Americans used to turn on their faucets when they craved a drink of clear, cool
water. Today, concerned about the safety of water supplies, they're turning to
the bottle. Consumers spent more than $4 billion on bottled water last year,
establishing the fount of all life as a certifiably hot commodity. But is bottled
really better?
You might think a mountain stream on the label offers some clue to the contents.
But sometimes, to paraphrase Freud, a bottle is just a bottle. "Mountain water
could be anything," warns Connie Crawley, a health and nutrition specialist at
the University of Georgia. "Unless the label says it comes from a specific
source, when the manufacturer says 'bottled at the source,' the source could be
the tap."
Yosemite brand water comes not from a bucolic mountain spring but from deep wells
in the undeniably less-picturesque Los Angeles suburbs, and Everest sells water
drawn from a municipal source in Corpus Christi, Texas-a far cry from the
pristine glacial peaks suggested by its name. As long as producers meet the FDA's
standards for "distilled" or "purified" water, they don't have to disclose the
source.
Even if the water does come from a spring, what's in that portable potable may be
less safe than what comes out of your tap. Bottled water must meet the same
safety standards as
municipal-system water. But while the EPA mandates daily monitoring of public
drinking water for many chemical contaminants, the FDA requires less
comprehensive testing only once a year for bottled water. Beyond that, says
Crawley, the FDA "usually inspects only if there's a complaint. Yet sources
of bottled water are just as vulnerable to surface contamination as sources of
tap water. If the spring is near a cattle farm, it's going to be contaminated."
Let's assume your store-bought water meets all the safety standards. What about
the bottle? Because containers that sit for weeks or months at room temperature
are ideal breeding grounds for bacteria, a bottle that met federal safety
standards when it left the plant might have unsafe bacteria levels by the time
you buy it. And because manufacturers aren't required to put expiration dates on
bottles, there's no telling how long they've spent on a loading dock or on store
shelves. (Bacteria also thrive on the wet, warm rim of an unrefrigerated bottle,
so avoid letting a bottle sit around for too long.) But even more troubling is
what may be leaching from the plastic containers. Scientists at the FDA found
traces of bisphenol A-an endocrine disruptor that can alter the reproductive
development of animals-after 39 weeks in water held at room temperature in large
polycarbonate containers (like that carboy atop your office water cooler).
Wherever you get your water, caveat emptor should be the watchword. If you're
simply worried about chlorine or can't abide its taste, fill an uncapped
container with tap water and leave it in the refrigerator overnight; most of the
chlorine will vaporize. If you know your municipal water is contaminated, bottled
water can provide a safe alternative. But shop around. The National Sanitation
Foundation (NSF) independently tests bottled water and certifies producers that
meet FDA regulations and pass unannounced plant, source, and container
inspections. And opt for glass bottles-they don't impart the taste and risks of
chemical agents and they aren't made from petrochemicals.
To get information on bottled-water standards-or to find out what's in the water
you buy-contact the Food and Drug Administration, Federal Office Building #9,
Room 5807, 200 C St. S.W., Washington, DC 20004, (888) INFO-FDA. To find an
NSF-certified manufacturer, call (800) NSF-MARK. For information on your tap
water, call the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline, (800) 426-4791.
