Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?

"Just because water comes from a bottle doesn't mean it's any cleaner or safer than what comes from the tap" according to one of the authors of a recent report on the safety of bottled water. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) tested 1,000 samples of 103 types of bottled water purchased in California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Texas and the District of Columbia. It found

almost one-fourth of the bottled water brands tested were contaminated at levels violating strict enforceable state (California) limits.

almost one- fifth of the bottled water brands tested exceeded unenforceable sanitary guidelines for microbiological purity.

in all, one-third of the waters tested exceeded a state enforceable standard for bacterial or chemical contamination, a voluntary purity guideline, or both.

The NRDC admits the test results must be viewed as incomplete. Only about half of the drinking water contaminants regulated by FDA and EPA were tested due to cost constraints. Also, there are more than 700 brands of bottled water, each selling annually thousands or even millions of bottles in the U.S., yet NRDC tested only one to three lots of 103 brands.

Among their other findings, NRDC noted that government bottled water regulations and programs have serious deficiencies, bottled water marketing can be misleading and the long-term solution to drinking water problems is to fix tap water -- not to switch to bottled water.

Copies of the full report, entitled Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype? can be found at NRDC's web site at: http://www.nrdc.org.

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), whose members manufacture 85% of the bottled water sold in the U.S., issued a press release in response to NRDC's report. It said it was surprised that NRDC is trying to scare consumers with its report on bottled water, when the NRDC's own testing shows that bottled water is safe. IBWA also points out that for the past 37 years there have been no confirmed reports in the U.S. of illness or disease linked to bottled water. The bottled water industry has its own "right-to-know" system, in which consumers can check the IBWA web site http://www.bottledwater.org or call 800-WATER-11 to find out if their favorite brand is covered by the association's Model Code. Virtually all IBWA members provide complete testing information on contaminants to consumers on request.

For more information on bottled water, there's a new Cornell fact sheet on this topic you can order from the Cornell Resource Center. This 4-page fact sheet, "Drinking Water Alternatives: Bottled Water," discusses sources and types of bottled water, treatment, regulations, certification and consumer issues. There's a table which provides definitions for the various types of bottled waters such as mineral water, artesian water, spring water and purified water.

Copies of the fact sheet (329FS11) are available for $2.00. Call (607) 255-2080 for details.

Ref: Natural Resources Defense Council. Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?, March 1999.
International Bottled Water Association news release, 3/30/99.

Written By
Christina Stark, M.S., R.D.
Nutrition Specialist
Cornell Cooperative Extension
March/April 1999