Water Wars: Bottled or Tap?

(Page 2 of 2)

February/March 2008
By the Union of Concerned Scientists 
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If, however, you don’t like the taste of your tap water or are unsure of its quality, you can buy a filter pitcher or install an inexpensive faucet filter to remove trace chemicals and bacteria. If you will be away from home, fill a reusable bottle from your tap and refill it along the way; travel bottles that have built-in filters also are available. (Bottles made of stainless steel or plastics with the numbers 2, 4 or 5 are best; check the bottom of the bottle. — Mother) Finally, limit your bottled water purchases for those times when you’re traveling in countries where water quality is questionable.

RELATED CONTENT

Food and Water Watch, a nonprofit organization that recently launched the “Take Back the Tap” campaign to get consumers to ditch bottled water, points out that the federal share of funding for water systems has declined from 78 percent in 1973 to 3 percent today. Victoria Kaplan, senior organizer with the organization, urges consumers to “support public policies that promote safe, affordable, public tap water for future generations.” Visit Food & Water Watch and make the pledge to take back the tap, promising to choose tap water over bottled whenever possible and to support policies that promote clean public tap water for everybody.

Links

EPA — Ground Water and Drinking Water 

Earth Policy Institute — Bottled Water: Pouring Resources Down the Drain 

CommonDreams.org 

Reprinted with permission from the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists .

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Comments

  • Daniel Timm 1/23/2009 10:51:32 AM

    That comment sounds like spam!

  • Daniel 7/11/2008 9:24:10 AM

    Finding a solution that the adequartely deals with the threat to our water supplies and thus to us is not easy. I lived in Mexicao for four years, having just recently returned to spend some time with family and grandkids. While there my son purchased a website selling gravity water filters. I knew nothing about them but as a sresearched this method of filtering water I began to see it as an affordable, long-lasting, low-maintenance way for MMexican families to reduce their dependence on bottled water. I used one for about three and a half years and found the result excellant. I gave three of them to local orphanages through the Ajijic Rotary Club. The response by the sister running the orphanages was heart-warming. They had been buying bottled water and having to wither pick it up or have it delivered was expensive. The same is true for most Mexican families. Getting them into the country is a challenge however and has put a damper on the project till importing issues or in equivolent country sources are found.
    Has anyone else had experience with these filters? Contact me for more info on the filters and the Water for Orphanages project in Ajijic.

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