H2O Researchers: Drink Tap over Bottled

New Reports Say Bottled Water Should Get Stricter Labeling

(CBS/AP)  Consumers know less about the water they pay dearly for in bottles than what they can drink almost for free from the tap because the two are regulated differently, congressional investigators and nonprofit researchers say in new reports.

Both the Government Accountability Office and the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, recommend in reports released Wednesday that bottled water be labeled with the same level of information municipal water providers must disclose.

The researchers urged Americans to make bottled water "a distant second choice" to filtered tap water because there isn't enough information about bottled water. The working group recommends purifying tap water with a commercial filter, however.

Both reports were released at a congressional subcommittee Wednesday morning.

Jane Houlihan of the Environmental Working Group says consumers drinking a bottle of Dasani water don't even know where it comes from, reports CBS Radio News' Bob Fuss.

"On this label you'll see that the product is pure and it's crisp and it has a fresh taste, but no where on this label will you find the source of that water," Houlihan said.

The GAO told the committee that the safety and consumer protection are "less stringent" for bottled water than they are for tap water, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace.

Sarah Walton never gives her young son bottled water and stopped drinking it herself before she got pregnant last year.

"I think the biggest danger is just not knowing what's in it," she said.

Dozens of other moms told CBS News via Twitter they agree.

At today's hearing, the Government Accountability Office said bottled water should be regulated as stringently as tap water.

Currently tap water must be tested in certified labs - not the case with bottled water; and tap is checked for maximum levels of DEH, a potentially dangerous chemical - not bottled, Wallace reports.

Bottled water - an industry worth about $16 billion in sales last year - has been suffering lately as colleges, communities and some governments take measures to limit or ban its consumption. As employers, they are motivated by cost savings and environmental concern because the bottles often are not recycled.

Bottled water sales were growing by double-digit percentages for years and were helping buoy the U.S. beverage industry overall. But they were flat last year, according to trade publication Beverage Digest.

Beverage Digest editor John Sicher said some consumers are turning on the tap during the recession simply because it's cheaper. Many restaurants and businesses are no longer buying bottled water - choosing to filter their own instead.

From 1997 to 2007, the amount of bottled water consumed per person in the U.S. more than doubled, from 13.4 gallons to 29.3 gallons, the GAO report said - to an average of 200 bottles for every man woman and child in this country.

The issue before a subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee was less about waste and water quality concerns and more about the mechanics of regulating bottled water.

As a food product, bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and required to show nutrition information and ingredients on its labels. Municipal water is under the control of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The two agencies have similar standards for water quality, but the FDA has less authority to enforce them, the GAO said, and the environmental agency requires much more testing.

Subcommittee chairman Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., said the subcommittee was requesting information Wednesday from a dozen bottled water companies on their water sources, treatment methods and two years' results of contaminant testing. It was not immediately clear which companies were being contacted.

"Consumers may not realize that many regulations that apply to municipalities responsible for tap water do not apply to companies that produce bottled water," he said in statements opening the hearing.

The GAO noted the FDA has yet to set standards for DEHP, one of several chemicals known as phthalates that are found in many household products, while the EPA limits the presence of phthalates in tap water.

In a survey of officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the GAO found they think consumers are misinformed about bottled water.

"Many replied that consumers often believe that bottled water is safer or healthier than tap water," according to the GAO report.

The Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group said in its report that consumers do not get enough information to determine which water is best for them.

Both groups said some bottled water brands include the same information required of tap water providers on either labels or company Web sites.

The GAO called for more research but said the FDA should start by requiring that bottled water labels tell consumers where to find out more.

Community water systems must distribute annual reports about their water's source, contaminants and possible health concerns.

Consumers should know where all their water comes from, how it is treated and what is found in it, said Richard Wiles, senior vice president for policy and communications for the Environmental Working Group.

"If the municipal tap water systems can tell their customers this information, you would think that bottled water companies that charge 1,000 times more for this water could also let consumers know the same thing," he told The Associated Press.

