Would getting an Arrowhead or Sparklett's account be better for the environment than small water bottles?

Question

Most bottles, when recycled, are broken down and thus impact the environment somewhat negatively. I hope those big bottles are sterilized and reused without being broken down - does anyone know?

Answer 1

In most places, you would do better to drink from the tap.  Municipal water requirements, at least in the USA, are actually quite stringent, whereas bottled water has almost no quality regulations and is sometimes just bottled from municipal water anyway.  To buy it in a bottle is just a waste of money and natural resources.

Usually, most of the contamination in faucet water comes from the pipes in the building.  The water may come out of the municipal plant clean as a whistle, but will pick up contaminants if your house pipes are rusty or corroded.  A water filtration system at the faucet can clean up nearly all of this and other chemical matter.  If the pipes in your house are in reasonably good condition, any contamination levels are likely to be negligible.

Big water bottles (like for a water cooler) are recycled continually until they become unusable, but getting rid of bottled water all together is a better solution.  Bottled water still has to be transported by truck rather than pipeline, emitting pollution and greenhouse gases the entire way.

ADD-ON: Just FYI, tarapotter, bottling water does nothing to remove contaminants.  Sometimes, SOMETIMES, bottled water is filtered before it is bottled, and it will usually say so on the bottle (the same goes for spring water and distilled water).  

However, if a bottle of water just says "bottled water" or "drinking water," most likely that is exactly what you are getting: water which has been put in a bottle for the purpose of drinking, nothing more.  It will probably be safe enough, but not more than your average municipal water and will cost several thousand (yes, thousand) times what the cost from the tap would be.

If you like to keep water onhand to stay hydrated, my recommendation is to get your own bottle and fill from the tap.  There are better and worse water bottles.  I have one from Eddie Bauer that is made from a plastic which will not breakdown chemically and discourages bacteria growth (two existing problems with the plastic bottles that you buy bottled water in).  The water quality will be identical.

Answer 2

A key question for water bottles would be, is the material in the bottle an estrogenic plastic. You would want to avoid that.

Most bottled water is distributed in plastic that becomes estrogenic when heated or exposed to sunlight.

Most city water is as safe as any bottled water, so one should ask seriously why one needs bottled water at all. Perhaps a stainless steel bottle is all one needs. (along with a glass container to take water from the tap?)

Answer 3

I agree with the other posters.  In addition, when you buy bottled water, the big company is depleting someone else's aquifer for profit.  So from a social justice viewpoint, you're better off drinking your own town's water.  If there are taste or odor issues, you can get a filter, or just leave a bottle uncapped in the fridge overnight to let the chlorine dissipate.

Answer 4

The bottles are all sterilized and used multiple times, sometimes hundreds of times before they are finally taken to the city recycling centre.  As for just getting rid of bottled water, the city, town, etc. charges you for your water as well for a profit.  The water from your tap is NOT free.  Also, most people don't realize the number of chemicals that are put into tap water to make it potable (safe for the public to drink), whereas bottled water REMOVES chemicals and contaminants.  The best thing if you want to drink pure water is to purchase the 5 gallon jugs of water from a local bottler (most city's have bottling companies) then refill your own bottle or canteen from that.  If you do need to purchase small bottles of water, such as I do when I am traveling (I travel a LOT), I always keep the empty with me until I find a local spot to drop my empty for recycling.  It is all about being responsible and not wasting resources.

Answer 5

I drink either out of the tap or filtered water from the refrigerator.  I don't think substituting big bottles for little makes all that much difference in the grand scheme of things.  You're still producing a product to hold something that flows out of your faucet.  And in the workplace, the 5 gallon bottles encourage the use of disposable paper cups.  Just grab a glass out of the cupboard and fill 'er up.  Best way to go.