Bottled Water vs. Tap Water
Bottled water vs. tap water
Water is an essential part to human life. We as humans need around eight to twelve cups per day to make up for the fact that throughout normal functions such as breathing and sweating we lose an average of ten cups per day. To make sure that we are healthy and everything runs properly, we must make sure we drink the right amount of water (msnbc.com, 2004). The one question when thinking about water is what type of water will you drink? The biggest controversy is bottled water vs. tap water. Many people in the world today are switching from drinking tap water to drinking bottled water. The number of people who drink bottled water has been rising over the past few decades and by an average of 7% per year. A reason for this could be the fancy packaging. Some other reasons for this could be because bottled water is convenient and is said to taste better and be healthy for you than tap water. However this is not always the case. The water that you just paid for could have possibly come out of the municipal water supply. This article is going to show some facts about bottled water that most people did not know. The global consumption of bottled water was 154 billion liters in 2004, up 57 percent from the 98 billion liters consumed in 1999. Even though most of the time bottled water is no healthier than tap water, it can cost up to 10,000 times more, as much as $2.50 per liter or $10 per gallon in some areas. This is almost the price of a gallon of gas. Bottled water is consumed by half of all Americans. One in six Americans drink only bottled water. The United States consumes more bottled water than any other country on earth. In 2004, the US consumed 26 billion liters, equivalent to one 8 ounce glass per person each day (Arnold and Larsen, 2006). San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, St. Louis, and other major cities have recently jumped on the “ban bottle water” bandwagon which makes it illegal to spend the taxpayer’s city
Water is an essential part to human life. We as humans need around eight to twelve cups per day to make up for the fact that throughout normal functions such as breathing and sweating we lose an average of ten cups per day. To make sure that we are healthy and everything runs properly, we must make sure we drink the right amount of water (msnbc.com, 2004). The one question when thinking about water is what type of water will you drink? The biggest controversy is bottled water vs. tap water. Many people in the world today are switching from drinking tap water to drinking bottled water. The number of people who drink bottled water has been rising over the past few decades and by an average of 7% per year. A reason for this could be the fancy packaging. Some other reasons for this could be because bottled water is convenient and is said to taste better and be healthy for you than tap water. However this is not always the case. The water that you just paid for could have possibly come out of the municipal water supply. This article is going to show some facts about bottled water that most people did not know. The global consumption of bottled water was 154 billion liters in 2004, up 57 percent from the 98 billion liters consumed in 1999. Even though most of the time bottled water is no healthier than tap water, it can cost up to 10,000 times more, as much as $2.50 per liter or $10 per gallon in some areas. This is almost the price of a gallon of gas. Bottled water is consumed by half of all Americans. One in six Americans drink only bottled water. The United States consumes more bottled water than any other country on earth. In 2004, the US consumed 26 billion liters, equivalent to one 8 ounce glass per person each day (Arnold and Larsen, 2006). San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, St. Louis, and other major cities have recently jumped on the “ban bottle water” bandwagon which makes it illegal to spend the taxpayer’s city
Bibliography: • Arnold, E., & Larsen, J. (2006, Feb. 2). BOTTLED WATER: Pouring Resources Down the Drain. Retrieved Apr. 16, 2008, from http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2006/Update51.htm. • (n.d.)Bottled Water Blues. Bottled water: Healthy or Hoax. Figure 1. Retrieved April 2008, from http://www.bottledwaterblues.com/HomePage.cfm • Ferrier, C. (2001, April). Bottled Water: Understanding a Social Phenomenon World Wildlife Fund, April 2001. 1-26. Retrieved April 2008, from http://assets.panda.org/downloads/bottled_water.pdf • (n.d.). Is your bottled water coming from a faucet? - TODAY: Food & Wine - MSNBC.com. Retrieved Apr. 14, 2008, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5467759/. • Jemmott, J. M. (2008, February). Bottled Water vs. Tap Water. Reader 's Digest, p. 118. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from http://www.rd.com/special-reports/the-environment/rethink-what-you-drink/article51807.html • (n.d.). Learn more about bottled water. Retrieved Apr. 14, 2008, from www.thinkoutsidethebottle.org/ • (n.d.). NRDC: Bottled Water - Chapter 4. Retrieved Apr. 14, 2008, from http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/chap4.asp. • (n.d.). PHES-Water Epidemiology. Retrieved Apr. 16, 2008, from http://dphwww.sfdph.org/phes/water/FactSheets/bottled_water.pdf.