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Songshi QuanParting the Hype of Bottled Water
June 13th 2008 02:14
This is the first in a series of “On Request” articles, whereby we will explore the pros and cons of bottled water. As an opening caveat, I’ll state that I will be basing this article on the premise that you are in Australia. Should you be travelling to another country, then to gauge the pros and cons you will need to examine the water quality of the local drinking water supply before making any conclusions.
1. It comes chilled fresh from the refrigerator of your local store. That is surely a thumbs up, after all, nobody likes luke warm water to drink.
2. Free of chlorine or Fluoride which can affect the taste
3. Bottled water is suppose to adhere to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) code, the primary standard being 2.6.2 “Non-alcoholic beverages & brewed soft drinks”. Standrad 1.6 – Microbiological and processing requirements is also relevant as is Food safety regulations, standard 3.1. Really Long Link
4. There are two main types of bottled water – Spring or Sparkling. By law in Australia, spring water has to come from approved natural spring sources only. The vast majority of bottled water in Australia is spring water.
5. Consistent taste, as apparently consumers like the clean, crisp taste of bottled water, at least according to the Australasian Bottled Water Institute (ABWI) Really Long Link
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics report published in 2003, (so I would expect this to be higher now), 8% of all people in New South Wales relied on bottled water as their main source of drinking water. Really Long Link )
Given the current population of New South Wales, as stated by Ausstats above in December 2001 was 6,642,900, then that would mean that over half a million people consumed bottled water as their MAIN source of drinking water in New South Wales and that was 5 years ago.
1. According to Catherine Munro of The Age (Feb 26, 2006 – “Bottled Water – The New Eco-Disaster), in 2004-2005, around 550 Million litres of bottled water were consumed by Australians and unfortunately for the environment, 65% of the plastic drink bottles avoided recycling and ended up in landfill.
2. In addition to that, packaging bottled water worldwide requires 2.7 million tonnes of plastic each year and the manufacturing of these bottles used up 1.5 million barrels of crude oil in the US alone.
3. Bottled water costs around 1000 times the cost of local drinking water. At $2.50 per 750ml bottle, it is way more expensive the fuel prices, yet all we ever hear about is those blasted hikes in fuel prices. Let’s face it, water is more of a necessary commodity then oil, yet we happily fork out a premium of 1000 times what we need to be paying to consume our supposedly sweeter tasting water. Yummy!
4. According to The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Water Quality and Treatment in Australia, (Drinking Water Facts - www.waterquality.crc.org.au) the most commonly used methods of purifying our local drinking water includes coagulation and flocculation to remove sediments from the water, followed by filtration more commonly done with membrane filtration over the older sand filtration to remove solid particles etc. Lastly, the water is chemically treated through oxidation with chemicals such as chlorine or ozone or irradiation with ultra-violet (UV) radiation. The systems used in Australia may also add fluoride to the water and that is an entirely different debate. But, it would be safe to say that Australian drinking water is among the safest in the world, certainly safe enough that reliance on bottled water for health and safety is not required.
5. Environmentally, in the United States alone, the manufacturing of bottled water in one year is the equivalent of an additional 100,000 cars on the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere. And considering most of it is for aesthetic taste purposes rather then health and safety, it should be cause for concern at the very least. (Jared Blumenfeld & Susan Leal, The Real Cost of Bottled Water, San Francisco Chronicle, 18/2/07)
Since man starting walking upright on the planet, we have been consuming and re-cycling the same gross amount of water available on the planet. We’re not creating new water. Drinking, waste, rain, rivers, oceans, ice, regardless of it’s current form, it is still the same water that has been here for millennia. You can collect it in water tanks as it falls from the sky, or you can pay to have it piped to your house, or you can pay exorbitantly to have it supplied to you in a cute little bottle pre-chilled. It’s your choice, but next time you buy a bottle of water from the service station when you fill up your car with that expensive fuel, think about the hypocrisy of your words as you whinge about skyrocketing fuel prices.
