Bottled water has been around for several decades now, but recently, with Poland Spring’s announcement that it is looking to tap another spring in Shapleigh, Maine, there seems to be a resurgence of people suggesting we look for alternatives to bottled water. Martinique has already commented on the frugal aspect, and Nina has asked the readers if it’s a healthy indulgence or a marketing ploy. Now, after the release of the film FLOW on the 12th, I figured it’s time to revisit the idea. FLOW stands for “For Love of Water,” and it discusses the control of potable water by major corporations.

The two largest sellers in the billion dollar industry that is bottled water are Coke’s Dasani brand and Pepsi’s Aquafina, the latter of which has been publicly recognized as nothing more than tap water. Poland Springs, under the parent company of Nestle, is the third. According to FLOW, there is less than one person in the FDA regulating the entire bottled water industry, meaning that it is not the exclusive job of any one person. Not only that, but there are fewer tests with less disclosure as to what health standards are being maintained. For 31 billion liters of bottled water, Americans paid 10.8 billion dollars, with about $100 billion being spent worldwide.

What about portability?

Fortunately, there are a number of alternatives to buying bottled water, especially if you need liquid to go. Unless you’re my dad, you don’t want to take glasses of water with you everywhere you go. Depending on which side you fall on with regards to BPA concerns, there are always Nalgene and Nalgene like products. I’m a big fan of my Thermos as it supports my tea addiction, and I recently purchased a Sigg to cover all those ther times. There are also proponents of Kleen Kanteen, and Martinique wrote about the convenience of the Platypus water bottle. Though they can seem somewhat pricy initially (my .6L Sigg was 19 dollars), using the tried and true cost per use equation, it’s already been cheaper than buying bottled water, especially when I’m filling it up at least three times a day, if not more.

Tap Water Can Taste Great

One company, Tap’d NY, has been selling bottled New York tap water, in part to raise awareness of the quality of tap water, as well as to serve as a reminder that your tax dollars have already paid to treat the water. On their website, they sell 24-count cases of water for 36 dollars. FLOW also has a brief segment where a restaurant offers patrons a selection of exotically named, expensive waters (one name being the French word for tap water) which are subsequently deemed to be better than tap water, at which point the video makes the obvious cut to the server filling the bottles with a garden hose.

And if it doesn’t….

While I like advocacy groups like Take Back The Tap, a group dedicated to reminding people about the water resource they already have, I have to say, sometimes, tap water can taste awful. My childhood home had copper piping and the copper leeched into the water, and it tasted awful. Enter personal water filters. I’ve been using a Brita for years, and I use the filters at least twice as long as the manufacturer suggests (remember, more filters for you means more money for them). With coupons and purchased in bulk, they wind up being relatively inexpensive. In comparative terms, one filter, which can last three to four months, is the about the cost of three bottles of water, even without coupons. Other companies offer similar products, but I’ve found Brita to be cheaper.

One More Time

While this is a huge simplification of a complicated issue, the important news bites to remember are that manufacturing and distributing bottled water takes a tremendous amount of resources, and can cost a fair amount. And corporations owning the clean water supply is clearly a big concern for many people. Though there are some advantages to buying bottled water (an emergency bottled water fund? Just be careful about storing water for long periods of time. Things can grow.), tap water is an excellent resource to rediscover. But of course, after Martinique and Nina’s posts, this is just the time for feeling like you’re already way ahead of the curve. As always, if you have any additional tips for water on the go, or any insight I missed (there is a fair bit that I didn’t have time to get into) please leave comments below.