“Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.” 

Pure bottled water is one of the biggest businesses in many developing countries. The populations of these countries which used to carry their drinking water (mostly drawn from the communal wells) or drink directly from the water taps in railway stations are brain washed to think only pure water in bottles are fit to drink. From Australia to Iceland, from Hawaii to San Francisco people are scared to drink water directly from any source. Bottled water carries a declaration that it is 100% pure and free from bacteria and other harmful substances, and is accepted by us as safe to drink. This is due to a public perception of purity driven by advertisements and packaging labels featuring pristine glaciers and crystal-clear mountain springs. In the USA, according to a four-year scientific study recently made public by NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) it was found bottled water is not necessarily cleaner or safer than most tap water.

Our body’s demand for water is called thirst. It is quenched by an intake of water.

Is pure bottled water needed? Why not some salts and minerals? Why remove the life saving minerals through osmosis? Many authorities, doing research in human health questions the habit of drinking pure water. They say leeching of minerals through osmosis is not needed and not natural. Is our body genetically designed to accept pure water? Is pure water good for our health? These are the questions many scientists ask now.

Even the people in developed countries cultivated their bias against water available from various sources in public places only a couple of decades ago.

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 contaminated: about one-third of the waters tested contained levels of contamination — including synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic — in at least one sample that exceeded allowable limits under either state or bottled water industry standards or guidelines.

Similar tests on bottled water have been executed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) that revealed a surprising array of chemical contaminants in every bottled water brand analysed, including toxic byproducts of chlorination in Walmart’s Sam’s Choice and Giant Supermarket’s Acadia brands, at levels no different than routinely found in tap water. Several Sam’s Choice samples purchased in California exceeded legal limits for bottled water contaminants in that state. Cancer-causing contaminants in bottled water purchased in 5 states (North Carolina, California, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland) and the District of Columbia substantially exceeded the voluntary standards established by the bottled water industry.

Sustained researches about communities drinking a special source of water such as the fabled Hunza water shows that the citizens of Hunza lived up to 150 years drinking this water. Various studies points towards water for the longevity and other traits found in Hunza.

It is not only the fabled Hunza but also the springs of Lourdes, the well of Mexico, the Nordeneau Caves in Germany and the Indian Nadana springs are found to be undergoing ionization process naturally during its passage through earth. These waters are found to be one of the greatest antioxidant full of hydrogen and negatively charged. So water with various minerals is proven to be beneficial to the human body.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the USA’s regulatory body that overseas their bottled water, but the FDA’s rules completely exempt waters that are packaged and sold within the same state, which account for between 60 and 70 percent of all bottled water sold in the United States (roughly one out of five states don’t regulate these waters either). The FDA also exempts carbonated water and seltzer, and fewer than half of the states require carbonated waters to meet their own bottled water standards. Here in Cayman there are no Government controls on bottled water. Even when bottled waters are covered by the FDA’s rules, they are subject to less rigorous testing and purity standards than those which apply to city tap water. Both the Cayman Islands Government Water Authority-Cayman and the privately owned Cayman Water have to meet World Health Organisation (WHO) standards for drinking water.

Arguments for and against pure bottled water will continue to rage as along as our body’s demand for fluid continues. Depending upon the results of the ongoing researches, opinions for and against bottled water will continue to flourish without any end.

For more info visit http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asp and www.ewg.org/reports/BottledWater/Bottled-Water-Quality-Investigation