The Health Benefits Of Drinking Water

By C.J.Gustafson


                                 standards for bottle drinking
Is Bottled Drinking Water        water are less stringent than
Healthier Than Filtered Tap      those for residential drinking
Water?                           sources.                      
Water is a key ingredient in                                   
a healthy diet and lifestyle.    Bottled water quality is      
There are many health benefits   regulated by the Food and Drug
of drinking water. It helps      Administration FDA, while     
flush impurities and toxins      drinking water systems are    
out of our systems. It aids in   typically regulated by State  
the delivery of oxygen and       regulations or the            
nutrients. In fact, nearly       Environmental Protection      
every system in our bodies       Agency EPA. This doesn't      
relies on water for proper       mean that the FDA isn't doing
functioning. But what if your    their job. It's just that the
water is unhealthy?              rules for bottled water only  
                                 require it to be as good as   
In past decades, concerns        tap water, not better.        
about tap water and its impact                                 
on overall health led some       In addition, the FDA          
people to turn to bottled        regulations only apply to     
drinking water instead. In       bottled drinking water that is
those days, there were few       transported across state      
choices. You could pay to have   lines. If a company sells     
a company deliver large bulky    their bottled drinking water  
plastic bottles of water for     in the same state where it was
the water cooler. Or you could   bottled, the federal          
purchase gallon jugs of          regulations don't apply. The  
distilled or drinking water      result is that many bottled   
at the grocery store.            waters are not any healthier  
                                 than filtered water, and in   
In recent years, there has       fact some are less pure.      
been an explosion in the                                       
number of different bottled      This was demonstrated in a    
waters available, with big       study conducted in 1999 by the
distributors such as Coke and    Natural Resources Defense     
Pepsi jumping on the             Council. They tested over 100
bandwagon. But are bottled       brands of bottled drinking    
drinking waters like Coke's      water and found that about 1/3
Dasani brand, Pepsi's            of the waters contained       
Aquafina, or Wal-Mart's store    contamination in the form of  
brand really any healthier       chemicals, bacteria, and      
than your tap water? Or would    arsenic. The study also found
you be better off with a         that up to 40% of bottled     
drinking water filtration        drinking waters come from a   
system?                          city water system.            
                                                               
As we've learned more about      How To Tell If Your Water Is  
the water we drink, the          Healthy                       
technology behind drinking       So how do you tell if the     
water filters and purification   water you're drinking is      
systems has improved             healthy? With tap water, it's
dramatically. There are          relatively easy. If you water
filters to remove impurities,    comes from a municipal source,
chemicals, heavy metals,         the suppliers are required by 
bacteria and most every          law to provide annual water   
contaminant you can think of.    quality reports. If you have a
With the right size and filter   well, you can have an         
combination for your specific    authorized lab test your      
home, your water can be          water. It may cost $100 or    
exceptionally pure and           more, but it's a small price  
healthy.                         to pay for peace of mind. Or  
                                 you can purchase a kit and    
Cost Comparison                  test it yourself, although the
Drinking water filtration        results are not as conclusive 
systems have also become more    or reliable.                  
affordable and easy to use.                                    
Although the initial cost of a   When it comes to bottled      
whole house system usually       drinking water, it can be more
runs several hundred dollars,    difficult to know what you're 
that cost is often less than     getting. Start by checking    
$100 each year if spread out     the label or the bottle cap.  
over the life of the system.     Some may tell you that the    
                                 water comes from a municipal  
There may be additional          source or community water     
expenses to replace carbon       system, which means tap       
filters, membranes in reverse    water.                        
osmosis drinking water                                         
filtration system, or lamps in   If the label doesn't give any 
an ultraviolet light water       information, you can call the 
treatment device. These          bottler and ask. But don't be 
expenses can add another $100    surprised if you get the run  
or so to the annual costs of     around and are transferred to
operating drinking water         several different departments.
filters and purification         Some states have a bottled    
systems.                         water program that tracks     
                                 bottled drinking water and can
While some people may            tell you the origin of the    
hesitate to spend two or three   source water as well as other
hundred dollars each year for    information.                  
clean, safe drinking water,                                    
they are probably paying more    Safe and healthy drinking     
for bottled drinking water.      water has become big business.
Calculations show that at a      Thousands of companies are    
price of $1 to $4 per gallon,    vying for your hard earned    
bottled or delivered water       cash, and some are not always
costs an average of $400 each    honest about what their       
year, especially if you          products offer. The initial   
purchase individual bottles.     investment for a home drinking
And that doesn't take into       water filtration system can   
consideration the gas needed     seem expensive at first, but  
to drive to the store or the     over time, it is usually less
environmental impact of all      expensive than bottled        
the empty plastic bottles.       drinking water. And with a    
                                 water filter, you at least    
Health Aspects                   know where the water you drink
Many people who choose           came from and how it was      
bottled drinking water           treated.                      
understand that it is more                                     
expensive, but are willing to    Before going out and spending 
pay the extra money because      your hard earned money for    
they feel bottled water is       bottled drinking water that   
safer and healthier than         may be no better than your own
filtered drinking water. After   tap water, it's a good idea   
all, bottled water is often      to do some research. You're   
marketed as natural spring       likely to decide that a       
water or pure glacier            drinking water filtration     
water.                           system and/or purifier is the
                                 healthier choice and provides
In reality, few bottled          the best value as well.       
waters come from natural                                       
springs, and most of them use                                  
municipal tap water. The                                       
companies are able to get away                                 
with this false marketing                                      
because the regulations and      

About the author:
About the Author:

C.J. Gustafson is a successful writer for
http://www.water-filters-n-purifiers.com, providingconsumer information on

water purification systems such as whole house and

under sink water filters. She found out about comparing the

health benefits of drinking water years ago when she learned that the
bottled water she was buying came from a municipal system in a nearby city.