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Bottled water is the world's fastest growing category in the global beverage industry, and according to research done by independent food and beverage research specialists, BMI, is worth more than R1.7 billion a year in SA alone, with an expected average annual growth of 25% for the next decade – indicating an increasingly health-conscious market.
(It is anticipated that during the 2010 World Cup we may see as much as 568 million litres of bottled water consumed!)
As consumers become more concerned about possible pollution and contamination in their drinking water, more and more people turn towards bottled water as a safe and healthy alternative for their whole families.
However, bottled water is far from a healthy or environmentally friendly alternative.
According to in-depth research conducted by the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDF), many kinds / brands of bottled water contain bacteria contamination and synthetic chemicals.
The NRDC's study included testing of more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of bottled water. While most of the tested waters were found to be of high quality, some brands were significantly contaminated.
About one-third of the waters tested contained significant levels of contamination including synthetic organic chemicals and bacteria.
There are no standards governing and regulating the bottled water industry in South Africa, which leaves the market vulnerable to unscrupulous operators to supply the public with sub-standard bottled water.
In addition to this, it has been proven by scientists that a chemical contained in plastic water bottles, Bisphenol A (BPA) – an endocrine disruptor – leaches out into the water.
The Natural Resources Defence Councils website refers to direct evidence of the harmful effects of endocrine disruptors, with children being especially vulnerable! These poisonous toxins have been linked to birth defects, heart disease, diabetes and cancer, as well as behavioural and reproductive problems.
(The leaching of harmful chemicals from the plastic into the water is exacerbated by heat so it is worse to allow a plastic bottle of water to lie in a hot car or room before consuming the contents.)
Another harmful chemical, which is drawn from PET bottles and is often found in bottled water, is a plasticizer known as a phthalate.
Recently researchers have identified an association between pregnant women's exposure to phthalates and adverse effects on genital development in their male children.
Factors that increase the level of phthalates released into bottled water are poor quality plastic used for bottles, water and plastic exposed to warm temperatures, non-neutral or aggressive water, and the length of time that the water is stored in the bottle.
A further concern over the consumption of bottled water is the amount of plastic used to manufacture these bottles – a WWF study estimates that 1,5-million tonnes of plastic is used worldwide to bottle 89-billion litres of water a year. These plastic bottles end up on landfill sites – creating mountains of needless waste.
Further to this, during the production and disposal process of plastic bottles, toxic chemicals are released into the environment. The Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security estimates that bottling water created 2,5-million tons of carbon dioxide in 2006 in the United States because of the manufacturing of plastic.
Finally, consider the transportation of all of these bottles of water to the various points of sale, a process that releases huge quantities of harmful green house gases into the atmosphere and further contributes to the global problem of climate change.
"Most bottled water is of a good quality, however blanket reassurances from the bottled water industry that bottled water is totally pure and safe are false," says Tony Marchesini, director of water purifying specialists, H2O South Africa.
"This margin of doubt, coupled with the other detrimental facts mentioned above tips the scales away from choosing bottled water. The safest and healthiest alternative is to purify your ordinary tap water through a good-quality filter before drinking it and avoid storing your drinking water in plastic containers wherever possible."
This solution is not only safe and convenient but up to 1000 times cheaper than drinking bottled water.
"The National Government has spent billions of Rands of tax-payers' money to provide infrastructure that pipes water directly into our homes. Why spend vast amounts of money bringing bottles water into your home, when one can simply purify the water that is already available to you for a fraction of the price?" asks Marchesini.
Do you drink bottled water? Share your thoughts in the box below.
