We tend to squander what we are abundant in. Water, comprising two-thirds of the planet and roughly 70 percent of our body, truly dominates us. We take water for granted as we get used to having the privilege of owning this resource.
A spilled glass of water was nothing because you can take a refill. But for all we know, being thirsty and dehydrated makes us enervated - that’s the time when even drops of water will make us appreciate.
Water is our instant cure - as it quenches, it purifies. Just like in our body, water does the same inland. It transports, dissolves, replenishes nutrients, and carries out waste materials.
When the 20 gallons of the adult body's water supply are lost by about 2%, the body experiences dizziness, weakness, fatigue, mood swings, irritability, and headaches.
During sickness, the body may require more water than usual to flush out unwanted substances, such as bacteria and viruses.
The state of our water today
Our water today is greatly affected by pollution and global warming. Pollution is caused by an intricate ecosystem of marine and riparian species that begins in rivers, seas, and oceans. Putrefaction takes in our natural water and, therefore, affects its purity.
On the other hand, global warming is a threat that, due to an abrupt climate change, our seemingly unending supply of water will not be able to evaporate when we eventually waste water prodigiously.
The state of our drinking water today
Far from being pure, most of our drinking water contains hundreds of deadly chemicals that flow from different water channels (this is due to improper waste management, especially toxic materials used in factories).
In addition, our drinking water is also contaminated with bacteria and viruses. Some may not be yet aware of this, but most already are, and that’s when the surge in sales of bottled water and water filtration systems started.
Water used to be free for all, for all animals and humans to use. But because of what humans have done, we have started to pollute the water, making it unsafe to drink without being processed; water is no longer free.
Now we have to pay for water, water that we wash our clothes with, water that we wash our dishes with, and water that we drink to sustain ourselves. If you think about it, we are just paying for what we did, for polluting the water.
What happened created a new industry: bottled water, which has become big ever since. How well is this industry doing? The world spends about $100 billion yearly on it.
Bottled Water vs. Tap Water
Nowadays, consumers are opting to drink bottled water rather than tap water. The global consumption of bottled water has grown by ten percent every year.
This rate is slowest in Europe, and there has been faster growth in South America and Asia, but it is part of North America's world-leading total consumption. Did you know Americans now drink more bottled water than milk or beer?
But why do we keep spending so much on something we can get for free? We don’t need to spend extra money on bottled water when we can get it free from our home tap water. That would be less expensive for us. So what is why people choose to pay for something they can pretty much get for free or less?
Well, the answer to that is because it is more convenient. It is more convenient to go to a store and buy bottled water or have it delivered to your home rather than trying to ensure that what you are drinking is safe.
We continue to prioritize our convenience over the efficiency of our ecology, polluting the bodies of water and our land.
Another reason is that bottled water has a better taste and the dangers we perceive associated with drinking regular tap water.
Is Bottled Water Safer than Tap Water?
Did you know that almost half of the water used in bottled water comes from the tap? The tap water the EPA regulates undergoes testing for bacteria that can harm people's health.
They test tap water for E. coli, which is required for their quality reports. However, bottled water must not undergo that testing before distributing it.
The standards set by the Food and Drug Administration would also pale compared to the EPA's standards for tap water.
Bottled water is less frequently tested for bacteria, and no mandatory reports of violations are required for them to be passed on to federal agents. Bottled water regulation also does not require the filtration or disinfection of water at the federal level.
The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) says that most bottled water is good quality. However, that does not mean that it is safer to drink than tap water.
The NRDC tested more than 100 bottled waters. The study results showed that nearly one in the five water samples they tested contained more bacteria than the guidelines set by the microbiological purity.
Four of the water was found to violate the weak federal standards set to regulate bottled water. In eight cases of bottled water that were tested, arsenic was found in at least one of the tests done, and it is at a level that could pose a potential risk to people’s health.
So, to conclude the results of the test that the NRDC did, there is no assurance that the bottled water you buy is safer than tap water.
The Truth About Bottled Water
Over thirty billion plastic water bottles were sold in the United States alone in one year, but did you know that over that thirty billion, only twelve percent of the plastic bottles used were recycled?
According to a recycling advocate, about twenty-five billion bottles must be incarcerated, littered, or landfilled. So, bottled water cannot be more responsible for the environment than tap water.
For a product that claims to be environmentally aware and responsible, the bottled water industry has its fair share of trashing Mother Earth.
The amount of oil needed to make bottled water for a year could fill about a million cars, and more water is also used to make the water than to load it.
The Fear of Tap Water
The fear of tap water and its dangers that were inculcated into people’s minds played a big role in the surge and the success of the bottled water industry. This fear has been founded, but more than ninety percent of tap water has been deemed safe on a federal level.
Of course, we will still doubt that, but avoiding bottled water is not the answer. We can resort to another more effective and safe way, like our Berkey Water Filters.
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