According to a new independent study, "Bottled Water: Understanding a social
phenomenon", commissioned by WWF, bottled water may be no safer, or healthier
than what comes out of the tap in many countries while selling for up to 1000 times the price. Yet, it is
the fastest growing drinks industry in the world and is estimated to be worth US$22
billion annually. The study reveals that the bottled drinks market is partly fuelled by
concerns over the safety of municipal sources and by the marketing of many brands which
portray them as being drawn from pristine sources and as being healthier than
what comes out of the tap.
However, some
bottled products only differ from tap sources in the fact that they are distributed in bottles
rather than through pipes. In fact there are more standards regulating tap
sources in Europe and the US than those applied to the bottled industry. "Our attitudes
towards tap sources are being shaped by the pollution which is choking the rivers and
streams which should be veins of life," argues Richard Holland, Director of WWF's
Campaign. "We must clean up and properly protect these waters at
source, and not just at the treatment works, so that we can all rest easy in drinking from
the tap."
The study acknowledges
that while bottled has the advantage of being generally safer in areas where tap
sources may be contaminated, boiling or filtering local
sources renders it safe at a
much lower cost for people on a low income. However, according to the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in terms of nutritional value, bottled
h2o is no better than the tap. It may contain small amounts of minerals but so
do
tap waters from many public municipal supplies. Some consumers prefer bottled
to tap for taste reasons. WWF argues that companies have an important
responsibility to ensure that they consistently produce h2o that is not only safe but
also pleasant to drink.
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