{"id":254,"date":"2012-08-07T09:37:19","date_gmt":"2012-08-07T09:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=254"},"modified":"2015-03-08T03:46:16","modified_gmt":"2015-03-08T03:46:16","slug":"254","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/254\/","title":{"rendered":"As clear as… water?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Admit it: We think we know everything (or at least most) there is to know about water.\u00a0We know that the human body is anywhere from 55% to 78% water \u2013 depending on the body size, of course.\u00a0We know the body needs from one to seven liters of water per day to avoid dehydration \u2013 which is why we are told time and again to drink up to seven or eight glasses of water daily. We know that approximately 20% of the water intake (of every human being on a daily basis) comes from food, and the rest from actual drinking including impure water (e.g. caffeinated beverages). We know that water is excreted from the body in such forms as urination, defecation, exhalation (of water vapour in breath), and, yes, sweating.\u00a0And we know humans need water that aren\u2019t (very) impure \u2013 thus the avoidance of such impurities as metal salts and oxides (including copper, iron, calcium and lead), and\/or harmful bacteria, among others.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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But do we really know everything we need to?<\/p>\n

If so, why do we buy bottled water?<\/p>\n

In recent times, bottled water has become an ever-present part of Filipino life. Everywhere \u2013 from the water bottling stations to sari-sari<\/em> stores to turo-turo<\/em> restaurants \u2013 we see such products as \u201cpure water\u201d Summit, Evian, or this-and-that water from some spring; and \u201crecharged\u201d flavored drinks Pocari Sweat, Perrier, and their ilk.<\/p>\n

And this is not a Philippine-focused happening.<\/p>\n

From 1997 to 2007, sales of bottled water reached $11.5 billion. The year after, in 2008, it ballooned to approximately $100 billion globally.<\/p>\n

According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG, ewg.org), \u201cin a lot of cases, bottled water IS tap water.\u201d In fact, in a report, the group found that some distributors (in the US, e.g. Wal-Mart and Sam\u2019s Club) were basically bottling and selling tap water, and some major brands (e.g. Dasani and Aquafina), simply distill or purify tap water for their product.<\/p>\n

Thus, in most cases, you really don\u2019t need to buy bottled water.<\/p>\n

Tap water is almost always safe to drink.<\/p>\n

For Janet Larsen, director of research and one of the incorporators of the Earth Policy Institute, \u201cbottled water is an incredibly wasteful product. It is usually packaged in single-serving plastic bottles made with fossil fuels.\u201d In fact, \u201cjust manufacturing the 29 billion plastic bottles used for water in the US (alone) each year requires the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of crude oil,\u201d she was quoted as saying by Linda Bolido in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI). This makes bottled water obviously not ecologically viable.<\/p>\n

WHAT CLEANLINESS?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The argument that is bound to follow the promotion of non-support of bottling water is cleanliness \u2013 thus safety of water consumed. According to Craig Mains, an engineering scientist at the National Environmental Services Center at West Virginia University, and as quoted by Gina Shaw in Rethinking Bottles water, published by webmd.com, \u201cif your bottle doesn\u2019t say \u2018spring water\u2019 on it, chances are the water came from a municipal water source. In most cases, you really don\u2019t need to buy bottled water. Municipal tap water is almost always safe to drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

IN GOOD TASTE<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Mains, \u201cit is often a question of palatability \u2013 a lot of municipal water has some residual chlorine taste.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately, if this is the only concern, there are ways to improve the taste (and quality) of tap water.<\/p>\n