Being cautious about the water you drink is crucial. Apart from the foods you eat everyday, it is also important to know what comprises the water you drink and how it can affect your health. Two of the most popular types of drinking water nowadays are filtered water and bottled water. Basically, bottled water comes from different sources while filtered water is originally tap water which undergoes a process of filtration or removing chemicals and toxins from the water. While filtered water can also be bottled, they are still very different in some factors.
Convenience
Bottled water is apparently convenient since it is available almost everywhere. It is good for travelers and busy people. On the other hand, filtered water can be time consuming especially if you’re going to do the filtration yourself. You have to replace your filters and wait until you are sure all the chemicals and impurities are removed. Nonetheless, though bottled water is very convenient, it is still better to have your own filtration system and filter your own water if want to free yourself from questioning the regulation and testing of bottled companies.
Affordability
Bottled water is affordable. But if you are going to buy bottled water everyday, how much will it cost you? If you’re an enthusiast and often get thirsty, you will need to buy a lot of bottled water in a day to quench your thirst. On the one hand, if you have filtration system at home, you can bring as much water you want without having to buy bottled water in the gas station or in supermarket. It may cost you a lot if you buy a filtration system. However, you will only buy this once and you can have unlimited filtered water in the following days. If you will estimate the cost of using each type of water, you’ll find out that it is much more expensive to buy bottled water everyday in a year than buy a filtration system which you can use for a long span of time.
Safety
The safety of your drinking water is the most important thing you have to consider. Bottled water may seem really clean and safe because of its reputation in the water industry. Some people even think that bottled water is pure because most company advertisements say that their water comes from spring and other natural sources. Apparently, this is just a hype since you never know what those bottled waters really contain.
Sadly, bottled water may be clean but it can’t actually guarantee safety since plastic is made of chemicals. Also, some studies found that some bottled waters do not pass the most health limits for contaminants and chemicals. And since there is no specific requirement for bottled water companies to provide information on the product source, it remains questionable whether the bottled water you are drinking is safe or not.
While the safety of bottled water is still unquestionable, filtered water can be considered safe since you will find out yourself if all the chemicals and contaminants are removed through filtration. You may use pitcher filters to filter tap water naturally or use additional purification technologies to make sure your water is all clean and safe.
The safety of your drinking water is the most important thing you have to consider
Sustainability
Another reason why bottled water is not ideal to use is because of its environmental effects. Plastic takes a very long time to degrade and only a little percent of bottled waters can be recycled and the rest only fill landfills and add up to environmental wastes. Also, plastic bottles require barrels of oil which can be used to fuel cars instead. On the other hand, filtered water is more cost effective and environmental friendly since you won’t need plastic bottle or any packaging to consume it. After all, tap water is less harmful to the environment and even to your health once all the chemicals and contaminants are removed through filtration.
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