Water Successfully Turned into a Commodity by the Bottled Water Industry

It turns out that much of the population is spending almost 2000 times more for water than they normally would. The typical price of bottled water is $3.79 per gallon while the typical price of tap water is $0.002 per gallon. You may think that the extra investment is worth it for the improved quality of bottled water, but in fact many bottled water brands may be just as damaging to your health as tap water. The bottled water industry is selling water for about a 1900% markup from what you’re paying at home while successfully turning this nearly free resource into a commodity. People are virtually throwing money away, all in the name of “purity”.

Don’t Fall Victim to False Advertising

Bottled water has long been recognized for being purer and safer than tap water, but why? The research shows that this common misconception is the result of massive advertising and marketing schemes. Bottled water companies claim to be “purer” than tap water with pictures of beautiful mountains on their labels from which we’re supposed to think the water comes from. The truth is that bottled water companies almost always don’t answer at least one of three quality qualifying questions.

• Where does the water come from?

• Is it purified? How?

• Have tests found any contaminants?

According to an extensive study conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) , 9/10 of the best selling water brands including Pepsi’s Aquafina, Coca-Cola’s Dasani, Crystal Geyser, and 6 of 7 Nestle brands, don’t answer any those questions.

Many bottled water companies simply refuse to disclose information regarding their “pure” product. Another study performed by the EWG showed that of the 173 brands tested:

• 18% fail to disclose the location of their water source

• 32% say nothing about the treatment or purity of the water

• Over 50% flunked EWG’s transparency test

Stop Paying a Premium Price for Mystery Water

After extensive research and testing, the Environmental Working Group recommends filtered tap water over any bottled water. If you buy bottled water, you’re paying a premium price for mystery water. As shocking as it may seem, the bottled water being purchased is actually municipal tap water almost 50% of the time. Not only that, but bottled water is also less regulated than tap water and oftentimes more contaminated.

Can you imagine paying $1,500 for a pack of gum, or $5,000 for a smoothie? The truth is that no one would knowingly pay 1900 times more for a product than they need to, especially if that product is in your own kitchen. It may be time to chuck the plastic bottle and make them exclusive for traveling and bike rides.

It is important to remember that while bottled water may be ridiculously glorified above its own contamination, tap water is not so safe either. That is why it is essential to purchase a high quality water filter that can remove contaminants such as fluoride from your water. When filtering tap water, reverse osmosis is one preferred method in removing toxic substances such as fluoride and heavy metals. While reverse osmosis filters remove toxic substances from the water, it also removes natural minerals and nutrients. Luckily a simple solution to this would be to add certain minerals to the water, use a mineral filter, or even add apple cider vinegar to restore the natural nutrients back into the water.