Bottled water myths: Debunked.

Let’s face it: Bottled water is shrouded in myth and misconception. We’ve heard some tall tales when it comes to bottled water, and we’d like to debunk some of these fallacies with some factual inight:

MYTH: Bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap water.

FACT:
According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC), the average price per gallon of domestic non-sparkling bottled water was $1.21 in 2010. As a popular retail food product, bottled water is available at many differing price points.

MYTH: FDA standards allow “contaminants” in bottled water not allowed in tap water.

FACT:
The FDA has established bottled water Standards of Quality for more than 90 substances. Most FDA bottled water quality standards are the same as the EPA’s maximum contaminant levels for tap water systems. The few differences are usually the result of the fact that the substance is not found in bottled water, or the substance is regulated under another provision of law such as the FDA’s food additives program.

MYTH: Bottled water companies are draining aquifers and trying to ‘privatize’ water supplies.

FACT:
According to a 2005 study by the Drinking Water Research Foundation (DWRF), annual bottled water production accounts for less than 2/100 of 1 percent (0.02%) of the total groundwater withdrawn in the United States each year. On average, 87 percent of the water withdrawn by bottled water companies is actually bottled for consumption by humans, so the bottling process is a very efficient one.

At 55 billion gallons per day, the largest user of groundwater is actually the agriculture industry. That amount equals 68 percent of total groundwater extracted in 2010. The second largest user of groundwater is public drinking supplies, which takes 16 billion gallons per day, or 19 percent of all U.S. groundwater extraction. Compared to those figures, bottled water barely registers on the radar.

Bottlers that access public water sources are subject to withdrawal taxes and local, state, and federal regulations just like any other business, including farms and other agricultural operations. Bottlers must also monitor aquifer levels and comply with state regulatory oversight. Bottlers that access municipal waters must also pay taxes and fees established by municipalities and states.

MYTH: Bottled water bottles are not safe and leach chemicals into the water.

FACT:
Bottled water containers, as with all food packaging materials, must be made from FDA-approved food contact substances.

So, the plastic and glass containers that are used for bottled water products (which are made from the same materials used in other food product containers) have undergone FDA scrutiny prior to being available for use in the market place. The FDA has determined that the containers used by the bottled water industry are safe for use with food and beverage products, including bottled water, and that they do not pose a health risk to consumers.

Sometimes, the claim is made that single use bottled water containers contain Bisphenol A. This is not true; PET plastic, from which these bottles are made, does not contain BPA.

MYTH: Most bottled water is just tap water in a bottle.

FACT:
It is important to note that purified bottled water is not just tap water in a bottle, even if it does come from a municipal source. Once the municipal source water enters the bottled water plant, several processes are employed to ensure that it meets the purified or sterile standard of the U.S. Pharmacopeia 23rd Revision. These treatments can include ozonation, reverse osmosis, distillation, or de-ionization. The finished water product is then placed in a bottle under sanitary conditions and sold to the consumer.

Some anti-bottled water activists imply that people may be unaware that they are consuming bottled water that is from a municipal water source and has been placed in a bottle without being purified. This is not the case. If a bottled water product’s source is a public water system and the finished bottled water product does not meet the FDA Standard of Identity for purified or sterile water, the product label must disclose the public water system source.

MYTH: The FDA has no authority over bottled water made and sold within a single state (i.e., not in interstate commerce).

FACT:
FDA’s jurisdiction over bottled water products (and any other product regulated by FDA) extends not only to those products that move in interstate commerce but also to those products sold within a single state that are enclosed in packaging materials that have moved in interstate commerce.

In the case of bottled water, if the plastic used in the bottles, the plastic used in the caps, the paper and ink used on the labels, any other outer packaging materials, or even the water itself comes from out of state, then FDA has jurisdiction over that product. And in today’s commercial society, that will almost always be the case. Congress has recognized this fact by enacting a law that expressly presumes that all food and beverage products are sold in interstate commerce.

MYTH: Bottled water isn’t as well regulated as tap water.

FACT:
By federal law, the Food and Drug Administration regulations governing the safety and quality of bottled water must be as stringent as the EPA regulations which govern tap water. To suggest in any way that bottled water is less stringently regulated than tap water is unfounded and untrue.

Our Water Process:

1. We begin with the local municipal water supply. This water is passed through a 1 micron filter to remove any debris.
2. The filtered water is then passed through dual activated-carbon tanks. This removes the chlorine from the water.
3. A dual-system water softener is then used to remove a large amount of excess minerals and hardness (calcium, magnesium, iron).
4. We purify the water by running it through dual reverse-osmosis membranes. This step removes 98% to 99% of the remaining mineral in the water, leaving exceptionally clean and purified water.
5. Once these steps are completed, the purified water is sent to storage tanks to await the bottling process.

Our Bottling Process:

1. The 3 & 5 Gallon bottles are run through an industrial bottle washer that cleans and sanitizes the bottles using special detergents, scrubbers and ozonated rinse water.
2. The purified water from the storage tanks is passed through another 1 micron filter to add “polish”.  This ensures the water has a great taste.
3. Polished water is pumped into an ozone holding tank. This step allows ozone to permeate the water and disinfect it. This assures that not only is the water exceptionally clean, but it is also completely safe from micro-organisms.
4. The water is then injected with a small amount of our special mineral blend to give it a wonderful flavor.
5. Our delicious water is pumped to the water filler heads of the bottling machine where it goes into the cleaned and sanitized bottles.
6. The full bottles are capped inside the bottling machine and the finished bottles of water are sent down a conveyor to be date coded.
7. The bottles are placed on water delivery racks to await loading on one of our delivery trucks.
8. Our friendly and professional Route Sales Representatives deliver our great tasting water to your home or office!

Place an order at our website to start getting high-quality water delivered directly to your door.