Is it true that tap water is better for you than bottled water?!
Is it true that tap water is better for you than bottled water?
Answers:
Not really true as stated.
A better phrase would be "just as good as".
Just like tap water, bottled water has many different providers. Water quality can vary from bottler to bottler just as tap water can vary.
The single biggest danger with tap water is that the distribution system is all tied together and if water pressure dropped due to a main line leak or other problem, contaminants can enter the system. If the right conditions exist, this can create a "backflow" or "backpressure" situation. In one city, a pest control person was mixing up a batch of poison and had a garden hose stuck into the mixture when the line pressure dropped to zero. This siphoned the poison back into the main line. When pressure was restored, several nearby people became very ill from drinking tainted tap water. The water company had to replace several blocks worth of main lines and customer service lines. The pest control company left town leaving the expense to the water company.
Many case histories exist of this type of contamination. Others include water lines connected to raw waste water lines by accident and not discovered for months. Water lines contaminated by bacteria due to pressure loss. Water lines contaminated by industrial chemicals siphoned back in when water pressure dropped.
So to answer your question, you could say , no, tap water is not safer than bottled water.
They both have pros and cons. Tap water is regulated differently than bottled water. If the tap water provider cares and follows regulations, it is, barring the above situations, very safe to drink. Unfortunately, some tap water providers aren't very caring and as long as the water passes the lab bacteria tests, that's all they care about.
Bottled water companies can be guilty of the same thing and if using municipal water sources, the backflow, backpressure problems can affect them similarly.
Major bottlers such as Pepsi and Coca-cola are probably the safest as they have much to lose if their water becomes contaminated. Besides loss of market shares, these companies can be sued much more easily than most tap water providers, who enjoy many protections under the law.
All things being equal, tap water in the US is the safest in the world. The cost of tap water is the single best bargain in the world besides air and sunshine, which are free.
I myself drink tap water. I always have. I am a water operator who knows tap water inside and out. It is generally safe and for the price it can't be beat. There are no real benefits to be realized by drinking bottled water unless your tap provider has problems, such as those found recently at Camp Lejune.
Source(s):
State licensed water operator
No tap water is riddled with contaminates like lead
It depends on who you ask and who answers. I believe that tap water is fine and dandy, since it has been proved that some bottled water is just tap water that goes through a chemical process. Some cities like here in Irving, Texas have great tap water that is treated just like those at bottle water plants (where do you think most of them get the water from and what do they wash their equipment with.) The plus side is some big cities even add good things like fluoride which helps teeth development. Now if you are in rural counties then yes maybe bottled water might be best. All in all it is really your choice. I prefer tap water and no I am not cheap!!
Hope this helps! =)
Alaskan water is great if you are visiting, Powerade or gatorade is good too.
only if you you a really good water filter.
they are the same thing...except tap water has lots of bad minerals and fluoride that can be harmful to your health if you don't have a water purifier.
In some areas, tap water is practically undrinkable.
They're suggesting that tap water is better for you than bottled because of the possible contamination of water stored in plastic bottles (glass is fine).
In all honesty, I imagine it's partly a PR stunt. For a long time, people have been questioning the quality of tap water. I'm especially concerned at the amount of flouride added.
"It's good for your teeth" they say. Hmm. So, they're telling us that they've added flouride out of the kindness of their hearts to ensure we have great teeth? Why? What's the point, when every other person either drinks coffee, coke or smokes cigarettes? Why this massive concern for our teeth? What about people who live in parts of the world without flouride added to their water, who have clean, white teeth?
Call me Ms. Skeptical, but have you seen the state of society these days? People's teeth look worse than ever.
It's suggested that flouride can be used to make people submissive. Never tested it myself ;-) There are flouride filters but they are seriously expensive.
not necessarily- bottled water has no restriction...it might come from your neighbor's garden hose.