In life there are several things we feel we need to survive, but when it comes to life’s true necessities, water remains an ultimate priority.
In today’s society, there are a variety of sources where residents can slake their thirst, including, bottled, tap and home filtrated water.
Consumers have a big thirst for bottled water. But when it comes to water safety and quality, which drinking option is healthier, bottled or home-filtration?
A Taste for Tap
Citizens Energy Group provides a variety of utilities, including water, to about 800,000 residents and thousands of businesses in the Indianapolis area.
According to the EPA’s compliance rules, all water suppliers are required to distribute an annual water quality report to its customers.
Citizens Energy Group’s 2013 water report indicates that Indy’s water is obtained from several sources including the White River, Fall Creek, local wells, Eagle Creek Reservoir and five ground water stations. The report also displays a chart, which shows the region’s water is of a high quality.
Shahid Parvez, assistant professor in the IUPUI Fairbanks School of Public Health agrees that Indianapolis’ city water quality meets standards.“I collected tap drinking water samples in different neighborhoods to study disinfection byproducts,” said Parvez. “I did this between April and August because that is the peak for most of the contaminants.”
As defined by the EPA, disinfection byproducts are created “when disinfectants react with naturally occurring materials in the water.”
Parvez said that he discovered some contaminants in the water supply, but it wasn’t violating compliance rules.
“It’s not a problem with the water suppliers, I think they are doing pretty well and I was actually impressed when I collected my data and compared it with their data.”
However, Parvez pointed out that testing frequency can affect data reliability. He said water providers usually test their water once per year and collect one sample over a three month period. When data isn’t collected more frequently, compliance values may be lower than if tested on weekly basis, he said.
What’s really inside?
According to the Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the standards for bottled H2O are set by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which in turn bases its standards on the EPA standards for tap water.
Given there are several types of bottled water, including well, spring, mineral and Artesian well water, consumers should note those labeled “sparkling water,” “seltzer water,” “soda water,” “tonic water,” or “club soda” aren’t included as bottled water under FDA’s regulations.
When purchasing bottled water, the mystery question is, “What makes this product different from tap water?”
The Environmental Protection agency (EPA) makes note that the taste of all water has to do with how it was purified.
“Bottled water doesn’t mean it’s safe,” said Parvez who mentioned that disinfectant byproduct won’t be found in bottled water because disinfectants aren’t used to treat it.. “But we cannot rule out other contaminants.”
A typical bottled water brand comes from the municipal water supply and is simply tap water, many experts say.
For example, Dasani, a popular bottled water brand owned by the Coca Cola Company, states on its website that its water is sourced from local supply, which is then filtered through a cleaning process called reverse osmosis. It also states that the shelf life of the product is about 12 months.
Aquafina, a PepsiCo brand, also uses public water sources for its product.
So what about more expensive brands including Evian and Fiji, do they source their water locally as well or are consumers truly drinking water drawn from a remote location?
According to Fiji, 100 percent of their water does indeed come from Fiji.
“One hundred percent of FIJI Water is from a single source in the pristine, tropical Fiji Islands, an archipelago of over 300 islands nestled in the South Pacific, more than 1600 miles from the nearest industrialized country,” comments the website. “It is bottled at the source in the remote Yaqara Valley on the island of Viti Levu.”
Are filters worth the money?
Brita and PUR water filter systems have become popular household tools. In a small pilot study, Parvez studied a few brands of home water filters for disinfected by product and said most of the data ruled the filters as effective.
“With filters, the difference was up to 90-95 percent,” he said.
Overall Parvez recommends individuals use home filters as a safer drinking option compared to bottled water.
