"20/20" took five bottles of national brands of bottled water and a sample of tap water from a drinking fountain in the middle of New York City and sent them to microbiologist Aaron Margolin of the University of New Hampshire to test for bacteria that can make you sick, like e. coli.

"There was actually no difference between the New York City tap water and the bottled waters that we evaluated," he said.

Many scientists have run tests like that and have consistently found that tap water is as good for you as bottled waters that cost 500 times more.

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May 6, 2005 — -- It started with Perrier. Somehow, a French company convinced people it's cool to buy bottled water. Today, Evian has surpassed Perrier in sales and now it's the chic French water of choice. Why? It costs about 5 bucks a gallon!

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Bottled water is a drain on the environment: The U.S. public goes through about 50 billion water bottles a year, and most of those plastic containers are not recycled, according to Elizabeth Royte's 2008 book Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It.

Transporting the bottles and keeping them cold also burns fossil fuels, which give off greenhouse gases. And groundwater pumping by bottled-water companies draws heavily on underground aquifers and harms watersheds, according to the Sierra Club, an environmental nonprofit. And according to some estimates, it takes up to three liters of water to produce one liter of bottled water.

Yet more than U.S. $100 billion is spent every year on bottled water globally. In many cities in developing countries where there is not a safe source of tap water, bottled water becomes a somewhat trusted option.

But in the U.S., where tap water is federally regulated and often screened for dangerous pollutants, the public drinks 21 gallons (79 liters) of bottled water per capita per year on average, according to the Columbia Water Center at Columbia University's Earth Institute in New York. The bottled-water industry is so successful, it has outpaced milk, coffee, and juice in number of gallons of drinks sold-putting it behind only beer and soda.

Though the sale and consumption of bottled water is still on the rise, certain policymakers and activists have taken steps to reduce it and encourage people to drink tap. In September 2009, the Australian city of Bundanoon became the first city in the world to completely ban bottled water from its stores' shelves, installing water fountains around the city instead.

Among U.S. cities that have taken action are San Francisco and Seattle, which no longer buy water for city use, and Chicago, which added a five-cent tax on each bottle. Several restaurants in those cities have also given up bottled for filtered tap. Other cities are also considering taking action.

The tide toward tap has boosted businesses that make reusable water bottles, especially aluminum and stainless steel varieties. Many reusable bottles are made of polycarbonate plastic, but those often contain bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical linked to reproductive problems and heart disease. In response, some polycarbonate-bottle makers have phased out BPA and advertise "BPA-free" products.

Not only does bottled water contribute to excessive waste, but it costs us a thousand times more than water from our faucet at home, and it's likely no safer or cleaner, experts say. A 2008 investigation by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found some bottled water is sullied with untested industrial chemicals and may not necessarily be cleaner than tap water.

Water aside, the plastic used in single-use bottles can pose more of a contamination threat than the water. A safe plastic if used only once, #1 polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE) is the most common resin used in disposable bottles. However, as #1 bottles are reused, as they commonly are, they can leach chemicals such as DEHA, a possible human carcinogen, and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), a potential hormone disruptor. And because the plastic is porous you'll likely get a swill of harmful bacteria with each gulp if you reuse the bottles.

More than 80 percent of recyclable plastic bottles end up in landfills each year. They do not break down naturally and release toxic chemicals when they finally do decompose, according to the Columbia Water Center.

Another major problem with bottled water, according to Columbia, is that a traditionally public good has been privatized. Bottled water companies gain high profits by drawing water from public water sources, putting it in plastic containers, and reselling it at 2,900 times the price of regular tap. Some experts contend that the profits from bottled water companies could go toward improving public water supplies and infrastructure-making better water for everyone.

With reporting by Eliza Barclay

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why tap water is better than bottled water

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Why Tap Water is Better Than Bottled Water

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Bottled water is a drain on the environment: The U.S. public goes through about 50 billion water bottles a year, and most of those plastic containers are not recycled, according to Elizabeth Royte's 2008 book Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It.

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Children who drink exclusively bottled water are more likely to have decaying teeth and cavities

Since the Flint, Michigan water crisis, water bottle sales have shot up as families worry that their tap water might have lead in it

A new study found that almost half of all American children have tooth decay, while only 3 percent have dangerous levels of lead in their blood

That 15 percent of children that drank only bottled water were at greater risk of having tooth decay

Drinking bottled water to avoid lead contamination is damaging the dental health of American children, according to a new study.

