Is Bottled Water Really Better than Tap Water?
Once upon a time, most Americans got their water only from the tap. Now, they’re often buying their water in a bottle. At work, after a workout, or just about any time, Americans are drinking bottled water in record numbers–a whopping 5 billion gallons in 2001, according to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), an industry trade group. That’s about the same amount of water that falls from the American Falls at Niagara Falls in two hours! Explosive growth in the industry for more than a decade has placed bottled water in nearly every supermarket, convenience store and vending machine from coast to coast, where dozens of brands compete for consumers’ dollars. In four years, industry experts anticipate that bottled water will be second only to soda pop as America’s beverage of choice. Water, of course, is essential to human health. Drinking enough water to replace whatever is lost through bodily functions is important. But surveys indicate that most of us might not be drink
