Economical, Ecological and Effective Drinking Water Filtration Solutions

BOTTLED WATER, SOLUTION OR POLLUTION?

THE PRICE OF CONVENIENCE!

We struggle with the 24/7 stress of modern life. We work long hours, not just to bring home a paycheck, but to get ahead in life. In our daily struggle for our dream, the last thing we want to do is to add another item to the never ending list of things we have to plan for. We live in a grab & run packaged world. In terms of our health, fast food & packaged food are often high in calories & fat, often contain high amounts of salt, sugar and chemicals with low nutritional value. In terms of initial cost, convenience packaging often doubles or triples the retail price of a of product. If we examine one segment of the convenience market, bottled water, the numbers are staggering.

BOTTLED WATER, SOLUTION OR POLLUTION?

According to a 2001 study by the world wild life fund survey, global bottled water consumption reached 89 billion liters annually. In the u.s. alone annual consumption approximated 13 billion liters. The splash website evidenced that Western Europe consumed nearly 50% of the world’s bottle water, primarily due to concerns over pollution levels created by industry & agriculture.

It was reported that most people chose bottled water over their local tap water based on taste, with the underlying assumption that with improved taste comes improved quality.

The public seems unaware that there are relatively few regulations on the bottled water industry, on what bottled water can contain. Multiple studies show that numerous bottled water brands contain harmful substances. The Natural Resources Defense Council conducted a 4 year study consisting of 103 brands with over 1,000 bottles tested. One third of the brands contained contaminants such as arsenic & carcinogenic compounds, while one third exceeded state, or industry standards.

A study by Ohio State University found that 39 out of 57 samples did have “purer” water than tap water, but 15 of the samples contained significantly higher levels of bacteria. The scientists stated that “claims of purity can be misleading.”

From a purely financial standpoint the price of buying a bottle of water of unknown purity is an expensive convenience when compared to filling a bottle with known quality filtered water. The choice is simple. Give up a habit of perceived convenience & the related cost and take the time to fill a bottle or two with known quality filtered water, at a fraction of the cost of bottled water.

The price & quality of bottled water are all over the map. If we use an example of a convenience store bottle of water vs. filtered tap water the cost difference is significant. At a cost of $1.00 for a 12oz. Bottle of water & under 10 cents a gallon for filtered water, the equivalent cost of a gallon of bottled water is $10.66. Bottled water costs 106 times the cost of filtered water.

If an individual consumed the suggested daily amount of water, eight 8oz glasses, approximately ½ gal of water at a cost of 10 cents a gallon, the cost would be 5 cents per day. The annual cost is only $18.25. With the cost of a 12oz bottle of water at $1.00, the daily cost would be $5.33. The annual cost, $1945.45.

For arguments sake, let’s cut the consumption in half, a 4 glass equivalent per day. Annual cost difference, $9.12 for filtered water versus $972.72 for bottled water.

If only one bottle of water is purchased each day, Think in terms of water consumed for coffee, tea, cooking, even a chlorine free shower to treat your skin.

The point is that if we apply financial common sense, the “convenience” of bottled water is at best an expensive alternative. When we measure the carbon footprint created by bottled water the price increases dramatically.

THE CARBON FOOTPRINT

There is more to the cost of bottled water than the purchase price. There is the measurable cost of petroleum, manufacturing, transport.

As of 2001, 1.5 million tons of petroleum based plastic bottles were produced annually. The majority of which were not recycled & ended up in a land fill. In the U.S. alone 2 million plastic bottles are discarded every 5 minutes.

What is the real cost of bottled water? The cost of bottled water when measured in terms of energy to produce, transport, refrigerate & dispose of a plastic bottle of water is estimated to be the equivalent of taking a 1 liter bottle & filling it ¼ full with oil. It is estimated that it takes approximately 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water.

What is the real cost of bottled water? According to Waste Mgmt World, the Pacific Institute, approximately 25.5 billion plastic bottles are sold each year in the U.S. Excluding transportation, more than 17 million barrels of oil were used in plastic bottle production. Enough oil to fuel more than one million cars for a year. Bottling water produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.

What is the real cost of bottled water? There is another consideration when measuring the cost of bottled water. There is the question of who will control our sources of fresh water and what price they will charge for precious water. The corporate world goes where there is the aroma of profit to be made and corporate has its sights on water.