According to a new independent study, "Bottled Water: Understanding a social
phenomenon", commissioned by WWF, bottled may be no safer, or healthier
than what comes from 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 h2o 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 from the tap.
However, some only differ
in the fact that they are distributed in bottles
rather than through pipes. In fact there are more standards regulating tap water
in Europe and the US than those applied to the bottled drinks industry. "Our attitudes
towards tap waters 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
Living Waters 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 h20 has the advantage of being generally safer in areas where
what comes from the tap may be contaminated, boiling or
purification of 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,
one is no better than the other. It may contain small amounts of minerals but so does
what comes from the tap from many public municipal sources. Some consumers prefer
one to the other for taste reasons. WWF argues that these companies have an important
responsibility to ensure that they consistently produce h2o that is not only safe but
also pleasant to drink.
The study also finds that
every year 1.5 million tons of plastic are used to in bottling of
this product. Toxic chemicals can be
released into the environment during the manufacture and disposal of the bottles.
Furthermore, a quarter of the 89 billion litres of h2o bottled worldwide annually are
consumed outside their country of origin. Emissions of the green house gas carbon dioxide,
caused by transporting within and between countries, contribute to the
global problem of climate change. "Bottled water isn't a long term sustainable
solution to securing access to healthy water," said Richard Holland.
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