What’s Healthier: Bottled Water, Filtered Water or Tap Water?
Every cell, organ, and tissue in your body needs water. It helps your body regulate your temperature and keeps all your bodily systems functioning. Since H2O is such a key component in health, it’s smart to be concerned about the water you drink. If you want to know if tap water, bottled water, or filtered water is healthier, read on to find the answer!
Bottled Water vs Tap Water
Walk into any grocery store in the United States and you’ll see a wide selection of bottled water. Every brand makes different claims about the purity and benefits of its water. Are these claims true? Studies of bottled water have found that most of these claims are false or overstated.
A study that compared the mineral content of bottled water vs tap water found that both have similar levels of valuable minerals. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/11318912/?i=2&from=/19890742/related) The researchers concluded that you can get important nutrients like calcium, magnesium, and sodium from either tap water or bottled water. The bottled water you purchase from the store may even be tap water. Many bottled water companies fill their bottles with unpurified tap water.
Drinking bottled water has risks that tap water doesn’t.
Storing water in plastic bottles can cause it to be contaminated by plasticizers, endocrine disruptors (EDs) and microplastics. Plasticizers are chemicals that are added to plastic to improve its flexibility. They can have wide-ranging health impacts from increasing your risk of developing asthma to causing behavioral issues. The endocrine disruptors that leech into bottled water may increase your risk of breast cancer or prostate cancer. Microplastics are small shards of plastic that build up in your body. The long-term health effects of consuming microplastics aren’t yet known. Health professionals are pushing for research into this area since there are signs that microplastics cause brain damage in marine life.
Tap Water vs Filtered Water
When you drink tap water, you don’t have to worry about plasticizers and endocrine disruptors from plastic. There may be other contaminants hiding in your tap water.
Even though the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the quality of public water, tap water can still contain harmful contaminants. Bacteria, algae, fungus, parasites, heavy metals and chemical pollutants can all find their way into local water supplies. Lead contamination is a shockingly common problem throughout the US due to our aging infrastructure. Another common contaminate is chlorine and other disinfectants that municipalities use in their water treatment centers.
The best way to know if your home’s tap water is safe to drink is to have it tested. Tri-Florida Water Treatment offers FREE in-home water testing for residents throughout Lakeland, Florida. If you aren’t located in our service area, you can purchase a home testing kit to test your water quality yourself or find a water testing service provider near you.
Drinking bottled water may not protect you from these contaminates since many companies bottle tap water.
The healthiest H2O is filtered water. It is the only water that you can know is free of impurities and contaminants. Water filters are designed to remove the impurities and harmful contaminants that may be hiding in your tap water. Filtered water often tastes even better than bottled water or tap water because of its purity.
Under-the-sink and whole house water filters are the best solutions to ensure that the water you drink is safe and healthy. A whole house water filter purifies all the water you use for cooking, cleaning, and drinking. If you want to learn more about the benefits of water purification, contact Tri-Florida Water Treatment!