Contrary to what some people may think, tap water is actually healthy for you. Many people are still unaware of this — just survey the disposal bins of any major city to see the preference many people have for bottled water. We are lucky to have a quality supply of water from the tap, then why buy bottled water? Of course there is a convenience factor — it’s not always easy to get tap water on-the-go — but this can’t account for nearly all the bottled water consumption we see in 2018.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of drinking tap water.
This is all operating under the assumption that you have safe, clean tap water that is largely free of contaminants and served through a public water supply. This is the case with most homes and businesses in America, but not all.
Firstly, tap water is good for the environment. Plastic bottles are mass-manufactured products and the energy used in producing, transporting, and recycling these bottles can be used for better elsewhere. Most of these bottles end up in landfills where they leach their chemicals into the soil. And while we hope they are recycled, not all of them are. Many make their water into our oceans, rivers, and park lands.
Secondly, water management regulations require frequent testing of tap water for E.coli, Cryptosporidum, lead, copper, and other harmful elements. Tap water then may actually be better for you than bottled water as far more parties are in involved in checking the quality of water. They also look for a broad range of pollutants and are accountable for the results.
The bottled water that you may be drinking may be tap water in a packaged form. Bottled water manufacturers are not instructed to reveal the source of the water unless its mineral water or derived from a spring. Who knows, you may be spending that extra money in buying water you could have consumed from your kitchen sink for free.
Also, almost all bottled water is shipped in plastic. There is much debate over whether putting food in plastic is harmful (even if it’s BPA-free) but most people would agree that water that hasn’t contacted plastic is preferable to that which has. Plus during shipping plastic bottles may be heated in the sun or accidentally frozen, both of which can damage the plastic. Plus there is the entire issue of microplastics in bottled water, which is very concerning.
Which gets us to tap water. It’s easily available. In case you run out of it, you can easily fill it up from public refill stations or water fountains.
Tap water contains fluorides which fight against tooth decay and cavities, or that can easily be filtered out if you don’t want them.
Drinking tap water may increase your water bill (very slightly!), but it keeps your money local. Your community can fund water improvement projects and other water quality initiatives with the help of this money.