Drinking more water is a good thing ... but when it comes to buying bottled water, you may be better off with your own tap water according to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
NRDC tested 1,000 bottled water samples from 103 brands, and found that one-third (1/3) contained contaminants that exceeded FDA-mandated levels. They found that one-forth (1/4) of bottled water is actually just tap water.
FDA rules allow bottlers to label their water "spring water" even though it may be treated with chemicals or mechanically pumped to the surface. There's no guarantee that the spring itself is a pure one. One brand of spring water traced to its source by the NRDC came from a spring that bubbled up into an industrial parking lot, adjacent to a hazardous waste site.
Besides the doubts on sources and contamination, it's a definite that bottled water has affected the environment. The production and transport of bottled water uses large amounts of fossil fuels. Fiji-brand water, for example, is transported to the US from Fiji, over 6,000 miles. The plastic water bottles that Americans alone use and toss in one year uses up more than 47 million gallons of oil, the equivalent of taking 100,000 cars off the road and removing 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Sadly, 84% of these bottles are not even recycled. Pause and re-read those numbers for one year. You can make a difference.
Since the late 70's we have been purifying our own water. I'm not talking about a filter you put on the faucet that makes the water taste better but doesn't remove toxins. The best system you can get is reverse-osmosis (RO). I don't say that because Nature's Sunshine sells one. You can search for information on optional methods and RO always comes up high.
Bottled water is expensive for the budget also. The cost of a countertop system even with replacement filters comes out so much lower per gallon and you get to know that you have truly pure water to drink and cook with.
More on the importance of drinking water.
More about bottled water at the NRDC site.
Consider this 4-stage reverse-osmosis unit: Nature's Spring
Fertilizes and Medications In Bottled Water
Lover of God, nature, wildlife, birds, gardening, photography, travel, simple living, health, pets and seeking a peaceful, healing lifestyle. Life has many hurts and sorrows but within "the [divine] nature in us" we CAN overcome.
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