Bottled water not so pure

   

Bottled water isn't necessarily any purer than the water you get from your tap, it's just more expensive, according to a report released Wednesday by a Washington, D.C., nonprofit research group.

The Environmental Working Group sent samples of 10 major bottled-water brands to the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory. The results: 38 low-level contaminants turned up in the water, with each brand containing an average of eight chemicals. Disinfection products, caffeine, Tylenol, nitrate, industrial chemicals, arsenic and bacteria were detected.

Two brands contained disinfection products at levels that exceeded California's bottled-water standards, according to the report. Bottles of Wal-Mart's Sam's Choice bought in the Bay Area contained trihalomethanes, which form when naturally occurring materials in water combine with chlorine. The chemicals, which have been linked to cancer and miscarriages, are also found in tap water.

Indeed, EWG said the lab analyses showed that the Wal-Mart water and a brand sold on the East Coast (but not in California) by the Giant supermarket chain were "chemically indistinguishable from tap water. The only striking difference: the price tag."

The organization is filing a lawsuit in state court alleging that Wal-Mart should have disclosed another contaminant, bromodichloromethane, under California's Proposition 65. In an e-mail Wednesday, a Wal-Mart representative said the company stood behind the quality of its bottled water. "Both our suppliers' tests and the tests from an additional external laboratory are not showing any reportable amounts of chlorine or chlorine by-products."

Olga Naidenko, an EWG senior scientist, said her group was not suggesting that bottled water was more polluted than tap water — but it may not be any better.

In a 1999 report, the Natural Resources Defense Council arrived at a similar conclusion.

In a release, the International Bottled Water Assn. said the EWG report was alarmist and did not involve a representative sample of bottled water.

— Bettina Boxall

Photo: Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett pours a bottle of water over his head at training camp in Newport, R.I., last month. Photo credit: Charles Krupa /Associated Press

Comments

[keenplanner]

Plastic bottles? Who needs them. I love San Pelligrino water, but I'm not loving the fossil fuels it takes to ship glass bottles of water from Italy, so no thanks anymore.
Here in SF we have Hetch-Hetchy water from high Sierra snow melt. It is filtered and minimally chlorinated using chloramine, and comes out of the tap crisp and cold. It's even naturally soft.
La has varied water qualities, depending on where you live, but something as simple as a Brita pitcher can make it palatable.
...and Fiji water? Could any product be less sustainable?

[H20lover]

I get tired of everyone complaining about the bottled water being a problem for the environment. One, Americans are lazy and extremely unhealthy. So if they decide to pay for bottled water and drink it at their dispense, then so be it. Everyone states the bottles are filling the land fills. Uh... hello what about all of the Soda/Pop bottles. No one seems to think these bottles are a problem. Just as many people if not more, drink Soda from Plastic Bottles. As a side note, my husband is a Plastics Engineer and he states that the plastic bottles that Soda is bottles are 7 layers thick of Polyester so that the carbonation doesn't migrate out of the bottle. Meaning these bottles are heavier than the bottled water. And Ketchup bottles are 11 layers thick. So if they want to eliminate bottled water for the sake of the environment they should consider eliminating Soda bottles.

[Brenda]

I'm quite shocked by this article. I would have never thought that the water I am drinking really is not a s pure as I think it is. How is it with the technology we have today that we are drinking contaminated water? Shouldn't someone be keeping track of all of this? What is going on? This just shows me that there are probably more things that we do not know of that we should really be more concerned about.

[Frances]

ok so we are discussing the difference between drinking tap or bottled water. I have lived in NY and LA and my skin always breaks out all over my face in LA. Believe me when I say this! The chloramine is causing the reaction. Since chloramine contains ammonia and (chlorine) it causes allergic reactions in some people. Now whenever I am in NY where they use chlorine only I do not have this problem. So my point is that if it can mess up your skin what can it do to your inside?! A whole house filtration system for thousands of dollars is the only solution to remove the ammonia from the water and it's still not guarateed.