Bottled Water Companies Refuse to Disclose Where Water Comes From

(OrganicJar) Bottled water makers make millions off people who believe their products are purer than tap water, but consumers do not realize that they are less regulated than plain old tap water, according to a U.S. Congressional report released on Wednesday. In 2008, Americans drank 8.6 billion gallons of bottled water, double the amount of a decade ago, with more than half saying they drink it because it is safer and healthier than tap water. I’d love to know why people think this? The report from the General Accountability Office found that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has little power to regulate the safety of bottled water. Just 2 of 188 bottle companies surveyed by the environmental working group (EWG) provided information about the water’s source and manner of treatment, as well as quality test reports: Ozarka Drinking Water and Penta Ultra-Purified Water. All the other companies refused to disclose this information, and not even our government knows. "Neither the public nor federal regulators know nearly enough about where bottled water comes from and what safeguards are in place to ensure its safety" said Representative Bart Stupak. In addition, suppliers of tap water are required to notify customers within 24 hours about contaminants that exceed federal levels; this does not apply to bottled water. Nor must bottled water companies test water with certified laboratories, a requirement for tap water suppliers.

My Thoughts

I think this is absolutely scary! We read all the time about companies who take advantage of the ‘rules and laws’ that are in place…but with bottled water, there seems to be no rules, so you can only imagine what these corporations are doing, or where they’re getting the water. It was just last year that the EWG found ten popular U.S. bottled water brands contained mixtures of 38 different pollutants, including bacteria, fertilizer, Tylenol and industrial chemicals. Just think of this…the environmental group EWG asked 188 bottled water companies to just disclose where they get their water, and how its treated…only 2 of the 188 did this. The only reason they wouldn’t, is because their hiding something. I recommend you just stop buying bottled water, and try using a refillable container. My favorite is Klean Kantean!

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Source: reuters.com nytimes.com