What is the difference between bottled water and tap water

Per Science , during Flint's water crisis, 21 million of us were drinking tap water contaminated with leads, coliform bacterias, nitrates, or arsenic. In , for example, Pittsburg residents had to boil their water to kill off a diarrhea-inducing parasite. Newark, meanwhile, has discovered potentially carcinogenic haloacetic acids in its water.

And water supplies in Brady, Texas contain dangerous amounts of the bone-cancer causing radium via Business Insider.

But bottled water isn't automatically safer than tap water. It may simply be a loose-loose situation. That's because, in the United States, the EPA regulates all tap water, but the FDA which regulates bottled water fails to regulate water packaged and sold within a single state, leaving 60 to 70 percent of bottled water sold within the states significantly unregulated via Diffen.

Bottled water may contain dangerous levels of chemicals and bacterias via Time. Popular brands of bottled water such as Aquafina and Dasani may also flood your insides with microplastics via Business Insider. Public water systems are granted exclusive rights to provide water to consumers in a particular geographic or municipal area. Consumers do not, therefore, have a choice of which public water system will provide water to their homes or businesses.

The U. Bottled water is a packaged food product, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration FDA , that is sold in individual, sanitary, sealed containers. It is intended solely for human consumption. Consumers have a variety of bottled water choices available to satisfy their particular tastes and price preferences. It is sold in many different package sizes, including 3- and 5-gallon containers used with bottled water coolers, 2.

Consumers choose bottled water for several reasons: taste, quality, and convenience. Get the facts Want some fact-based information about how public water systems and bottled water are regulated? Search for:. Latest Press Releases. March 17, While calcium and fluoride may be beneficial, lead and mercury are not. As a health-minded athlete and consumer, you may also be concerned about microbial contamination and pesticide residues in water.

Unlike bottled water, tap water is regulated under the strict standards of the Environmental Protection Agency EPA , but there are some contaminants that the EPA does not regulate. This report lists contaminants detected in your drinking water and notes any violations that have occurred in the past year. Your water provider is also required to test for microbes several times daily. You can contact your local water municipality to obtain the names and numbers of certified testing labs to have the water from your tap checked.

Levels of lead and copper in your water may be higher than official reports indicate because of deterioration of household plumbing and faucets. If you discover that your water is not of the best quality, filtered water may be a viable option. Many filters attach right to the tap and can filter out lead and other contaminants. Another convenient filtering method is a pour-through filter that can be placed in a special pitcher and kept in your refrigerator.

More expensive filters include an under-the-sink model that requires a permanent connection to your water pipe. Tap water is regulated by Health Canada and the provinces and territories. Municipalities test their water sources constantly to make sure they are within these limits. The City of Ottawa, for example, conducts more than , water quality tests a year. Toronto tests water samples every four to six hours and checks for more than potential chemical contaminants.

The results of this monitoring are generally easily accessible to the public, often on city websites or by request. Bottled water is not subject to the same guidelines because it is classified as a food and falls under the Food and Drugs Act. Aside from arsenic, lead and coliform bacteria, the act does not set limits on specific contaminants but says simply that food products cannot contain "poisonous or harmful substances" and must be prepared in sanitary conditions.

Spring and mineral water is subject to a few more rules: it must be fit for human consumption at the source and can't be treated in any way that would modify its composition, other than by adding carbonation, ozone or fluoride. Monitoring of water quality in the bottled water industry is "essentially voluntary and internally regulated," a study by the Polaris Institute, an Ottawa-based non-profit environmental advocacy group, found.

The CFIA said in an email to CBC News that it inspects and takes enforcement action "as required" if it becomes aware of a potential food safety hazard "via a complaint or other means. There have been efforts to introduce stricter bottled water guidelines, but these have been stalled for years, largely leaving the industry to police itself.

Companies that belong to the Canadian Bottled Water Association CBWA , which represents about 85 per cent of the industry, are supposed to follow certain best practices when it comes to monitoring water quality and submit to annual inspections by a third party, but compliance is voluntary. Provinces can impose stricter regulations, but so far, only Quebec has done so. Its bottled water regulation sets limits on metals and other contaminants and requires labels to specify the water's origin. Outside of Quebec, labels on bottled water that is not spring or mineral water don't have to specify the source of the water, even if that source is your municipal water supply.

Some brands, such as Aquafina, have since put that information on the label, but it's not a requirement — as long as the label isn't explicitly misleading.

In the U.