We take water for granted. We waste it. And when we consume bottled water, we pay far too much for it. This is not just the financial cost but the environmental cost. Plastic bottles are a waste problem adding to landfill overload when not recycled. Water bottling plants have impacts on local groundwater aquifers and streams. According to a study by Valley Water, bottles used to package water take over 1,000 years to biodegrade and if incinerated, they produce toxic fumes. It is estimated that over 80% of all single-use water bottles used in the U.S. simply become litter that we do not use. Plastic used for water bottles is not biodegradable and is therefore not good for our environment.
According to National Geographic, 5 to 14 million tons of plastic flow into the oceans every year. These plastics break down into microplastics. The picture below shows a water flea, 3 millimeters long, with microplastics, shown in green, that it has ingested. 
While these fleas were exposed to higher amounts of plastic than in nature, biomagnification tells us that if a tiny water flea can ingest plastic, then by the time you reach the point in the food chain where the fish we consumer are, they will most likely have much higher concentrations of microplastics. Microplastics have been found in 114 aquatic species. While the effects of microplastics on humans are unknown, personally the thought of drinking and eating plastic is unappetizing to say the least and safe is better than sorry.
We will never be able to completely get rid of bottled water. For one the convenience is too tempting. When we are on the go and forget our reusable water bottle, bottled water is the next best choice for drinks. Also, certain areas like Flint, Michigan, have unsafe water and natural disasters can contaminate water sources. However, they are largely unnecessary for everyday use. The Mayo Clinic states that, aside from private well water, which is unregulated and should be tested yearly, all tap water is regulated by the EPA to similar standards as bottled water.
This is also a large waste of money as well as resources. According to the Huffpost, in 2017, Americans spent $18.5 billion on bottled water. In Green Bay, it costs $2.59 for 100 cubic feet of tap water. That is the equivalent of approximately 748 gallons of water. A bottle of Fiji water containing 1.5 L, or .39 gal of water, will cost you $2.99 at CVS. That is a 2215% increase. Nestle made a deal with Michigan for $.000347 per gallon for groundwater, which they in turn sell for $2.67 per gallon. That is an even worse markup of 7000%. On the other side, a reusable water bottle will cost you around $3. These last for years and can be used over and over again. Many places either have or are getting water refill stations. With the combination of the environmental impacts, the health impacts, and the impacts to our wallets, it’s time to switch to tap water.
Did you ever wonder where bottled water came from? Well, it was first seen in the 1760s in Boston. A place called Jackson’s Spa had taken mineral water, bottled it and sold it for therapeutic reasons. After this, other companies began bottling water.
But there are many problems with bottled water in areas having to do with the environment, economics and public health. Annually the production of bottles for bottled water use just about 17.6 million barrels of oil in the United States and worldwide about 2.7 million tons of plastic are used for making bottled water. Then you have to transport the bottles, chill them and collect the bottles once emptied. The energy all of that takes is equivalent to the energy it takes to fill each bottle with a quarter of oil. Most plastic bottles in the United States don’t end up recycled, they end up in the garbage. Actually, 86 percent of them do. A lot of plastic bottles release toxic byproducts like chlorine gas in the air from being incinerated.
Economically bottled water is much more expensive than tap. Bottled water cost about $0.89 to $8.26 per gallon whereas, tap water costs about $0.002 per gallon. Actually, much of bottled water comes from tap water so people are paying so much more for something they think is so pure. Usually bottled water is more than a single dollar for just eight ounces, which actually amounts to over ten dollars for a gallon.
From a public health standpoint, the government requires much more thorough and frequent testing on tap or drinking water than they do with bottled water. Also, only thirty to forty percent of bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They also don’t even have a single full-time employee to oversee the bottled water. For water bottle testing they only test for bacteria in the water once per week, and they only test four empty bottles once every couple of months for bacteria. For physical or chemical contamination, they only are required to check a sample of the water once a year. The FDA doesn’t test for phthalates in bottled water either, which is a chemical used in the production of plastic bottles and has been proven to have a potential cancer agent in it. There are many chemicals in plastic that can go into the water from being bottled too.
To help with the problems in bottled water you can use a reusable and eco friendly water bottle instead, pick up plastic and trash whenever you come upon it, and spread the word to family and friends to stop using plastic bottled water.
Sources
Loveday Wright, 07/01/2014, https://www.dw.com/en/life-cycle-of-a-plastic-water-bottle/g-17266360
Valley Water, https://www.valleywater.org/tapvbottle/
http://www.gbwater.org/customers/rates/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fiji-water-girl-evils-of-bottled-water_n_5c36bbf9e4b045f67688bb82
https://www.hangoverprices.com/fiji-water-prices/https://www.hangoverprices.com/fiji-water-prices/
https://www.riverkeeper.org/campaigns/tapwater/bottled-water/
Photo by: Martin Ogonowski and Christoph Schur, Department of Environmental Science and Analyical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University, used with permission of Martin Ogonowski.
Post by Sierra Miller, Savannah LaCount and Dolly Jackson