Chris Grimaldi drinks about 360 ounces of water every week. However, he does not twist a faucet for water G
said Grimaldi, an Ohio University sophomore business major. It tastes better than tap water too.
According to an article published in the Mar. 27, 2006 issue of Brandweek, about half of Americans drink bottled water, and one in six drinks only bottled water. In fact, the best-selling bottled beverage at OU is Aquafina, with 281,739 bottles sold on the campus last year, said Rich Neumann, director of OU Dining Services.
But, Crystal Kynard, manager of the Athens Water Treatment Plant, said water treatment processes of tap water are clearer than the state-of-the-art purification systems of bottled water companies.The purification process
Tap water is regulated strictly by the Environmental Protection Agency, while bottled water falls under the guidelines of the Food and Drug Administration, which are not as strict as the EPA's rules, Kynard said. According to an article published in the January issue of Environmental Nutrition, the FDA has no requirement to check for E coli bacteria, which the EPA restricts in tap water.
Some people like to think that it's a fool-proof guarantee with bottled water Kynard said. That's a myth.
Nicole Bradley, senior manager of public relations for Pepsi-Cola North America, said the company is using EPA-approved municipal water and making it purer to produce Aquafina.
Our own purity standards are much stricter than even the EPA's standards for tap water
Bradley said.
She also said that the company uses purification systems called reverse osmosis and activated carbon.
Assistant professor of civil engineering Guy Riefler said reverse osmosis removes 95 to 99.9 percent of any contaminants in water, and activated carbon takes out many industrial pollutants. These processes also remove taste, color and odor from tap water.
These purification processes can make water more perishable as well. Researchers at University of Texas found that the number of bacterial colonies in opened bottled water was 40 times larger than that in chlorinated tap water after being left at room temperature for 48 hours.Stick to the basics
But Athens residents should not have to worry about strictly relying on bottled water for drinking.
I worry that people will be afraid of the taps G? and not drink enough water and end up with a health problem related to that
said Mary Stoertz, associate professor of geological sciences.
She said Athens city has the only good aquifer in the county, in terms of both quality and quantity.
The water pumped from the 17 wells along the Hocking River does not have natural contaminants. Most of the contaminants in the city's tap water are byproducts of chlorination, such as the potential cancer-causing chemical total trihalomethane, Stoertz said.
As a mother of children
I do not hesitate to say it's safe to drink Athens' water
she said.
17
Archives
Keita Mochizuki
