It’s probably fair to say that most people recognise the need to drink plenty of water in order to stay healthy, avoid dehydration and to function efficiently. The exact amount of water you need will differ depending upon your body mass, size, climatic conditions and the level of physical activity in which you are engaged. However, most medical authorities currently suggest that you should be drinking between six and eight large glasses of water every day.

Medical advice such as this has been used in advertising campaigns by bottled water suppliers as a means of marketing their product. The market for bottled water is actually a fairly new development – but it is extremely large. Between 1997 and 2005 sales of bottled water more than doubled. Currently, over 200 billion bottles of water are sold worldwide every year.

The result of this is an enormous number of empty plastic bottles being thrown out in the trash. A small proportion of these (less than 25% according to current estimates) are recycled. The large majority end up in landfill. According to Wikipedia, if those empty bottles were lined up nose to tail, the distance covered would be equivalent to going to the moon and back 56 times!

Both the manufacture of the bottles and the transportation of the finished product generates large amounts of carbon emissions. It’s an amazing fact that the manufacture of the bottles uses three times as much water as they contain when they are shipped.

Simply put, bottled water is an environmental disaster. Of course, you may be more concerned with your own health than that of the planet’s – which may be perfectly understandable in certain cases. The trouble with this line of thought is that there is absolutely no evidence that bottled water is in any way better for your health than common or garden tap water.

In North America and Europe it’s perfectly safe to drink tap water – it is subject to rigorous testing to ensure quality. Bottled water on the other hand, has been found to contain chemicals such as uranium and oestrogen. Some chemicals which are often found in bottled water “leech” from the plastic (PET) bottles. It’s also true that many bottled mineral waters contain, along with the other minerals, salt – which is not good for people with high blood pressure.

The only feasible reason for using bottled water would be if you prefer the taste. However, blind taste tests have shown that the large majority of consumers are unable to tell the difference between bottled water and tap water. Of course, if your home is situated in an area supplied with hard water, or if you really can’t stand the taste of the water from the tap (possibly due to chlorine which is sometimes added to the water in order to kill off bacteria) you may like to consider some other alternatives.

You could consider using a home filtration system. This would be better for your health, better for the environment and it would save you a lot of money in comparison with the use of bottled water. You can get whole house filtration systems, filters which are mounted directly onto taps, under sink filters and even very cheap and simple jug filters. Any one of these solutions will filter out contaminants and pollutants, give you better tasting water and counter the effects of water hardness in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner.

Save money and get fresh tasting water with a Brita water filter – or why not try a Brita kettle for great tasting hot drinks?