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Due to chemical treatments of bottled water as well as many water-borne diseases in tap-water one gets confused which water to go for; Tap or Bottled water?
Both of them have their pros and cons and each of them are stated below!
Pros and Cons of Tap Water
Tap water is basically getting water from the tap on the kitchen sink and drinking it right away!
Pros of Tap Water
- Cheap: In Developed countries, Tap water is generally almost free.
- Purified in developed countries: Because of developed infrastructure, developed countries have great quality processing plants which make sure it’s clean.
- Highly Convenient: Getting Tap Water is quite convenient, all you have to do is go to the kitchen and turn the tap.
- No need to go to the store!
Other than that, Remember; you can get a water filter or purifier to purify tap water which makes it cheap,clean and convenient.
Cons of Tap Water
- Water-Treating Chemicals: Water recycled and treated for public use is often treated with chemicals such as Chlorine, Chloramine and Fluoride in high concentrations which have been found to be hazardous to human health.
- Residue Chemicals: Tap water brings many chemicals from the water supply. Although the waste-water treatment plants are helpful in clearing out most of the disease-causing organisms and make it safer in many ways, there are still chemicals like arsenic and other trace elements present in the water we drink.
- Faulty Water Delivery Systems: Even if the water is treated well and is clean, the systems used to deliver water to each house can leak or get contaminated and thereby contaminate the water as well.
Pros and Cons of Bottled Water
Bottled water is basically present in bottles that you see on the fridge inside the grocery store. Bottled water is found in many brands around the grocery store.
Pros of Bottled Water
- Portable: Bottled water is portable, and quite handy in travelling.
- Convenience: It’s quite convenient when you’re away from home.
- No sources of clean water: Bottled water is the best choice for you if you know that the tap water might be contaminated and there is no water filter or purifier present around you to filter it.
Cons of Bottled Water:
When taking it off the shelf, we assume the best that this is the most purified water. In many cases, that may not be true. You may not realize but some companies may just be bottling tap water without purifying it.
One of the major raw materials in water bottles is you guessed it; Water! This water is brought into the plants from surrounding water bodies such as lakes, rivers or sometimes oceans.
The volume of this water is in millions of gallons which is why it has devastating effects on the community which depends on those water bodies, not to mention the ecosystem depending upon it.
- Large Environmental Footprint; These bottled water manufacturing plants are located in remote areas and these bottles often have to be transported a thousand miles to reach their destinations leading to a high carbon footprint on the environment.
- Plastic water bottles; Plastic bottles commonly contain chemicals used to manufacture them which are damaging to human health as well as the environment. The plastic mostly used to make these bottles is plastic#1 composed of BPA which disturbs the hormone levels in the body and is linked to reproductive issues along with breast and uterine cancer.
When these bottles end up in the trash and exposed to wear and tear, sunlight, heat, or the digestive enzymes inside the stomachs of marine animals, they start breaking down. This is when they start releasing harmful chemicals.
- Use of Fossil Fuels; a lot of oil is used in manufacturing and transporting these plastic bottles from the factory to the fridge in the grocery store.
- People don’t recycle; with a lot of pressure from activists, these factories have started manufacturing recyclable plastic water bottles. The only issue is we don’t recycle them.
50 million plastic water bottles are used each year in the US, Out of every 5 of them only 1 is recycled. Hence, these bottles end up on beaches, oceans, landfills and sadly many tourist destinations.
- Inconvenience: Suppose you get up around 2 in the morning and you’re habitual of drinking bottled water, you’d have to drive to the grocery store to get it!
- Expensive; Bottled water is quite heavy on the pockets. If someone was to make bottled water their primary source of water intake, these costs could easily add up to a thousand dollars! Heck, even more if it’s the whole family.
Conclusion
I’d suggest going for Tap water, looking at the costs and dangerous effects of plastic bottles on the human health as well as the environment.
However, in many situations, the tap water may not be as clean as you want it to be as we discussed above. For such situations, using a water filter or purifier could be the best solution for you.
This would give you access to cheap, accessible, convenient and purified tap water. Get Reusable water bottles for your home, fill them up with this water and you’re good to go!
In certain cases, suppose you’re travelling or when tap water is not available or isn’t clean and there are no water purifiers around you, it may become necessary or even beneficial for you to get bottled water.
Just keep the bottle with you and remember to recycle it!