Bottled doesn't mean betterBlame it on convenience, laziness, ormarketing brilliance (Jennifer Anistondoes look good holding that Smartwaterbottle), but u.s. sales of bottled water areon the rise, inching up 3.5 percent in 2010after having dropped in recent years, to$6.4 billion a year, according to industryfigures .. That despite some increasinglyunflattering revelations-chief amongthem that many brands don't even revealwhere the water comes from.
Gerber Pure Purified Water, Nestle PureLife Purified Water, and Penta Ultra-Puri-fied Water-got the group's highest marksfor disclosing source and treatment infor-mation and using the most advanced treat-ment methods.
Some brands might not disclose theirsource because they don't have to. TheEnvironmental Protection Agency requirescommunity water systems to divulgethe source of their drinking water in anannual Consumer Confidence Report. Butbottled-water makers aren't required todisclose where their water comes from,how it was treated, or what contaminantsit might contain. Disclosure is purelyvoluntary (except in California). And thebottled stuff is subject to a less stringentsafety standard than tap water.
Bottom line. Don't be misled by crispblue labels and mountain vistas. Purifiedtap water is the source of 49 percent ofbottled water producedin the U.S., accordingto industry data. Many consumers couldcut out the middleman (and produce farless plastic waste) by investing in a waterfilter and reusable water bottle to tote whenthey're on the go.
taminants. A reverse-osmosis filter re-moves more contaminants. Most costhundreds of dollars, but we found an excel-lent model from Whirlpool for $150.• Giveeveryone in the household a reusablewater bottle that doesn't have bisphenol A, achemical linked to reproductive problems.• If you'must buy bottled water, choose abrand that discloses its source and lists anadvanced purification method on its labelor website. Check EWG'sbrand analysis atwww.ewg.org/bottled-water-2011-home.• To learn about your water, read theConsumer Confidence Report. If you pay awater bill, you should be mailed oneannually. It can help youdetermine whetheryouneed a water filter, and if so, what kind.
IWanted: Clearer labelingIn a report released earlier this year, the En-vironmental Working Group, a nonprofitresearch and advocacy organization, ana-lyzed the labels and company websites of173bottled waters and found that aboutone-fifth, including big brands Aquafinaand Crystal Geyser, didn't list their source.Another one-third didn't say how the wa-ter was treated. Many popular brands, suchas Poland Spring, list multiple sources (in
its case, springsinMaine),leav-ing consumersto guess whichone producedtheir Hp. Onlythree brands-
o CLOSE-UP
Can the average sipper tell cheap waterfrom the pricey stuffl Threestafferswhoaren't experttasters triedfourwaters (withidentitieshidden):a pricev'ultra-purified"water ($2.99 perliter);a nationalbrandofpurifiedwater ($1 perliter);a store-brandspringwater (89 centspergallon);and tapwater fromourYonkers.N.Y., officefilteredthrougha Britacarafe($22.49 forthe carafeandonefilter;replacementfilters,about$40 peryear).
Onestaffercorrectlyguessedallthewaters; one got half;and the thirdgot oneout offour.Tryityourselfat home.Yourhumbletap mightmakethe grade.
What to do• Drink tap water. If you're concernedabout its purity, get a filter. Carafe orfaucet-mounted models are the least ex-pensive (we've found excellent ones for $30or less) and remove many common con-
TRANSPARENTNestle Pure Life isone of a few bottledwaters to list sourceand treatment info.
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