People who drink tap water are much more likely to have elevated levels of lead in their blood, but most tap water is treated with fluoride, which helps prevent tooth decay and cavities.

Bottled water sales soared following the Flint, Michigan water crisis, as Americans became increasingly distrustful of their tap water.

The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill study found that while only three percent of people between two and 19 had lead in their blood, almost 50 percent had tooth decay.

Americans are afraid of their tap water, and increasingly turning to bottles for a 'safer' drinking option.

Flint's crisis led to investigations of water in places like New York City and Detroit, where dangerous levels of lead were also found.

In 2016, bottled water sales outpaced soda for the first time, surging by 16 percent over the previous year.

Tooth decay, however, is an extremely common phenomenon in American children, and can have its own long-term health, financial and educational consequences.

About 40 percent of children in the US have had at least one cavity by the time they get to kindergarten.

One in every five children does not receive regular dental care, according to America's Toothfairy, a foundation advocating for children's oral health.

To help prevent tooth decay, a very low concentration of fluoride was introduced to the tap water of Grand Rapids, Michigan (just 100 miles from Flint) in 1945, and the practice has since spread throughout the country.

As of 2012, 75 percent of US cities had fluoridated water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reports that fluoridation reduces the prevalence of tooth decay by about 25 percent.

Tooth decay can cause severe pain, and accounted for $2.1 billion worth of emergency room visits in 2010. Left untreated, cavities can lead to infections and lost teeth.

This study echoed the findings of previous research that drinking only bottled water is most common among American minorities and people living below the poverty line.

One in five impoverished children, one in four African Americans and one in three Mexican Americans surveyed do not drink tap water.

The toxic lead levels in the water in Flint, Michigan, and how it impacted the residents

These groups, according to past research, are more likely to believe that their tap water is not safe to drink.

That concern is fueled by incidents like the Flint water crisis. Many have theorized that the cost-cutting water switch there went unnoticed for so long because it primarily affected poorer, minority residents.

Tooth decay also disproportionately affects none-white children. According to recent studies, Mexican American children have the poorest dental health in the country, followed by black and then white children.

After 99,000 residents - 14,000 of whom were children - of Flint, Michigan were exposed to lead by drinking tap water there, bottled water looked better than ever.

A court even ordered the state to deliver bottled water to Flint residents.

The CDC confirmed that children who had drunk tap water after the 2014 water source switch were at a 50 percent greater risk of having dangerously high levels of lead in their blood.

Lead poisoning can lead to developmental and cognitive delays, especially in children, who are most vulnerable to the contaminant.

Though this study was not able to document exactly which children that did report drinking tap water received fluoridated water, its authors write that the study 'draws attention to a critical trade-off for parents: children who drink tap water are more likely to have elevated blood lead levels, yet children who avoid tap water are more likely to have tooth decay,' said co-author Dr Gary Slade.

'Community water fluoridation benefits all people, irrespective of their income or ability to obtain routine dental care. Yet we jeopardize this public good when people have any reason to believe their drinking water is unsafe,' he concluded.

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Bottled water better for lead, worse for children's teeth

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Children who drink exclusively bottled water are more likely to have decaying teeth and cavities Since the Flint, Michigan water crisis, water bottle sales have shot up as families worry that their tap water might have lead in it A new study found that almost half of all American children

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This story is part of a special series that explores the global water crisis. For more clean water news, photos, and information, visit National Geographic's Freshwater Web site.

As the U.S. taste for bottled water grows, environmentalists have been trying to sell people on good old-fashioned-and free-tap water.

But tap water's place in schools is thorny, since some experts say children should actually be drinking more bottled water to head off two stubborn health threats: obesity due to sugary drinks and lead poisoning.

"If children go from sugary beverages to bottled water, you get a benefit to public health, but not so much the environment," said Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.

"If they go from sugar beverages to [clean] tap water, you get a public health home run and environmental home run."

Bottled water is a drain on the environment: The U.S. public goes through about 50 billion water bottles a year, and most of those plastic containers are not recycled, according to Elizabeth Royte's 2008 book Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It. Transporting the bottles and keeping them cold also burns fossil fuels, which give off greenhouse gases.

