10 reasons to ditch the bottled water habit

If you're buying bottled water for your health, think again. Sure, fresh clean FIJI water SOUNDS nice in the ads -- but what're you really buying -- and really drinking? Here are 10 reasons to ditch the bottle and take back the tap:

1. Tap water's safer. As Food and Water Watch points out, 70% of bottled water produced and sold within states is exempt from FDA regulation, and a good 1/3 "of tested bottled water brands violated, in at least one sample, an enforceable standard or exceeded microbiological-purity guidelines." Tap water, on the other hand, falls under EPA's testing requirements, which're much more stringent.

2. Tap water's way cheaper. As an NY Times editorial points out, "almost all municipal water in America is so good that nobody needs to import a single bottle from Italy or France or the Fiji Islands. Meanwhile, if you choose to get your recommended eight glasses a day from bottled water, you could spend up to $1,400 annually. The same amount of tap water would cost about 49 cents."

3. Safer bottled water is -- tap water. Many bottled water companies just repackage tap water into plastic bottles, then sell 'em back to you at prices higher than gas. Aquifina, for ex, has finally been pressured into changing its labels to let consumers know Aquifina water comes from tap water. Why not just -- drink tap water? (via LAist)

4. Plastic bottles leach chemicals. Wonder why your plastic bottle of water has a lil warning telling you not to reuse it? The longer you have that bottle, the more likely it is to leach gross chemicals into your water.

5. Carbon-filtered tap water's safer and cheaper than bottled water. According to the Environmental Working Group, "carbon filtration of tap water will dramatically lower levels of toxic disinfection byproducts; it is also 10 to 20 times less expensive than bottled water, and does not produce the waste and pollution associated with the packaging and transport of bottled water." Here's a damn good guide to picking out the right filtration for your tap water.

6. Tap water tastes just as good. "Side-by-side taste tests between bottle water and treated municipal tap water have often revealed very few discernible difference in taste or quality," notes WiseGeek.

7. Pollution's not cool. It takes "1.5 million barrels of oil to make the water bottles Americans use each year," a NY Times editorial points out. "Add in the substantial amount of fuel used in transporting water, which is extremely heavy, and the impact on the environment is anything but refreshing." Plus, the recycling rate's only 23% nationwide.

8. Oil wars really aren't cool. Buying bottled water's basically buying plastic, which is made of oil. "When we buy a bottle of water, what we're often buying is the bottle itself, as much as the water," says Fast Company. "One of the main problems with bottled water production is the reliance on fossil fuels," notes WiseGeek. From the packaging to the transportation, bottled water relies on oil.

9. Good drinking water should be public and cheap. "The more the wealthy opt out of drinking tap water, the less political support there will be for investing in maintaining America’s public water supply," notes a NY Times editorial. "That would be a serious loss. Access to cheap, clean water is basic to the nation’s health."

10. You don't want to be a sucker to advertising. "When a whole industry grows up around supplying us with something we don't need--when a whole industry is built on the packaging and the presentation--it's worth asking how that happened, and what the impact is," argues Fast Company.

[top image from transguyjay; "Take Back the Tap" image from Food and Water Watch]

BlogHer Contributing Editor Siel also blogs at greenLAgirl.com.