Probably the best water you are going to find is in a natural spring. Now you can find one locally with the Find A Spring search site. The community on here lists the location, temperature, Ph, and if the spring is private or public. I never knew there was a spring on Staten Island with a Ph of 7.6! And its free to the public.

New York City tap water maintains a high prestige amongst its drinkers. Who hasn’t boasted to a visiting tourist about how good our water is. Well here is some information on what is actually in it.

And yes, the water is flouridated.

It also contains chlorine, orthophosphate, and sodium hydroxide (aka LYE).

Orthophosphate is used as a corrosion inhibitor for the inside of pipes to prevent the leaching of lead into the water. Yikes. I find this unsettling. From the EPA government site:

At very high levels, orthophosphate could cause bone decalcification and increased parathyroid gland activity (due its regulation of the calcium-phosphorus balance in the human body). If you have medical concerns related to additional phosphorus in drinking water, including severe kidney disease or severe calcium regulation dysfunction, consult your physician.

Chlorine in water has been hailed as a savior to many a parasite infested water drinker – and who wouldn’t mind a little chlorine instead of giardia or cryptosporidium. No thank you. But there is a darker side to chlorine – triahalomethanes. Chlorine introduced into the water supply reacts with other naturally-occurring elements to form toxins called trihalomethanes (THMs), which eventually make their way into our bodies. THMs have been linked to a wide range of human health maladies ranging from asthma and eczema to bladder cancer and heart disease.

A simple free remedy to combat this is good old-fashioned patience. Chlorine and related compounds will make their way out of tap water if the container is simply left uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

For current information on the bacteria and parasites in our water click on this link: Cryptosporidium and Giardia Background Information and Monitoring Program

8.8 billion bottled waters were sold in 2007 and discarded or recycled.

From USAToday:

Plastic water bottles produced for U.S. consumption take 1.5 million barrels of oil per year, according to a 2007 resolution passed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. That much energy could power 250,000 homes or fuel 100,000 cars for a year, according to the resolution.

In roughly the last 10 years, the amount of polyethylene terephthalate plastic bottles being recycled increased from about 775 million pounds in 1995 to about 1,170 million in 2005, according to the Container Recycling Institute.

But during the same time period, the amount of PET bottles going into landfills skyrocketed from 1,175 million to 3,900 million pounds.

Cornell University professor and environmentalist Doug James said the irony of bottled water is that it’s marketed as clean and healthy when its production contributes to unnecessary environmental degradation. “Fiji water, for example,” he said. “A one-liter bottle is taken out of the aquifer of this little island, and shipped all the way across the world, producing like half a pound of greenhouse gases so you can have this one-liter bottle of water.”

Why are there no deposits on bottled water? We have deposits on 2-liter bottles and they are plastic bottles. Bottling companies have huge lobby groups railing against deposits laws. This is obvious as they don’t want to be involved in cleaning up their mess after they have made their profits.

According to wikipedia:

Studies show that beverage container legislation has reduced total roadside litter by between 30% and 64% in the states with bottle bills.

Studies also show that the recycling rate for beverage containers is vastly increased with a bottle bill. The US beverage container recycling rate was 39.4% in 2001. States with bottle bills recycle approximately 78% while states lacking bottle bill legislation only recycle approximately 23%.

This is from CNN Money:

Los Angeles-based Fiji Water runs magazine ads for its bottled water with the headline “The Label Says Fiji Because It’s Not Bottled in Cleveland.”

Cleveland officials retaliate by running tests revealing that Fiji bottled water contains 6.3 micrograms of arsenic per liter, while the city’s tap water has none.

Fiji counters by saying its own tests found less than 2 micrograms per liter.

What scares me is that there is any arsenic in the water. Arsenic, known is the poison of kings, is responsible for organ failure and skin and bladder cancer. I thought Fiji’s motto was about being fresh and pure? And man are they on a serious green-washing campaign. Will there ever be truth in advertising? Don’t answer that, just boycott Fiji Water.

About Arsenic from Wikipedia:

Arsenic contamination of groundwater has led to a massive epidemic of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries. It is estimated that approximately 57 million people are drinking groundwater with arsenic concentrations elevated above the World Health Organization’s standard of 10 parts per billion. The arsenic in the groundwater is of natural origin, and is released from the sediment into the groundwater due to the anoxic conditions of the subsurface. This groundwater began to be used after western NGOs instigated a massive tube well drinking-water program in the late twentieth century. This program was designed to prevent drinking of bacterially contaminated surface waters, but failed to test for arsenic in the groundwater. Many other countries and districts in South East Asia, such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Tibet, China, are thought to have geological environments similarly conducive to generation of high-arsenic groundwaters. Arsenicosis was reported in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand in 1987, and the dissolved arsenic in the Chao Phraya River is suspected of containing high levels of naturally occurring arsenic, but has not been a public health problem due to the use of bottled water.
The northern United States, including parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas are known to have significant concentrations of arsenic in ground water. Increased levels of skin cancer has been associated with arsenic exposure in Wisconsin, even at levels below the 10 part per billion drinking water standard.
Epidemiological evidence from Chile shows a dose dependent connection between chronic arsenic exposure and various forms of cancer, particularly when other risk factors, such as cigarette smoking, are present. These effects have been demonstrated to persist below 50 parts per billion. Continue reading Avoid Fiji Water – unless you like Arsenic!