Problem with drinking Bottled water

Good advice by Dr Harold Gunatillake

We need water to survive. When space scientists want to find out whether there are living organisms in planets the first thing they want to find out is water availability.

We need water for transporting nutrients in the body from cell to cell. It is a wonderful God-given solvent, sometimes we refer to as ‘Adam’s Ale’. We need water for our temperature regulation, muscles activities, joint lubrications maintain electrolyte balance, control of pH, and proper functions of organs like liver, brain and kidneys and getting rid of waste material among others.

In the first world countries and a few developing countries tap water is regulated for safe drinking. I was surprised that in Harare I was told that you could drink tap water, which I did with no hesitation.

In most developing countries people boil and filter the water for drinking. This water is safe for drinking as most of the bacteria, fungi and other microbes get killed in the process of boiling.

In Sri Lanka, most people don’t drink water straight from the tap, though it’s chlorinated and may be suitable for drinking. It is definitely suitable for brushing your teeth.

An Australian cricket captain once advised his visiting team to avoid opening their mouth whilst showering in their 5 star hotels.

So, the alternative is to carry your own bottle of water wherever you go.
Sri Lankans are blessed that they could drink king coconut water available anywhere, more so over on the roadside just about anywhere costing about Rs 35 each.

If you stay in a hotel in Sri Lanka, you could purchase a few king coconuts on the way-side and get the hotel staff to cut, pour the water into a jug and keep in your fridge in the room. Be safe than feel sorrow.

Water in Plastic Bottles

Could you trust the purity of the water in plastic bottles? Most boutiques selling these bottles are exposed to light and the sun and how safe are they? However, there is a demand for bottled water around the globe. If the tap water is not drinkable in any developing country, bottled water is the solution. Americans spend nearly $12 billion on bottled water each year, more than 10 percent of the global total.

The longer the water remains in the plastic bottle chemicals like antimony seep into the water from the container. Antimony can cause dizziness, nausea and even depression. You could imagine the toxic poisoning that occurs in bottled water when imported from other countries.

Never keep a plastic bottle of water on your car seat exposed to the direct sunlight for long hours. Plastic bottles release potentially harmful chemical Bisphenol A from polycarbonate plastic bottles. It is the temperature that affects the release of BPA and not whether the container is new or old.

In most situations the bottled water is nothing but simply tap water that a company has filtered and packaged. There are no regulations to check on the bottling of water, and in Sri Lanka it may be done in the backyards of homes.

There are more regulations for tap water than bottled water industry in most countries, like Europe and the United States.

Plastic is made from either petroleum or from natural gases as in the United States. Extraction of these fossil fuels releases a toxic stew of air pollutants, greenhouse gases and known carcinogens, including methane, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, carbon monoxide and so on. So is water safe to be drunk from these plastic bottles?
The disposed plastic bottles are invariably thrown everywhere without organised recycling. In Australia all plastic containers and other disposables are recycled for further use and few gets thrown about in picnic sites and other places. They say that if these bottles are just left exposed it can take 450 years to decompose and perish and further releasing contaminants into the soil, water and air. Genevieve Johnson, education director and marine coordinator of the Voyage of the Odyssey stated that on a five year program launched in 2000 by the oceanographic research non-profit Ocean Alliance to gather the first-ever data on synthetic contamination in the world’s oceans. Johnson further said that the plastic bottles end up polluting the world’s oceans and waterways, killing a wide variety of animals, from fish and birds to marine mammals like dolphins and whales, all which inadvertently consume out plastic waste.

Is there a difference in taste between tap water and bottled water? There is no real difference, but the tastes are shaped by advertising rather than by what’s good for us.

In conclusion, tap water is cheaper than bottled water, better for the environment. When you are in Sri Lanka go for king coconut water, never goes out of stock.

Good advice by Dr Harold
Ref: Nathaniel Berman’s article on the same subject in EcoWatch.