The bottled water industry's trade group, the International Bottled Water Association, planned to testify Wednesday that the product, - subject to the same regulation as other soft drinks, teas, juices and other beverages - is safe. Additional standards apply for bottled water products labeled as "purified water" or "spring water," among other labels, because they must prove a connection to those sources, according to planned testimony from Joseph Doss, president and chief executive of the International Bottled Water Association.

Doss said consumers can learn about bottled water by contacting the company, reading its Web site and visiting sites run by state governments.

State safeguards for bottled water often exceed the federal, though they are less stringent than for tap water, the GAO wrote.

The trade group declined to comment on the reports before they are released.

[waterwatcher]

While we appreciate your wanting to provide information concerning health issues, we are very disappointed that you put this story on the air without doing any further research on the topic. This is the way false information gets spread.
First, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is the organization that, several years ago, found pharmaceuticals and other chemicals in tap water that were not, and are still not, being reported to the public. Our yearly water quality reports only give a small indication of the chemicals that are actually in our tap water.
Secondly, the EWG recommends using a commercial filter for the tap water in our homes. Why should we bear this cost when we are paying our water suppliers to give us clean water? Keeping the filter cartridges changed at regular intervals can cost more that buying bottled spring water and many people cannot afford this expense. Yes, I mentioned spring water as we know that does not come from a municipal source and therefore does not contain the disinfection by products or other chemicals found in tap water.Spring water can be delivered to your home in large bottles which the delivery company recycles.
Third, any good reporter should ask the question, ?Why do we think bottled water is safer than tap water?? There are several answers. One was mentioned above in that tap water contains various levels of dangerous pharmaceuticals that are not reported. Others are that fluoride has been proven to be beneficial only to children whose teeth are developing. It can be harmful to the reproductive organs of women in their childbearing years. Then there is the issue of disinfection by-products. Scientists are finding that those of chlorine are not nearly as harmful as once thought and those of the currently recommended disinfectant, chloramine, (as well as the chemical chloramine itself) are many times more harmful to the human body. When chloramine was added to the water in Washington, D.C., the lead level rose to thousands of times higher than the EPA?s maximum allowable limit and was not reported to the public. Now parents are suing because their children are showing evidence of brain damage caused by this lead poisoning. It?s no wonder that we don?t trust them.
If the FDA was in charge of the chemicals put in our drinking water, the chemicals would have to be proven safe for human consumption first. The USEPA has not done these studies on chloramine and hundreds of people across the nation are being sickened by exposure to it.
So, before the government goes after the companies that produce bottled water, they should go after the USEPA and municipal agencies to make sure they report all of the chemicals, and their levels, that are in our tap water.
Citizens Concerned About Chloramine (CCAC), suggests you do some deeper research on the subject starting with their website, www.chloramine.org.

[RenegadeMoms]

So it seems that Nestle was disturbed by Renegade Moms bashing bottled water and left us a comment filled with corporate smut about how great bottle water is and how its really not much of an environmental impact etc..

We told Nestle to shove it up their chocolate rear.

Renegade Moms were mom contributers to request by CBS for mom opinions on bottled water. Nestle didn't appreciate our contribution. That makes us happy renegades!

http://renegademomconfessions.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/yay-cbs-news/

[HGOODGUY]

IS "DESIGNER WATER" REALLY ANTHING LESS THAN A "PACIFIER" FOR THOSE WHO ARE BRAINWASHED??

[smoknmirrors]

"Sarah Walton never gives her young son bottled water and stopped drinking it herself before she got pregnant last year."
---
See, it didn't help.

[tmittelstaed]

In Portland OR the water is drawn from Bull Run and it is so pure just coming from there that minimal filtration is done. No flouridation is done either (I can attest to this personally, a mouth full of fillings, thank you city jerks!) But, still the bottled water sells like crazy here. The reason why is that the yuppies think it's a status symbol to be sporting bottled water.

