The tap and bottled water discussion bubbled up again with a report called “Take Back the Tap.”

Among the report’s conclusions are: 

• “64 percent of bottled water comes from municipal tap water sources – meaning that Americans are often unknowingly paying for water that would otherwise be free or nearly free.
• Bottled water remains significantly more expensive than tap water and gasoline.
• Bottled water advertising targets people of color, women, mothers, children and lower-income groups.”

While a previous DrinkTap blog entry illustrates how expensive some bottle water can be, typically a gallon of bottled water costs approximately $9.50, about 2,000 times the price of a gallon of tap water.

Additionally, there is an environmental impact to buying bottled water. Plain Talk About Drinking Water says, “On the environmental side, 1.5 million tons (1.36 million metric tons) of plastic are used each year to bottle water, and much of that ends up in landfills. Along with the energy used to produce and recycle the plastic, energy is used to transport the product to stores around the world. While the International Bottled Water Association says that bottlers are protective of water resources, some manufacturers may be pumping up to 500 gallons per hour (1,900 liters) from valuable aquifers and other water sources.”

Bottled water certainly has a valuable place as a beverage, such as during a water emergency. But because your tap water most likely meets all federal, state or provincial drinking water standards, there's no need to buy bottled water outside of an emergency.

Visit DrinkTap’s Bottled Water page for more information.