Every day at lunch I buy a bottled water. I can easily get tap water for free from the soda machine, but for some reason I am attracted to bottled water. Maybe it’s because it looks cleaner and healthier, which got me thinking….is bottled water better than tap or is it all the same? 
Before looking into the health differences between tap water and bottled water, I wanted to look into whether they differ in taste to begin with. Good Morning America decided to conduct their own taste test to find out if the audience believed bottled water actually tastes better. The audience was given different samples of New York City tap water, O2 (oxygenated water), Poland Spring, and Evian. Surprisingly, the study showed that 45% preferred New York City Tap Water, 24% Poland Spring, 19% O2, and 12% Evian. The majority believed tap water tasted better . This experiment is confusing because the article isn’t clear whether this was a blind test. If the audience knew which type of water they were sampling, it could totally interfere with the results and conclusions of the experiment. With that being said, I would not consider Good Morning American to be a credible source given the flaws that are in this experiment.
However, there are people that can distinguish the taste between bottled and tap. The French National Centre for Scientific Research conducted a study using “six different bottled mineral waters and six municipal tap waters.” 36% of 389 people from different parts of France could tell the difference. Because the majority cannot distinguish bottled from tap water, the study concludes “the currently high consumer demand for this beverage must be based on factors other than taste or olfactory perception.”
Which leads me to my next question, if there seems to be no comparable difference in taste 
between tap and bottled water (in this case tap water is preferred), then is it actually worth buying bottled water? Is it actually healthier? According to the Mayo Clinic, tap water and bottled water are “comparable in terms of safety.” Bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates tap water. Even though they are regulated by two different administrations, they use similar practices and procedures to ensure safety.
Katherine Patton, a registered dietician and certified sports dietician, states, “While (filters) can reduce exposure to (harmful) elements, it doesn’t necessarily mean bottled water will be better for your overall health.” The CNN article emphasizes the different procedures and laws put in place to make drinking water safe such as The Safe Drinking Water act of 1974. Just because bottled water appears fancy and expensive, doesn’t make tap water cheap and dirty. In fact, “In the U.S., tap water is already treated to remove particles, chemicals and bacteria. During the process of treating public water, chlorine is added as a disinfectant, and fluoride is added for its dental health benefits.”
I think it’s safe to say that tap water is just as good as bottled water. It is usually free, and it seems to taste just as good, if not better, as bottled water. While there are still some developing countries that lack clean and healthy tap water, but the United States makes sure that the water we are consuming is regulated. So overall, I give tap water a thumbs up. You could be saving yourself a dollar or two every time you buy bottled water for lunch!
I like Chao’s thinking. I would never have thought about how using less bottled water would actually lead to plastic being saved. That is a great idea that researchers could look into for the topic of plastic. I’m sure it would be a great benefit to society!
Thank you for sharing! I am someone who buys cases of water in bulk at Wegmans that last me weeks because at school, I prefer to drink bottled water. I can always taste the difference between bottled and faucet water here at school. There is also sometimes a bit of a color difference too, which I think also leads me to buy the bottles. I did not realize that the EPA regulates tap water and such; I figured that someone had to do it but I wasn’t sure who exactly. I could definitely be saving money by not purchasing bottled water, as well as reducing my carbon footprint! Here is the exact process that the EPA goes through to regulate water. http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi/P1008ZP0.PDF?Dockey=P1008ZP0.PDF
This blog caught my attention because I have always been fine with both bottled water and tap water. When I go out to eat, I am fine with just having tap water because I know it is free and it tastes the same to me. However, I have never really thought about whether or not it could be unsafe. Yes, I have heard before that you shouldn’t drink tap water, and that it can negatively affect your health, but I was never really worried about it. The part in your blog that made me feel better about drinking tap water was that the United States has a very clean tap water, unlike some developing countries. Based on your blog, I would not worry about being unsafe from drinking tap water.
I was just talking to my friend about this yesterday, thinking that bottled water was in fact cleaner than tap water. For some reason I had it in my head that it wasn’t clean. I still to this day think there is a difference in the taste of these two, but maybe tomorrow I’ll try some and see. It would be convenient if I could learn to drink only tap water because I would save money on the bottled water I have to buy every week and also I have a water fountain right across from my room. Here’s an article I found from Fox News that shows how bottled water and tap water is relatively equal in the US. It also says that it depends on the type of bottled water purchased, as those from a natural spring won’t contain contaminants but will contain helpful natural minerals like calcium and potassium.
This topic is interesting to me because I feel like a lot of people inherently see bottled or filtered water as “good” and tap water as “bad.” I mostly drink tap water and do not use a filter because I don’t really think it’s necessary and it’s just a lot easier to fill up a water bottle directly from the tap. I think marketing of bottled water has a lot to do with why some people will strongly prefer to drink bottled water. By marketing bottled water as pure and refreshing it’s almost like something other than simply water is being advertised. This can make tap water seem inferior or not as good for you, but as you said and I had thought there’s really not much of a difference if any.
I am interested in what you discussed. For sure, there are lot of people who think that bottle water can be cleaner than tap water and not willing to drink tap water. I always encourage them to drink tap water cause by decreasing the demand of bottle water, plastic can be saved. Obviously, that’s good for enviroment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tap_water