Tap Water Vs. Bottled Water

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The debate on bottled water vs. tap water has been going on for many years now. Over the last thirty years, people have steadily been switching over to bottled water due to fears of their tap water being unsafe, or unhealthy to drink. Some of the major issues with tap water are the chemicals added to water at the plants and the common occurrence of public water supplies becoming contaminated. However, I have noticed over the last ten years people are not happy with the large ecological footprint of the bottled water industry. This is making many of those people want to switch back to tap water. Unfortunately, people do not feel comfortable drinking their tap water so they stick to bottled water for the time being. One of the main reasons …show more content…

Bolted water, which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has a much safer track record than tap water, which is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). When tested to the FDA and EPA standards, gallon per gallon bottled water is subjected to more coliform testing than tap water. "In 2006, EPA researchers reported an estimated 16.4 million cases of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) per year are caused by tap water" (Edberg 7). In contrast, as of 2012 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had only five cases of AGI linked to bottled water for the past ten years. Municipal water supplies are just more susceptible to contaminants. Just a simple crack or leak in a water main can allow microbial and chemical contaminants to enter the drinking water supplied to thousands of people. Until the public water systems can be updated and have fewer incidents, people are going to continue to drink bottled …show more content…

Some of the chemicals, such as chlorine and fluoride are actually added at the water plant. Chlorine is added to kill bacteria, viruses, and other living organisms in the water, but it is also linked to bladder, rectal, and breast cancer (West). Chlorine also produces dangerous by-products during the disinfection process such as, bromate and haloacetic acids, which are both cancer-causing agents according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Alton). The other aforementioned chemical fluoride, is added to municipal water supplies to promote healthy teeth. Fluoride being added to our water has been a controversial subject since it began back in 1945. The results of many scientific studies, show high levels of fluoride to have a neurotoxic effect on brains (Connet). Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and China Medical University in Shenyang combined 27 studies and found strong indications that fluoride may adversely affect cognitive development in children

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