Groundwater pumping by bottled-water companies also draws heavily on underground aquifers and harms watersheds, according to the environmental nonprofit the Sierra Club. And a 2008 investigation by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found some bottled water is sullied with untested industrial chemicals, and may not necessarily be cleaner than tap water.

(Related: "Bottled Water Isn't Healthier Than Tap, Report Reveals.")
Lead Dangers

But switching to tap water could be a bad idea in some schools where the risk of lead contamination from old pipes-known to affect physical and mental development-is high, particularly in large urban areas such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.

For instance in September 2009, the Associated Press published a nationwide investigation showing that the drinking water in schools in 27 states is contaminated with lead and other toxic substances from lead-soldered pipes generally installed before 1985.

(Related: "Cocaine, Spices, Hormones Found in Drinking Water.")

Schools that rely on their own wells are subject to regular testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But the agency does not regulate drinking-water quality for the rest of the nation's schools, which get their water from local utilities.

Most school districts do not test their water because of the costs associated with lead remediation, said Marc Edwards, a civil engineer at Virginia Tech.

"Even when we offer to do the analysis for free, the majority of schools don't want to know," Edwards said.

But some solutions are much less costly than replacing a whole pipe system, he said. Those range from putting filters on taps to remove lead, to flushing water fountains after a period of stagnation.

Still, for some school districts, the most cost-effective measure may be providing kids with bottled water.

In 2007, Baltimore City public schools switched their entire system to bottled water after a study of 84 randomly selected water fountains found 10 with lead levels high than the EPA's cutoff of 20 parts per billion. The school district decided it would be cheaper to provide bottled water than testing and remediation efforts.

Edwards applauds Baltimore's decision.

"I'm a huge proponent of tap water, but if your child going to one of schools where pieces of lead are falling into the tap water on a random basis, that risk pales in comparison to the small cost of bottled water."
Sugar High

Margo Wootan, director of nutrition for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), added that environmental groups that have demonized bottled water should refocus their campaigns on all bottled beverages, including soda.

"Environmentalists place a higher burden on people who drink water instead of soda, and that isn't fair," Wootan said.

School beverages, particularly sugar-laden soda and sports drinks sold in vending machines, have come under increasing fire from nutrition-advocacy groups such as CSPI.

Obesity rates among children aged 6 to 11 have more than doubled in the past 20 years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A 2006 study by Harvard nutritionists found sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is linked to higher body weight among adolescents.

"Soda in schools has been such a huge problem for the last couple of decades, and getting rid of sugar-sweetened beverages and shifting to bottled water should be a top priority," Wootan said.

The School Nutrition Association is also advocating for the elimination of all sugar-sweetened beverages from all schools when Congress takes up the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act in March 2010.

Low-fat milk, 100-percent juices, and bottled water are the new recommended beverages for school meal programs and vending machines.

But other health experts intend to keep fighting for tap water.

"There's more demand for bottled water now in schools, and the beverage industry says they have public health in mind," Yale's Brownell said. "But we're hoping to do a big campaign to encourage consumption of tap water instead."

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What's Best for Kids: Bottled Water or Fountains?

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This story is part of a special series that explores the global water crisis. For more clean water news, photos, and information, visit National Geographic's Freshwater Web site. As the U.S. taste for bottled water grows, environmentalists have been trying to sell people on good old-fashioned-and free-tap water.

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Childhood obesity is identified by the World Health Organization as 'one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st​ century'. ​ In 2013, 42 million infants and young children were overweight or obese: if current trends continue, the WHO predicts this figure will rise to 70 million young children by 2025.

There are a number of children's bottled water brands on the market already. But there's an opportunity for the market to grow much more, said Esther Renfrew, market intelligence director, Zenith International, speaking at Zenith's Global Bottled Water Congress in Prague this month.

"Children's bottled water is something that the industry is now responding to much more," ​she said. "There's the move away from sugary beverages, the concern on obesity." ​

Add to that water's role in hydration, and there's definitely a place for bottled water in child nutrition, added Renfrew.

Market could grow 7% a year ​

In 2016, 26% of the population is aged between 0-14 years old. That means the market has a potential size of 53bn liters.

"That's not what it is, but what it could be," ​said Renfrew. "There's huge potential out there." ​

The children's bottled water market has the potential to increase by 7% a year to 2021.

