Water is a free natural resource flowing through our taps at home, but millions of people choose to drink bottled water. Decades ago no one had even heard of drinking water from a bottle. These days there’s so many varieties of different kinds of bottled water it could make your head spin. So why psychologically do we feel the need to drink bottled water? Is filtered water just as good? What is the best option?
Bottled water is convenient. You go to the grocery store and grab a nice plastic bottle of water instead of putting your head under a water fountain for five minutes. Of course, you could just as easily fill up a cup at your sink. However, if you’re in a hurry and stop in a store, grabbing that bottled water is healthier than choosing the soda.
Many consumers think bottled water comes from a magical spring filled with unicorns. The truth is that a lot of bottled water actually comes from a local municipal water supply. This is exactly where your tap water comes from. Artesian well water comes from aquifers that are usually pure. This doesn’t mean this type of water is any cleaner or better than tap water. Mineral water come from an underground source and contains 250 parts per million total dissolved liquids. Spring water is also from an underground source, but one that has to flow naturally to the surface. Well water is taken from an aquifer. All of these can be bottled and are regulated by the FDA, but this does not mean they are any healthier or tastier than tap water.
People often fear weird things they think might be in tap water, or even the smell and color of that tap water. They may claim bottled water is simply better. One way many people fix this fear without stocking up on hundreds of bottles of water is getting a water filter to treat your whole house. An entire home water treatment system ensures water tastes good and is free of anything scary. The best part about a water filter is you can still stick a bottle under the spout for the convenience of sticking it in your purse or lunchbox just like a bottle of pretty much the same thing you’d be purchasing at the store.
Stories about tap water containing pollutants that cause illness simply scare people. They sometimes think filtered water won’t get everything out. The odds are that your water is 100% safe and probably even contains fluoride to clean your teeth, but there’s always that tiny chance something is lurking in the pipes. That worry seems to be stripped when we grab a bottle of water. We put our trust in the bottling company that they took out any and all pollutants and made that water taste amazing. Let’s face it, some tap water tastes much different than other tap water. You can always ensure whatever brand you’re buying tastes the same as when you bought it before and you aren’t worried about sickness.