Tap Water vs. Bottled Water
Today, many people are questioning how their actions impact the environment and their own health. As a result, the debate of tap water vs. bottled water has remained an ongoing topic of conversation.
Consider the pros and cons of both tap and bottled water to help decide what’s best for your daily life.
Tap Water
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the safety of tap water. Some people go beyond the agency’s recommendations and elect to filter tap water with various in-home filtration systems.
Tap Water Pros and Cons
Tap water is beneficial because it’s:
- Good, affordable, and safe: The EPA enforces water safety standards, making tap water perfectly acceptable for human consumption.
- Less environmental impact: Though there are processes involved in treating tap water, the overall environmental impact is less.
Tap water has some disadvantages too:
- Contamination: While tap water is regulated, occasional contamination still occurs.
- Convenience: It’s sometimes easier to buy bottled water.
Bottled Water
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates bottled water across numerous categories:
- Sparkling: This carbonated water is sold as is or with flavors, sweeteners or sugar.
- Electrolyte: Supplemented water is purified with electrically charged minerals like magnesium, calcium, potassium and sodium.
- Distilled: The distillation process involves making steam and then returning the water to its liquid state, removing impurities.
- Spring: Spring water comes from underground aquifers and is naturally filtered by the earth’s layers, which adds minerals.
- Artesian: Many government agencies state groundwater and artesian water are the same in theory.
- Purified: This water has undergone reverse osmosis, meaning that microbes, chemicals and minerals are filtered out.
Bottled Water Pros and Cons
Bottled water is beneficial because it’s:
- Safe: The FDA regulates bottled water.
- Variety: People generally can’t distinguish between tap water and plain bottled water, but the latter does come in flavored and sparkling types for greater variety.
- Convenience: It’s always convenient to grab a water bottle or have water by the gallon on offer for workers or guests.
Disadvantages of bottled water:
- Expense: Bottled water is more expensive.
- Environmental impact: Bottling water, transporting it, and disposing of it has a greater environmental impact than tap water.
What’s Better, Tap or Bottled Water?
Tap and bottled water each have pros and cons, so choosing between the two comes down to personal preference, convenience, and making sure you reuse and recycle bottles to reduce your carbon footprint.
Polymer Solutions International Inc. Bottle-Up® Products
We proudly offer a range of Bottle-Up® display racks to provide practical and sustainable storage solutions for bottled water:
- Bottle-Up® 02-SV
- Bottle-Up® 03-DH
- Bottle-Up® 04-DV
- Bottle-Up® 05-DH
- Bottle-Up® Multi-Pack 12-SH
- Bottle-Up® Multi-Pack 12-SV
Browse Our Bottled Water Racks
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Feel free to browse our bottle-up series online to see which products fit your needs.