In addition, today's children's bottled water brands are priced 20%-50% higher than regular bottled water, offering a good margin on products.

Trends and innovation ​

In packaging, children's bottled water brands need to be an appropriate size and shape for their audience, with bottles suited to little hands. Caps, too, need to be suited to the audience.

Use of children's characters in labelling and marketing is common, as are designs to appeal to younger consumers.

Adding a children's brand offers a portfolio expansion opportunity for bottled water brands, both into plain water and flavored water.

With health in mind, reformulation is particularly important in the children's category, particularly with regards to sugar and natural ingredients.

Two case studies: Tickle Water &amp; Cabreiroá

Tickle Water​​

Tickle Water​​ was created by mother Heather McDowell, who realised that her son Jayger liked the 'tickling' sensation of sparkling water.

The drink is unsweetened and free from artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. It is also GMO-free and gluten-free. Tickle Water is available in the US in four flavors: original sparkling water, green apple, cola, and watermelon.

It is packaged in 8oz PET cans, designed as a kid-friendly size to go in lunch boxes or for consumption on-the-go.

The Paw Patrol characters feature on Cabreiroa 33cl PET bottles, which also have different colored sports caps and backgrounds.

The initiative targets children aged between 3 and 10 years old.

The drinks, from Spain's Hijos de Rivera SAU, were the winner of the 'best label' category in the Zenith 2016 Global Bottled Water Awards.

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'Huge potential' in children's bottled water category

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Childhood obesity is identified by the World Health Organization as 'one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st​ century'. ​ In 2013, 42 million infants and young children were overweight or obese: if current trends continue, the WHO predicts this figure will rise to 70 million young children by 2025.

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From National Geographic News, banning bottled water - Yahoo Video Search Results

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The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web.

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built by NLS for Pegasus, www.pegasuspr.co.uk

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Hydration is particularly important for children as they are at a greater risk of getting dehydrated. Read all of our hydration & water facts for kids.

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Water is vital for life and is an essential nutrient. Nutrients are substances in food and drink that are utilized by your body in metabolic and/or sustaining functions. Essential nutrients are those that must be consumed regularly, as your body does not produce the amount needed without utilizing external sources in the form of dietary intake. Deprivation of water will kill an individual faster than being deprived of any other nutrient. This important liquid is a vital component of most major body processes.

Lubricant

A primary function of water is to serve as a lubricant. For example, it is found in saliva and is a substantial component in the fluid surrounding joints. Water is also in and surrounding body structures such as the brain, spinal cord and eyes. The water layer helps protect and cushion these vulnerable areas from shock and trauma that could otherwise cause significant damage.

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Body Temperature Regulation

Water is an important agent in body temperature regulation. The human body cannot function unless this is maintained within a certain range. Water helps achieve this in two ways. Since water is slow to change temperature and is efficient at storing heat, the amount of water in the body composition, 60 to 75 percent, is a natural temperature regulator. Another way this nutrient is used by the body for this purpose is through the process of perspiration. As water evaporates from the skin, the body is cooled.

Important for Chemical Reaction

Protein and carbohydrates are two nutrients necessary for healthy body functioning. They provide energy and are vital for growth and development. However, these two substances are useless to the body without water. Water enables a chemical reaction to occur which results in protein and carbohydrates becoming absorbable and usable by the body.

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Transportation

Water is essential in the body's transportation system. Nutrients and other necessary elements must be sent to all parts of the body in order to ensure functioning of every single body process, from respiration to muscle movement to digestion and waste removal. Without water as the movement medium, the body would not function.

How to Stay Hydrated

Because water is vitally necessary for your body to function properly, it's important to stay well-hydrated. The average person should drink around eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day, although this can vary. You may need to drink more fluids if you exercise, are pregnant or are experiencing very warm weather. As a rule of thumb, drink a glass of water or another beverage during meals and between meals. Also, drink water before, during and after a workout.

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Note that all beverages and foods contain some water and will help keep you hydrated. Foods like watermelon, spinach and celery are especially high in water content, providing needed fluids to keep you hydrated. If you aren't thirsty, though, and have pale urine, don't over-hydrate yourself. Drinking too much water can actually be life-threatening.

References

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water in diet university of nebraska extension: water mayoclinic.com: water: how much should you drink every day

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What Is the Purpose of Water & the Function It Provides for the Body?

