What is in bottled water

If you’re like me, you don’t leave the house in the morning without a bottle of water.

A lot of us — either because we’re health-conscious or just thirsty — carry the essence of life with us everywhere. People haul it into meetings at work. Shoppers carry it around the malls. I even see my fellow commuters taking swigs in the morning when I glance into the car beside me on the GreeneWay.

And I’ve noticed something else. Water carriers fall into two camps: bottled and tap.

When it comes to marketing, the bottlers win. Aquafina offers a trip to the “Project Runway” season finale. Wow! OUC calls itself “The Reliable One.” Yawn.

In a study conducted by “the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory on 10 brands of bottled water revealed a wide range of pollutants, including not only disinfection by products, but also common urban waste water pollutants like caffeine and pharmaceuticals (Tylenol); heavy metals and minerals including arsenic and radioactive isotopes; fertilizer residue (nitrate and ammonia); and a broad range of other, tentatively identified industrial chemicals used as solvents, plasticizers, viscosity decreasing agents, and propellants”

Note from Anthony: The following special edition research article was prompted by an interesting article written by Saphira Surina Patel, environmental specialist working with the Development Bank of Southern Africa. The co-author of two books, caught my attention with many of her points that I sometimes forget. Following Saphira Surina Patel’s main article I have included BPA and bottled water researched articles with links to 720 pages of information which will assist you in researching this topic further.