Water regulations

The major problem with bottled water is that we just don't know what is in it. Tap-water regulations make it mandatory that the public water supply is tested daily and that findings are freely available for scrutiny. There are no similar regulations for mineral and spring waters. What we do know, however, is that bottled mineral and spring waters have no health-giving properties over tap water. We also know that, while most bottled waters are safe, their mineral, chemical and bacterial contents mean that they are not as safe as tap water. Yet they cost around 1,500 times as much as tap water.

Before 1980 there were few regulations for tap water. Recent advances in equipment sophistication have meant that substances can be detected now at levels which previously were impossible. As a consequence, materials have been discovered in tap water which previously were unknown. These discoveries have been blown out of all proportion by organisations such as Greenpeace and the media, and we have all fallen for it. We have been duped into believing that tap water is unfit for consumption. American studies have found that drinking tap water in any part of the USA is safer than drinking bottled water. No study there or in Britain has found any benefit with drinking bottled water. While sparkling waters do tend to have a slight advantage, as the carbon dioxide gas used to make them fizz has antibacterial properties, no bottled waters are considered safe enough to be recommended as a drink for children.

We have an anomalous situation where different regulations apply to what is essentially the same commodity, merely packaged in a different way. Bottled waters should be subject at least to the same regulations as tap water. It could be argued, however, that if their advertising is going to stress their inherent purity, and if they are to cost so much more, perhaps their regulations should be even more stringent. There is little doubt that if tap water regulations were applied to bottled waters, many would disappear from supermarket shelves.

Link: Vancouver drinking water quality