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It is necessary for us to consume water to support our essential bodily functions. Whether...

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Bottled water is the second most commonly purchased beverage in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that the average person drinks 26 gallons of bottled water per year. Bottled water carries many labels, from spring, drinking and purified to artisan and mineral water. The issue is not the type of bottle you choose but whether or not it offers any health benefits. While the FDA regulates the safety of bottled water, there is no scientific evidence to show it's healthier than tap water.

Increased Water Consumption

Consumers like bottled water because it is widely accessible in all grocers, and it's easy to carry. Instead of taking the time and energy to fill up a reusable bottle of water throughout the day, packaged bottled water provides the ease of access to water anywhere, anytime. For some, having access to bottled water increases total daily water consumption. The key from a nutritional standpoint is to consistently choose bottled water over other accessible, portable beverages, such as bottles of soda or sugary tea.

Flavoring Agents for Better Taste

Some consumers prefer the taste of bottled water over tap. Furthermore, some brands use flavoring agents to enhance the water. Many of these products offer fruity and tropical flavors that are enticing to people looking to switch from soda to water. Not all flavored bottled water is necessarily calorie-free, however. Some flavoring agents can be made from sugar. To determine whether water contains sugar or calories, read the ingredients list on product packaging. Flavored bottled water is regulated by the FDA for health purposes.

Electrolytes and Other Added Nutrients

Aside from flavor, some bottled water brands also add nutrients to their products. Electrolytes, such as potassium and sodium, are among the most commonly added nutrients to water. Some brands also add B vitamins and vitamin E. Drinking electrolyte-containing bottled water may be beneficial after a hard workout, particularly for prolonged exercise. Also called sports drinks, such bottled water can be beneficial in helping your body replenish electrolytes -- minerals your body loses through perspiration -- but the American College of Sports Medicine cautions that each beverage should not contain more than an 8-percent carbohydrate concentration. This helps to stabilize blood glucose levels.

The Hype Behind Bottled Water

Water itself is not only beneficial to your health but necessary for life. But there is a lot of hype behind the bottled water industry, which leads many consumers to believe that bottled water is somehow healthier than tap water. The bottom line is that water is important no matter what its source, as long as it's clean and safe. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bottled water isn't immune to contamination. Such exposure can lead to illnesses of the digestive tract, as well as infections, neurological disorders and reproductive issues.

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What Are the Health Benefits of Bottled Water? | Livestrong.com

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Bottled water is the second most commonly purchased beverage in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that the average person drinks 26 gallons of bottled water per year. Bottled water carries many labels, from spring, drinking and purified to artisan and mineral water.

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Face off on the argument of Bottled Water

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Face off on the argument of Bottled Water

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In 2013, 10,130.3 million gallons of bottled water were produced in the United States, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp.

Depending on who you ask, that's either proof that more Americans are turning away from sugary soft drinks, or an environmental and ethical problem.

"Most communities have clean water," says Alex Beauchamp of Food and Water Watch, a national organization dedicated to keeping "clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes."

Beauchamp's organization believes water is a public commodity, not a private one, and shouldn't be privatized.

Christopher S. Hogan of the International Bottled Water Association argues that bottled water represents a "small and efficient" use of resources and a healthy alternative to sodas and sports drinks.

"We encourage people to drink water - public, filtered or tap," he said, adding that "the water industry competes against sodas, fruit juices and energy drinks, which are a lot less healthy than water."

But, according to the American Beverage Association, Dasani bottled water is manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company; Adirondack Spring Water is distributed by Adirondack Beverage Company, maker of various sodas; and Ethos Water is manufactured by the Pepsi-Cola Company, maker of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Gatorade, to name a few of their brands.

So it would seem some bottled water manufacturers are competing with themselves.

"While I cannot speak for any of those companies (Coca-Cola, Adirondack or Pepsi) - and none of them happen to be members of IBWA - I think it's reasonable to expect that they seek to have a solid foothold in all key areas of the beverage market," Hogan said in an email. "I can say that bottled water as a product category primarily competes with other packaged drinks.

"Most people who drink bottled water also drink tap water, however, when you look at the gains bottled water has made, it often comes at the expense of soft drinks or other less-heathy packaged beverages."

