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Where does bottled water come from anyway?

Most people probably don’t think about where their bottled water comes from, but if they knew they might not feel so good about it.  The two main sources – municipal supplies and springs are both problematic.

About 40% of bottled water is simply filtered tap water. That begs the questions: why pay so much for it and why drag huge cases of it home from the store when the same thing is readily available from your faucet?  It is much cheaper and more convenient to drink your own tap water even if you filter it.

While buying tap water in bottles may strike you as costly and inefficient, buying spring water may make you feel downright inconsiderate.  Picture huge tanker trucks rumbling through small towns 24-7 to keep bottling plants fed with spring water.  How about local residents finding lower water levels in their lakes, streams, or wells due to this over-pumping?  There is also an impact to local ecosystems when huge quantities of water are removed entirely from a watershed.

In light of these unappealing choices, a third option, filling reusable bottles with tap water looks like the easy and cost-effective solution to the bottled water enigma.

If you want to learn more about the problems with bottled water and about how to choose a reusable bottle, visit our Resources.

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