w water: earth.Water sure is valuable. It makes up about 65 percent of your body. Doctors and nutritionists recommend that you guzzle guz·zle v. guz·zled, guz·zling, guz·zles v.tr. 1. To drink greedily or habitually: guzzle beer. 2. eight 8-ounce glasses per day to prevent dehydration, a medical condition where the body uses more water than it takes in. So what's your water source? In recent years, more and more people are turning to the supermarket. Bottled water has boomed into a big business. According to the research firm Beverage Marketing Corporation, the industry sells more than $35 billion worth worldwide each year. Americans shelled out $7.7 billion for bottled [H.sub.2]O in 2002, buying almost 6 billion gallons. Is bottled water really better than tap water? "Not necessarily," says the Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a New York City-based, non-profit non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing. Founded in 1970, NRDC today has 1. (NRDC). In a four-year study, NRDC concluded that there is no guarantee that bottled water is safer or cleaner than tap water. NRDC states: "In fact, an estimated 25 percent or more of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle--sometimes further treated, sometimes not." Bottled water is actually considered a packaged food product the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. ) regulates it with a long list of guidelines. Tap water, however, follows a different set of health standards monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and (EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. ). The International Bottled Water Association This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. (BWA), an industry trade group, says, "By law, FDA standards for bottled water must be at least as stringent and protective of public health as standards set by the EPA for public water systems." If some bottled water is similar in quality to tap water, why bother? IBWA cites taste as one factor. "Chlorine is most often used to disinfect tap water and can leave an aftertaste aftertaste /af·ter·taste/ (-tast?) a taste continuing after the substance producing it has been removed. af·ter·taste n. . Some bottlers use ozonation, a form of supercharged oxygen and/or ultraviolet light as the final disinfecting agent, neither of which leaves an aftertaste." But in taste tests conducted in Cincinnati, Ohio, and New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. in 2001, testers ranked tap water just as highly as--or even better than--the bottled versions. However, water taste varies from one region to another. Convenience is another factor promoted by IBWA. And in cases of natural dis asters like floods or hurricanes--which may contaminate public drinking water sources--a storage supply comes in handy. It's undeniable: You can't live without water. Learn about water sources here: IBWA: www.bottledwater.org NRDC: www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asp [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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