[erasmus111]

by barbaram99 July 8, 2009 8:01 PM PDT
The bottle can be washed and water drawn from the tap. Ye want ice water to go. Ye fill yer bottle haft full and put in in the icebox over night,take it out and fill it up from the tap yer good to go.


Barbara, I have heard that you shouldn't refill the bottles too many times because the plastic breaks down and the stuff from the plastic goes into your water. Also, I used to partially freeze my water bottles, but someone told me that when you do that, there is a toxic chemical that is released into the water.

[rf35]

Colorado had great tap water, but there are places I would not trust it. Another issue is people with well water. That can be undrinkable, even with various treatment systems. My dad lives in a house directly serviced by well water. I would never drink the tap water there...it stinks os sulfur. In the location I'm at now, the local tap water is considered nonpotable. The base provides bottled water for everyone here.

[debinok1]

Tap water or bottled water either one is gross. Get some kits from your local testing center and send in samples of each. Dont label them city or tap or bottled. Label them well water. They will do a true test on them. The report you get back will make you sick just reading it. And to think this is the same water they use to make every soft drink, beer, energy drink, etc...

[tmittelstaed]

Trust me, soft drink water is WAY more pure than bottled water. The reason is that if the soft drink bottlers left all the minerals and crap in the water they use to mix with their syrup, over time they would clog up their machines with mineral deposits.

[barbaram99]

The bottle can be washed and water drawn from the tap. Ye want ice water to go. Ye fill yer bottle haft full and put in in the icebox over night,take it out and fill it up from the tap yer good to go.

[lizannrand]

The water where I live is awful. We do drink Poland Springs bottled water. You can't win either way. Nothing is good for you.

[billpl-2009]

my two teenagers are always "on the go"

they'll go thru nearly 3 cases of water a month

if they didn't have water they'd be drinking Powerade or Pepsi or Mountain Dew

thank you Arrowhead

Government Accountability Office and the Environmental Working Group
... KMA

[armyoftwelve]

R/O H2O is pretty good unless you live in the north or eastern USA.
We lived on R/O when I was on deployment in the Marines.

Where I live now we have lots of rain and snow and lots of good clean water...way better than California or Texas.

[erasmus111]

by mswolfestock July 8, 2009 12:27 PM PDT
Those billions of plastic bottles are the real problem.


Yes they are! We need to go back to glass.

[YCantWeAllGetAlong]

I can't believe that people are so LAZY and buy bottled water. You spend $4, ONCE, and buy a reusable water bottle. It comes with a lid, a flip top and you reuse it. What about this is so difficult? There are rare occasions where you would benefit from having bottled water, um, like during a disaster but for everyday use it's hysterical watching all the lemmings lining up in the stores with their carts full. However, these are the same people who probably use plastic bags at the store too.

[FineBrew]

In most states there are people who will give away treated and upgraded alkaline water. I quit paying for bottled water and drink this. Healthy and free--good both ways.

[Slrman]

Most bottled water comes from the same city water supply as your tap water. Having a fancy name and a nice label doesn't make it any better. This has been proven many times over in double blind tests. If you are paying for bottled water, you are one of those "suckers born every minute". Bottled water is almost as big a scam as religion.

[lizannrand]

Religion is not a scam. The true religion is the Bible.

[rktsci3127]

Probably a lot of it comes from China. But then our Government doesn't want us to know that!

[John_Merritt]

I stopped drinking 'plastic' water awhile back and now use two different types of Brita filters systems using tap. Let me tell you, it tastes great, even better than the bottled water.

[tmittelstaed]

Then something is wrong with your filter. Pure water has no taste whatsoever.

[blog_fever2]

If your bottled water doesn't say "Purified by Reverse Osmosis" you may as well be drinking from the tap. Becareful what you are consuming.

[mswolfestock]

Those billions of plastic bottles are the real problem.