IS BOTTLED WATER PURE OR IS IT JUST A GIMMICK?

If, 20 years ago, somebody told you that there will come a day when we start buying water in a supermarket, much like beer or wine (incidentally, some bottled water prices are not much lower that those of beer and wine), this prediction would certainly provoke either hearty laughter or total disbelief.

Meanwhile, tap water contamination levels have increased so fast that people had little choice but to start buying bottled water in stores to ensure their own health and safety.

Unfortunately the safety of spring water or is now in doubt. According to FDA rules, bottled water is subject to less testing and lower standards that even your tap water. Even disinfection is NOT a require­ment for bottled water!

The high cost of spring water would lead consumers to believe they are buying super quality water. However, a detailed University of Iowa study involving 39 different brands of bottled water concluded quite the opposite:

“Among the 39 samples, 11 contained measurable amounts of THM’s; 18 con­tained dissolved metals; and others had traces of arsenic, barium and toluene. It is, therefore, concluded that bottled water is no better than tap water and, in some cases, even worse.”

A recent extensive 4-year scientific study on bottled water conducted by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), based on 1000 bottles of 103 brands of spring water, concluded that bottled water is not necessar­ily cleaner or safer than common tap water.

According to an article in Reader’s Digest,

“True or False? Bottled water is gener­ally safer than tap water. False. What’s sold in jugs or delivered to coolers need meet no standard higher than for tap water!…Some bottled waters are actually drawn from municipal water systems.”

According to both government and in­dustry estimates, an amazing 25%-40% of all bottled water is actually just bottled tap water.

Of course, another drawback to spring water is its cost, since a standard 1.5 quart (liter) bottle of brand name water can cost $1 or more, an expensive option indeed. 

WHAT CHOICES ARE THERE FOR PURIFIED WATER

So which water is best for drinking and cooking? This is an extensive subject so we will try to be brief and describe only the most popular existing water purification systems. The first thing to do is of course to stop using tap water right away. Then you can choose 1 of the following 4 options: 

1) Using bottled water. As we have discussed above, the quality of tap water is ques­tionable at best.

2) Using distilled water. This is a good method, however, the process of distillation filters out not only most of the contaminants but also all the oxygen which our bodies crave (even fish die in distilled water). That’s the main reason why most people dislike the taste of distilled water - it tastes flat. An­other drawback is cost. Distillers cost $300 to $400 to buy and since they run on elec­tricity they consume $240 a year in electri­city costs (according to Consumer Reports).

3) Buying purified water (not spring water) in health food stores. It usually goes through powerful filtration systems such as re­verse osmosis or micro-filtration which produce excellent results. Cost is still a factor though: 40 to 80 cents per gallon. To drink and cook with this water can cost hundreds of dollars a year for a family of 3 or 4. Then there’s the inconvenience of lugging the heavy 5 gallon bottles home.

4) Installing a good water purification system at home. Filters that use reverse osmosis method produce best results (see filtra­tion capabilities chart below).

 

Reverse osmosis systems are made to purify wa­ter on the molecular level and unlike dis­tillation (which produces pure water but makes the water taste flat), reverse os­mosis water tends to have a fresh and clean taste, similar to spring water only without the problems of spring water dis­cussed previously in the article.

We feel that the best solution to water contamination in general, is to become per­sonally responsible for the water we drink and make sure that the water coming into our kitchens and showers is purified. Unfor­tunately, only 2 types of home water treat­ment processes - distillation and reverse osmosis - can clear water from so much of the harmful pollutants and additives in water.

Common carbon (charcoal) filters, as well as other kinds of inexpensive filters, representing probably 95% of what’s on the market, are simply not up to the task as our research has revealed (see chart below).

Another problem with carbon and other common filters on the market is that they be­come more and more clogged daily since the contaminants are accumulated inside the fil­ter cartridge. This means that you have to either “put up with that” or change the car­tridges very frequently.

For example, one of the most popular brands on the market, suggests in the man­ual to change the cartridge every few weeks which can, of course, end up costing hun­dreds of dollars per year. This makes you wonder if the up-front inexpensive cost of the filter was just a way to get us to buy the re­placement cartridges at a rate of dozens per year thus generating a wonderful cash flow system for the manufacturer.

However, most people we find are too lazy to change them as the manufacturer suggests and so the result is the filters sim­ply stop doing what they are supposed to do - effectively remove water contaminants.

 

AQUAWIZARD OR BOTTLED WATER

THE ALL NEW Aqua Wizard Portable Water Purification System - $199.00

(Free digital water tester with each order )

ORDER THE AQUAWIZARD TODAY AND RECEIVE

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