Reducing the use of PET Water Bottles
(Student Activity #8, Appendix D)
In order to decrease the problem of PET bottle disposal, a reduction would be beneficial. The water bottle industry has created an idea that the water in their bottles is better than the water from the tap. This is called manufactured demand. While there are some places where this is true, in most places in the United States, the tap water is both safe and tasty. The National Resources Defense Council, (NRDC), conducted a four year study of bottled water and U.S. tap water. They found that the EPA regularly tests and reports testing of tap water, whereas the bottled water industry is only rarely tested by the FDA with much lower standards for contaminants. 1 4 The EPA, in fact, has no regulations in respect to the temperature of stored bottled water. So, a group of scientists at the University of Texas conducted a study of tap water and bottled water stored at room temperature. They found that the bacteria count increased dramatically when stored at room temperature, (23 degrees C), after 8 hours of time, increasing up to 48 hours, in bottled water, after one drink from the bottle. There was no change in tap water under similar conditions. 1 5 The NRDC also found bacterial contaminants in their four year limited testing of bottled water. In addition, they found that a significant number of bottled water companies are getting their water straight from the tap, not natural springs or glaciers. 1 3
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