There are a lot of myths and urban legends about tap and bottled water. Here are 10 facts you probably didn't know.
1. 93% of bottled water contains microplastics
2. More than ¼ of bottled water is just municipal tap water
3. It takes 3 liters of water to produce a 0.5L bottle of water
4. Recycling plastic takes 88% less energy than making plastic from raw materials
5. In 2020 the U.S only recycled 28percent of PET plastic – more than $1 billion worth of plastic – are wasted each year
6. U.S. households spend $16 billion per year on bottled water - that is more than the total cost of the 2018 Winter Olympics
7. Bottled water is more expensive than gas per gallon
8. America uses more than 17 million barrels of oil annually to produce water bottles
That's enough to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year (not including oil used for transportation).
9. There is no real scientific proof that bottled water is healthier than tap water
10. Bottled water is a packaged good, and is regulated by the FDA.
Manufacturers are not required to disclose water sources, treatment processes, nor to publish any contaminant reports.
Conclusion:
If this article convinced you, and you want to give up on water bottles, you might want to get an active carbon filter, such as TAPP 2. Our latest filter is efficient in removing Chlorine (often associated with poor taste and smell), Lead and other heavy metals, as well as over 80 other contaminants - all while letting the healthy mineral through.
Sources:
- https://orbmedia.org/stories/plus-plastic/
- https://www.nrdc.org/stories/truth-about-tap
- https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/10/28/241419373/how-much-water-actually-goes-into-making-a-bottle-of-water
- https://utahrecycles.org/get-the-facts/the-facts-plastic/
- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/28/a-million-a-minute-worlds-plastic-bottle-binge-as-dangerous-as-climate-change
- https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment/
- https://www.abc2news.com/business/consumer/americans-spend-16-billion-a-year-on-bottled-water
- http://pacinst.org/publication/bottled-water-and-energy-a-fact-sheet/
- http://www.bottledwater.org/education/bottled-water-storage