Grr..Woof
Ok, so, let’s look at the Pros of bottled water…
1. It comes chilled fresh from the refrigerator of your local store. That is surely a thumbs up, after all, nobody likes luke warm water to drink.
2. Free of chlorine or Fluoride which can affect the taste
3. Bottled water is suppose to adhere to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) code, the primary standard being 2.6.2 “Non-alcoholic beverages & brewed soft drinks”. Standrad 1.6 – Microbiological and processing requirements is also relevant as is Food safety regulations, standard 3.1. Really Long Link
4. There are two main types of bottled water – Spring or Sparkling. By law in Australia, spring water has to come from approved natural spring sources only. The vast majority of bottled water in Australia is spring water.
5. Consistent taste, as apparently consumers like the clean, crisp taste of bottled water, at least according to the Australasian Bottled Water Institute (ABWI) Really Long Link
Interesting facts about bottled water consumption in Australia
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics report published in 2003, (so I would expect this to be higher now), 8% of all people in New South Wales relied on bottled water as their main source of drinking water. Really Long Link )
Given the current population of New South Wales, as stated by Ausstats above in December 2001 was 6,642,900, then that would mean that over half a million people consumed bottled water as their MAIN source of drinking water in New South Wales and that was 5 years ago.
Ok, so let’s look at the Con’s of bottled water…
1. According to Catherine Munro of The Age (Feb 26, 2006 – “Bottled Water – The New Eco-Disaster), in 2004-2005, around 550 Million litres of bottled water were consumed by Australians and unfortunately for the environment, 65% of the plastic drink bottles avoided recycling and ended up in landfill.
2. In addition to that, packaging bottled water worldwide requires 2.7 million tonnes of plastic each year and the manufacturing of these bottles used up 1.5 million barrels of crude oil in the US alone.
3. Bottled water costs around 1000 times the cost of local drinking water. At $2.50 per 750ml bottle, it is way more expensive the fuel prices, yet all we ever hear about is those blasted hikes in fuel prices. Let’s face it, water is more of a necessary commodity then oil, yet we happily fork out a premium of 1000 times what we need to be paying to consume our supposedly sweeter tasting water. Yummy!
4. According to The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Water Quality and Treatment in Australia, (Drinking Water Facts - www.waterquality.crc.org.au) the most commonly used methods of purifying our local drinking water includes coagulation and flocculation to remove sediments from the water, followed by filtration more commonly done with membrane filtration over the older sand filtration to remove solid particles etc. Lastly, the water is chemically treated through oxidation with chemicals such as chlorine or ozone or irradiation with ultra-violet (UV) radiation. The systems used in Australia may also add fluoride to the water and that is an entirely different debate. But, it would be safe to say that Australian drinking water is among the safest in the world, certainly safe enough that reliance on bottled water for health and safety is not required.
5. Environmentally, in the United States alone, the manufacturing of bottled water in one year is the equivalent of an additional 100,000 cars on the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere. And considering most of it is for aesthetic taste purposes rather then health and safety, it should be cause for concern at the very least. (Jared Blumenfeld & Susan Leal, The Real Cost of Bottled Water, San Francisco Chronicle, 18/2/07)
Another interesting tidbit…
Since man starting walking upright on the planet, we have been consuming and re-cycling the same gross amount of water available on the planet. We’re not creating new water. Drinking, waste, rain, rivers, oceans, ice, regardless of it’s current form, it is still the same water that has been here for millennia. You can collect it in water tanks as it falls from the sky, or you can pay to have it piped to your house, or you can pay exorbitantly to have it supplied to you in a cute little bottle pre-chilled. It’s your choice, but next time you buy a bottle of water from the service station when you fill up your car with that expensive fuel, think about the hypocrisy of your words as you whinge about skyrocketing fuel prices.
Grr..Woof
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