Bottled H2O - includes related information

Better Nutrition, August, 1997 by Diane M. Calabrase

Water (and hope) buoyed 16th- and 17th-century century voyagers. But beer most often quenched their thirst. Contamination of water stores posed a constant threat to those making the earliest Atlantic crossings, so they carried beer instead. Bottled water would have made the trip much easier.

Alas, bottled water has been available for just over 100 years. But long before bottled water became a commodity, homespun initiative sent those in search of clean water to springs. Resourceful collectors of water used containers of their own.

Just 98 years ago (1899), Michael J. Owens invented the glass bottling machine. The device accelerated the bottling of everything from beer to milk. (The price of blown and manipulated glass bottles was often prohibitive.) Today, glass, plastic, and aluminum containers all hold water under the collective header "bottled water."

The numbers speak for themselves

Convenience is something contemporary consumers demand, and bottled water certainly fits the bill. Keep it readily cool in the refrigerator, and it can be taken anywhere - from the shore to the gym. Choose a flavored variety to add zest to the drinking experience.

Between 1982 and 1992, bottled-water consumption in the United States increased 200 percent. In the same interval, beer and wine lost market share (eight percent each). Coffee, tea, and milk lost ground, too (down about three percent each).

It seems more and more consumers heed the advice of the ancient Greek lyric poet, Pindar circa 513 to 438 B.C.):"Water is best."

In 1995, Americans drank about 3 billion gallons of bottled water. That's 11 gallons per person. (About one out of 11 of the gallons were seltzer or club sodas.) Wholesale dollars spent on the product totaled $3.3 billion.

But there's more evidence of popularity than large numbers. I searched the member profiles of subscribers to a large on-line computer server by the words bottled water," and found 247 subscribers who mentioned bottled water when they described themselves.

Advertisers dubbed bottled water "the beverage of the decade" in the 1980s. The same could be said of this product in the 1990s. Contributing to the growth is the lack of confidence many consumers have in their tap water.

More than convenience

We should acknowledge the fact that the United States has one of the best water supplies in the world. For starters, we take for granted that tap water is free of organisms that cause dysentery (a disease usually caused by infection, and characterized by severe diarrhea) and typhoid fever (a communicable disease caused by a bacterium). We could not have been so cavalier 100 years ago.

Consumers' attitudes about tap water are one thing. Measured health concerns are another, concerns which have helped spur the recent increase in bottled-water consumption.

Bottled water is a good choice for consumers wary of the contents of tap water. It's reassuring to know that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires all bottlers of domestic water to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act and its amendments (SDWA, 1974, Environmental Protection Agency). (Compliance by bottlers of non-domestic waters is voluntary.)

In contrast to the strict requirements for bottled-water suppliers, the FDA often grants waivers to municipalities that supply bulk (tap) water.

A bottle by any other name...

All bottles of water are not the same, of course. And, at last count, there were more than 600 brands (domestic and imported) on the market in the United States.

Fortunately, the bottled-water truth-in-labeling standards that the FDA promotes are a great help in sorting out differences among brands. In line with this, in 1993, the FDA recommended uniform terminology. For example, if a label includes the word "natural," the water must have come from a well or a spring with no change made during bottling.

Lexicon of bottled water

In fact, all the words used on a label should convey precise meanings, according to government recommendations.

"Spring" water is collected from water that flows unassisted to the surface. "Sparkling' water is carbonated (carbon dioxide added). "Mineral" water contains a minimum of 500 parts per million (ppm) of total dissolved salts. And "processed" refers to water - usually tap water -- that has been altered (most often by filtration); about 30 percent of all bottled water is processed.

The combination of terms tells the story. For example, select a bottle of "sparkling mineral water." If "natural" is not on the label, chances are good that both the carbonation and the minerals are add-ins. Now, try this: "natural mineral water." Correct! The minerals in the water should be those that were brought to the surface in solution with the water, and not add-ins.

Benefits of bottled water

What isn't in a bottle of water can be as important as what is. Many consumers, particularly those on low-salt diets, look for "sodium-free" water.

Although water (except, of course, that from the sea) doesn't taste salty, it sometimes is. Tap water in some communities is high in sodium. Run-off from salted highways contaminates water supplies to a degree. But the real culprits are the road-salt storage facilities, which leak salt to reservoirs.