The Land of Water

Californians might be fooling themselves when they buy bottled drinking water, trusting it more than tap water. The Natural Resources Defense Council says it found that one-third of 103 brands tested had impurities that exceeded some government or industry guideline. This and previous studies that found bottled water is not necessarily any more pure than tap water haven’t stopped water buyers. Nor is the water necessarily a hazard. The federal Food and Drug Administration insists that bottled water poses no significant health risk to Americans.

The results, however, suggest it would be prudent for state and federal agencies to review their standards and enforcement and to ensure that the public is adequately informed.

About one-third of bottled water users drink it because they are worried about the safety of tap water. An additional 35% use it as a substitute for other beverages. Only 7% prefer bottled water for its taste. Ironically, even as bottled water sales have steadily increased, technology has been improving tap water. One local example is a remote monitoring system for Los Angeles reservoirs that reduces algae growth and thus reduces the amount of chlorine needed in drinking water.

Californians pay more than $1 billion a year for water in bottles that sport images like pristine alpine peaks and northern glaciers, and they are the nation’s biggest consumers of these products. But is it just vanity?

There is no question that bottled water is handy to carry, and the fact is that drinking a lot of water is good for a person. Those who buy it in place of other beverages are probably better off in terms of health, even if the water falls short of the gushing purity promised by the label. Do consumers know it costs hundreds of times as much as tap water? Sure. Do they care? No. Got water? You bet.