For residents of Kingston, Woodstock and the town of Ulster, this dilemma has been brought closer to home in recent months as town and city governments grapple with a Niagara Bottling company proposal to construct a 415,000-square-foot plant at the southwest corner of TechCity in the town of Ulster. Niagara hopes to bottle as many as 1.75 million gallons daily from Cooper Lake reservoir in Woodstock.

The reservoir is the source of water for the city of Kingston and parts of the town of Ulster.

Niagara, a California-based company, when fully operational, expects it would discharge up to 342,500 gallons of wastewater per day into the nearby Esopus Creek and another 2,500 gallons per day would be sent to the town of Ulster wastewater treatment plant.

Residents in Kingston, Ulster and Woodstock who oppose the proposal, and are led by KingstonCitizens.org, say the city can't afford to give up the amount of water Niagara wants to use. Many maintain that publically owned water should not be sold to a profit-seeking company.

Opponents argue the truck traffic associated with the plant would have a negative impact on the area.

Food & Water Watch, claims on its website that bottled water not only wastes consumers' money, but adds "tons of waste to the planet as well." Bottled water's detractors urge consumers to save their money and the environment by carrying their own bottles and filling them with water from their own municipal systems and wells.

While plastic water bottle production does require petroleum, PET plastic "is actually made from oil by-products - leftover after the production of oil products," Hogan said.

He called opponents' claims that the industry uses 17 million barrels of oil a year to make bottled water containers "disingenuous." The IBWA website calls the figure "an interesting non-verifiable statement typically attributed to researchers at the University of Louisville. Except, according to the school, they have never even heard about it."

The Food & Water Watch website counters that the bottled water industry used millions of barrels of oil "to produce and transport plastic water bottles in 2007 ... Rather than being recycled, about 75 percent of the empty plastic bottles end up in our landfills, lakes, streams and oceans, where they may never fully decompose."

Hogan concurs, adding that "people need to recycle more - all plastics, including beverage containers." But he says consumers are recycling more and, between 2003 and 2012, the recycling rate rose by 38.04 percent.

The American Beverage Association's website agrees with Hogan, stating that water containers "are among the most recycled consumer product packaging in the nation ... and accounts for less than one third of one percent of all waste produced in the United States."

Neither website sites sources for their conflicting claims.

But Hogan says the arguments raised by bottled water opponents are "more emotional" than legal or regulatory. "When I say something I have to back it up with facts and numbers ... (opponents) don't have to rely on facts as much as emotional impact."

On its website, the Niagara bottling company touts its "Eco-Air Bottle," claiming to have "reduced the amount of plastic ... by over 60 percent."

The company claims its "lightweight and recyclable" bottles allow it to transport more water per truckload, reduce CO2 emissions, "conserve valuable resources" and "use less energy to produce, which reduces our carbon footprint."

Still, the company is seeking a permit to allow 260 trucks per day in and out of the proposed town of Ulster facility, and opponents - like KingstonCitizens.org - say those vehicles will pollute the area with diesel exhaust and create traffic congestion.

The International Bottled Water Association's Hogan says the impact of trucking bottled water "pales in comparison to almost any other consumer good" and the industry is "very much leading the way to reduce packaging."

But Food and Water Watch's Beauchamp says "most Americans have clear tap water" that is "incredibly safe and clean ... the reality is you don't need to choose something in a bottle."

That's not always the case, Hogan says.

"Some tap water isn't safe or reliable" and bottled water opponents' arguments don't "make sense if something happens to our tap water," he says.

When municipal supplies are contaminated, as they are Washington, DC, Hogan says, bottled water is essential to public health. "People are told not to drink the water in our nation's capitol," he said.

The case against Niagara Bottling's proposal is clear, Beauchamp maintains. "It will harm the public health. It will harm the environment."

Making the surplus water currently available in Cooper Lake a commodity is "ridiculous," he says, citing global warming and the possibility of local population growth and drought. "You don't know what's going to happen. It's a flawed concept. ... Once you bottle it and send it out it's gone from the watershed forever."

Quoting Benjamin Franklin, he added, "When the well is dry, we know the worth of water."

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Arguments strong on both sides of bottled water debate

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In 2013, 10,130.3 million gallons of bottled water were produced in the United States, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp. Depending on who you ask, that's either proof that more Americans are turning away from sugary soft drinks, or an environmental and ethical problem.