Bottled Water, How Much Do We Know About It?

Many of you swear by it. No expensive contraptions. Door-to-door delivery. In fact, one out of 15 families drinks bottled water because they like the taste and believe it’s safer than their local water supply.
Unfortunately, some bottled water may not be any purer than your own tap water. Remember the Perrier scare several years ago? This popular brand was recalled because it contained too much benzene, a chemical used in making many dyes and drugs. Other brands have been recalled because they smelled bad or contained unhealthy levels of organic compounds.
Let’s face it, all water comes from the same place — above or below the ground — so it all will be contaminated in some way. How it’s filtered and purified is what makes the difference. You may be surprised to learn that a quarter of the bottled water sold is actually tap water that’s been re-filtered to make it taste better.
One reason bottled water tastes better is that most bottling companies disinfect their water with ozone, which leaves no aftertaste or smell. Many local water systems use chlorine to help purify the water. The sodium-free water I’m drinking right now is called "Purified Water, Calcium Carbonate" and it is purified by reverse osmosis. Just to make it possible for you to visualize a crisp, cold water product, they have named it "ARCTIC BLUE." In addition to the name, they have place the words "Purified Water" under the trade name and added "with minerals added for a pure, fresh taste." Visit their web sit: http://www.clearsource.com./
Well, that really sold Julie on it. She bought two cases of the 50.7 ounce bottles for me at 38 cents a bottle at "BIG LOTS." That came to $9.92 with tax for 24 bottles.
She certainly got her exercise by loading the two cases into the shopping cart and then unloading the shopping cart into her car; at home she broke down the cases into four-bottles each in two canvas bags which she hauled into the kitchen and unloaded. She then returned to the car and finally she stored them in our basement. Julie wants you to know that they were heavy and she is "strong." She doesn’t spend any money on local health clubs and now she’s calculating the amount of weight-lifting she did in this total exercise. No "door-to-door" delivery here, just one strong woman.
Tips For Water Safety:
If you choose to drink bottled water, follow these steps to make sure it’s as pure and safe as possible:
Choose products from companies that belong to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA). The IBWA supports the FDA’s bottled water standards.
Call the bottler (most have 800 numbers) and get a list of the contaminants it tests for. Ask about chlorine and fluoride. Most companies don’t use chlorine to disinfect the water because it can combine with other materials to create cancer-causing agents
Check the source. You don’t want water that comes from highly industrialized areas. A recent visit to Wal-Mart revealed bottled water that was from the Buffalo Water Department. Could that mean that the source is Lake Erie? In 1957, I worked at Bethlehem Steel and was part of the crew dumping the waste products, that amounted to slag, into Lake Erie. I can tell you that acres and acres of land were added to the property replacing what had once been the shores of that great lake.
Buy your water in glass containers. Plastic packaging may contaminate the water—no one is sure.
Disinfect your water cooler about once a month. Run a half gallon of white vinegar through it, then rinse with four or five gallons of tap water.
Just for the fun of it, join the Water of the Month Club and sample exotic waters from around the world. For example, try super-oxygenated Angel Fire Water or Fiji Natural Artesian Water. Find them on the Internet at: www.bottledwater.com