Tap Water is Just Toilet Water, Bottled Water Company Says

Why drink the same water you use to flush? That's the essence of a recent spend-more pitch made by a bottled water company in France. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the company has launched an anti-tap water campaign with a large picture of a toilet.

Here's the main pitch from the article:

"I don't drink the water I use to flush," read many of the posters, which displayed a photo of a white toilet bowl marked with a big red "X." Next to the discredited commode was a large picture of Neptune's Cristaline brand of still bottled water. "I drink Cristaline," the ad concluded.

This anti-frugal campaign is pretty disturbing for several reasons:

1) A number of so-called upscale bottled water products are actually dressed up & priced up municipal water. (tap water)

2) Municipal water is actually tested for safety more frequently than many private label water products.

3) Many home filtering or pitcher-filtering systems produce excellent-tasting water, with fewer contaminants. Our filter pitcher (from Walgreens for less than $20, plus filters) works great, but it's slow. We now use a sink system that is just fine.

There are even more steps you can take to improve the safety and quality of the tap water in your home, according to this report from the Family and Consumer Sciences Department in Pinellas County, an area of Florida.

If you are simply trying to improve the taste of your water, a filtering pitcher will do a good job for you. But if you are trying to remove lead or specific contaminants, you may want a permanent filter installed. Before you buy, be sure you know which contaminants the system will filter out.--Alice Hankins
Educational Instructor Family and Consumer Sciences--Pinellas County, Florida

The author makes excellent points about the safety of bottled water and the environmental impact of discarded plastic bottled water containers.

Sales of bottled water in this country have exploded in recent years. Bottled water, in spite of its popularity, may not be safer or more healthful than tap water. Some studies have found that tap water tends to have lower bacterial counts than bottled. Also, some brands are just packaged municipal tap water, sometimes further treated, sometimes not. In addition, bottled water is costly and bulky. Thick opaque containers can impart a plastic flavor. Big rigid polycarbonate water-cooler jugs can leave chemical residues. --Pinellas County

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