Is Bottled Water Really Purified?

Bottled water is supposed to be pure, an image carefully promoted by the bottled water industry, but a two-year study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory finds them filled with chemical contaminants, making them not much different from ordinary tap water.

The EWG tested one random batch each of 10 top-selling bottled water brands. The lab results detected 38 different pollutants. These included chlorine-related compounds (byproducts of disinfection); ordinary urban wastewater pollutants like caffeine and pharmaceuticals (acetaminophen); heavy metals and minerals like arsenic and radioactive isotopes; nitrate and ammonia (residues of fertilizer); and several other industrial chemicals.

Each brand contained an average of eight contaminants. Within the same brand of bottled water, there was also wide variation in water quality.

In chemical terms, therefore, the bottled water on store shelves could not be distinguished from tap water.

Two brands — Sam’s Choice from Wal-Mart and Acadia from Giant Food supermarkets — attracted attention because they had higher levels of contamination than the eight other brands. Further testing found high levels of chlorine byproducts.

Both contained more than 35 parts per billion (ppb) of trihalomethanes. The legal standard under California law is a maximum of 10 ppb, while the EPA’s federal limit is 80 ppb. The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), the trade group for the bottled water industry, said its voluntary guideline is 10 ppb.

Sam’s Choice was also found to contain another chlorine byproduct, bromodichloromethane, at concentrations five times higher than California’s limit. The chemical is a known cancer-causing agent. It probably came from the chemical reaction of chlorine in disinfectant with naturally occurring pollutants in tap water.

Federal law requires that tap water be tested every year, and the results should be provided in an easily accessible manner to consumers.

Unlike federal law, the bottled water industry does not disclose the results of tests for contaminants. It only says that bottled water follows the same quality standards as tap water, and that the organization’s members follow their voluntary guidelines.

Under federal law, however, bottled water taken from a municipal water supply should disclose this fact on its label — unless the bottler has subjected the water to further processing steps that purifies the water. By not disclosing this, the bottler leads consumers to assume it has purified the water.

The EWG tests show that some bottled water products do not really measure up even to the industry’s own guidelines.

The IBWA disputed the report, saying it “is based on the faulty premise that if any substance is present in a bottled water product, even if it does not exceed the established regulatory limit or no standard has been set, then it's a health concern."

The EWG says it is not saying bottled water is more polluted than tap water — but it is not any better.

Actually, the premise is that bottled water sold without disclosure has been further purified. The results indicate that purification has not been done. Consumers are drinking virtually tap water but paying 1,900 times more for it. There’s the rub.

Safety Tip:

* Use a carbon filter to clean your tap water. The EWG scientists say carbon filters are effective in cleansing water, but cost much less.