Justified or not, consumers’ worries about tap water make store-bought bottled water a tempting alternative. In this imperfect world of ours, it’s not a bad idea to ask ourselves a few questions on this topic.
Is that bottled liquid really as pure as the snowcapped summits suggested by the ads?What’s clear is that excellent quality water should come directly from the spring and not require treatment by the bottler. Treated water may contain traces of ozone and fluorine.
By the same token, “spring water”, meaning water from a water table or ground water source, is naturally dependent on the environment it is taken from. This environment needs to be perfectly sanitary, meaning free of contamination and agricultural waste in particular.
Like any other food product, storage can also affect bottled water quality. This is why the Canadian Bottled Water Association recommends that bottles be stored at room temperature away from direct sunlight and any type of toxic materials (household cleaning products, solvents, gasoline, etc.). They also recommend bottled water be kept no longer than two years before it’s consumed.
…and with what impact?
Finally, we need to consider the environmental impact of a global industry generating several tons of plastic per year. The impact is measurable in terms of quantity of energy required to deliver the product to the consumer (tapping, treating, bottling and transporting), but also to dispose of it after usage (transportation of empty bottles and incineration or recycling).
This may be why many people are opting to treat their tap water with the help of filtration processes.
