Is it really more beneficial to drink bottled water than tap? Which bottled waters are the 'best' and why?

Question

I drink 2 litres of tap water a day. Would I be more healthy if I switched to bottled, and why?

Answer 1

Tap water has added fluoride, is tested every few secs at the reservoir, you pay for it and it's cheap (water rates) and tastes great. Bottled water has not proven to be beneficial to the extent that it is value for money. There's lots of salt in bottled water. Some companies use tap water, modify it and charge you more!! Also, plastic containers give off chemicals that are carcinogenic and gets into the water.

You can use Britta or simply cool boiled tap water if you are concerned about impure water from the tap, but this is not necessary for most grown-ups.

You don't have to carry bottles of water around with you, tap water is, erm, on tap!

Answer 2

Hi, i dont think it really matters the only thing is that bottles water is filtered so all the bad stuff is taken out if and most of the good stuff left in. I drink tap water all the time but if you compare it to battles water it has a different taste and its sometimes smoother, You could always buy a water filter so you can filter your own water, so you arent drinking what shouldnt be in your water. But people have been drinking tap water for years and it hasnt done them any harm. You pay your water licence so why pay for bottlled water, when its free from the tap. If you want to taste a decnt bottle of water try Volvic its the nicest water in the world.

Answer 3

People prefer the taste of bottled water compared to tap, but there aren't any differences in health benefits. It's just great that you make sure you drink that much a day, and I really wouldn't make the change from tap as it would end up costing you at least a fiver a week - and if you think of that as £250 per year, or more, then it doesn't really seem worth it!

Answer 4

Bottled water has its benefits when you are away from home and can't be sure of the drinking water. When you are home, you would be putting your money to better use to simply filter your tap water. You can put inline filters in or use a pitcher with a built in filter. Areas where the drinking water is just downright bad aren't that common. The real concern is what is put in the water to keep down contaminants. What you want to do is filter out that stuff.

Answer 5

It depends on what tap water you are drinking. Most Tap water is flourinated, which is a good thing. Flouride helps to strengthen your teeth and keep them healthy. Tap water also generally has more minerals, which is usually a good thing. The bad thing about tap water is that it can also have trace amounts of arsenic in it, which is poisonous. This is normal since arsenic can be found naturally in runoff, but its still not a good thing. Bottled water generally has nothing in it. Aquafina is called so because pepsi filters it very thoroughly and there is literally nothing in it but water. this gets rid of the good and the bad. I'd find out what your tap water has in it (search online for the water content in your town) just to make sure there's nothing too alarming in there. BUt in all likelihood the tap water is just fine.

Answer 6

It can be, especially if you are travelling. Tap water in an unfamiliar city may contain chemicals and microorganisms that may affect your digestive system. I know of a musician that won't drink anything else. He was drinking the tap water in Florida and his voice was being ravaged until he switched. Lots of times tap water contains significant amounts of chlorine which can have health consequences. I suggest that if you are travelling that you drink bottled water, but when you are at home it is probably OK to drink tap water.

Answer 7

Most bottled water is filtered and/or collected from mountain source (unless it's made by Coca-Cola!! - remember Dasani failure in the UK), so if you live in a part of the country, such as the SE of England where the water is very "hard" then there may be benefits from bottled, or at least filtered water.

Should you live somewhere like the East of Scotland which has tap water with far fewer impurities, then I would imagine the benefits would be negligible. Certainly, from my own experience when I moved from north to south I now have to filter all tap water that I drink, rather than straight from the tap - it tastes bad in the south.

Wikipedia reports on some of the Health Criticisms on bottled water:

The vast bulk of bottled water sold is simply re-processed municipal water. Both Aquafina from Pepsi-Cola Company and Dasani from The Coca-Cola Company are reprocessed municipal water systems. Some bottled waters, such as Penta Water claim special health benefits, though these claims are considered pseudoscience and rarely backed up with any verifiable evidence.
Bottled water processed with distillation or reverse osmosis lacks fluoride ions which are sometimes naturally present in groundwater, or added at a water treatment plant and which has an effect on the inhibition of cavity formation; the drinking of distilled water may conceivably increase the risk of tooth decay due to a lack of this element. However, most people continue to cook with common tap water and this is thought to potentially provide sufficient fluoride to maintain normal prophylaxis in many instances. Any other minerals in tap water such as calcium and magnesium are present in such minuscule amounts that their absence is compensated for many thousands of times over by other dietary sources.
Bottled water is typically printed with expiration dates. Even if the water itself is pure, a plastic container may leak chemicals into the bottled water. Storage in cool and dark places help reduce reactions. Industry associations claim "bottled water can be used indefinitely if stored properly.".
If the original water bottled is not pure, especially if it contained biological contaminants, then the water quality will continue to degrade regardless of the storage container or conditions.

Answer 8

There is NO evidence that bottled water has any benefit over tap water.


You don't need to drink 8 glasses (2 litres) of water a day. You don't need ANY arbitrary target amount per day. Just drink when you're thirsty. Period!
8 GLASSES A DAY DEBUNKED:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp
http://calorielab.com/news/2006/05/28/8-glasses-of-water-a-diet-urban-legend

Answer 9

There is no scientific proof that drinking bottled water is better for you especially if you use a filter system with your tap water.

Answer 10

Bottled water could have been stored in a warehouse for years! i prefer to drink tap water