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The Effects of Bottled Water on the Environment

It is hard to argue the fact that waste management has become a large problem in the world, with landfills growing to enormous sizes and recycling rates remaining dismally low. The number of plastic bottles produced by the bottled water industry and subsequently discarded by consumers has only exacerbated this problem.

According to a 2001 report of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), roughly 1.5 million tons of plastic are expended in the bottling of 89 billion litters of water each year.

Besides the sheer number of plastic bottles produced each year, the energy required to manufacture and transport these bottles to market severely drains limited fossil fuels. Bottled water companies, due to their unregulated use of valuable resources and their production of billions of plastic bottles have presented a significant strain on the environment.

The authors of the WWF report suggested that water bottles be washed and reused in order to lessen their negative impact on the environment. Unfortunately, reusing plastic bottles further compromises the quality of the water, due to the fact that more and more phthalate leaches its way into the water as the bottle gets older. In another suggestion, the authors recommended that bottled water companies use local bottling facilities in order to lessen fuel expenditures for transportation needs. Regrettably, local bottling further compromises water quality due to the reduced health standards for in-state bottled water production and consumption. It seems there is no feasible solution to this problem. The bottled water industry causes a severe strain on the environment, but solutions to this environmental damage significantly lessen the quality of water in the bottles.

NASA | Earth Science Week: Water, Water Everywhere!

10 Reasons to Use a Water Filter

1. In order to capitalize on the health benefits of water, it is essential to draw from a clean source of water.
2. Drinking impure, contaminated water is the leading cause of epidemic disease in developing countries.
3. There are more than 2100 known drinking water contaminants that may be present in tap water, including several known poisons.
4. Bottled water does not offer a viable alternative to tap water.
5. Municipal water treatment facilities cannot always control for the outbreak of dangerous bacterial contaminants in tap water.
6. The only way to ensure pure, contaminant-free drinking water is through the use of a point-of-use filtration system.
7. Several types of cancer can be attributed to the presence of toxic materials in drinking water.
8. Clean, healthy drinking water is essential to a child’s proper mental and physical development.
9. According to the EPA, lead in drinking water contributes to 480,000 cases of learning disorders in children each year in the United States alone. 
10. It is especially important for pregnant women to drink pure water as lead in drinking water can cause severe birth defects

Source | www.allaboutwater.org

10 Reasons to Drink Water

1. Water is absolutely essential to the human body’s survival. A person can live for about a month without food, but only about a week without water.
2. Water helps to maintain healthy body weight by increasing metabolism and regulating appetite.
3. Water leads to increased energy levels. The most common cause of daytime fatigue is actually mild dehydration.
4. Drinking adequate amounts of water can decrease the risk of certain types of cancers, including colon cancer, bladder cancer, and breast cancer.
5. For a majority of sufferers, drinking water can significantly reduce joint and/or back pain.
6. Water leads to overall greater health by flushing out wastes and bacteria that can cause disease.
7. Water can prevent and alleviate headaches.
8. Water naturally moisturizes skin and ensures proper cellular formation underneath layers of skin to give it a healthy, glowing appearance.
9. Water aids in the digestion process and prevents constipation.
10. Water is the primary mode of transportation for all nutrients in the body and is essential for proper circulation.

20 Interesting and Useful Water Facts

1. Roughly 70 percent of an adult’s body is made up of water.

2. At birth, water accounts for approximately 80 percent of an infant’s body weight.

3. A healthy person can drink about three gallons (48 cups) of water per day.

4. Drinking too much water too quickly can lead to water intoxication. Water intoxication occurs when water dilutes the sodium level in the bloodstream and causes an imbalance of water in the brain.

5. Water intoxication is most likely to occur during periods of intense athletic performance.

6. While the daily recommended amount of water is eight cups per day, not all of this water must be consumed in the liquid form. Nearly every food or drink item provides some water to the body.

7. Soft drinks, coffee, and tea, while made up almost entirely of water, also contain caffeine. Caffeine can act as a mild diuretic, preventing water from traveling to necessary locations in the body.

8. Pure water (solely hydrogen and oxygen atoms) has a neutral pH of 7, which is neither acidic nor basic.

9. Water dissolves more substances than any other liquid. Wherever it travels, water carries chemicals, minerals, and nutrients with it.

10. Somewhere between 70 and 75 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water.

11. Much more fresh water is stored under the ground in aquifers than on the earth’s surface.

12. The earth is a closed system, similar to a terrarium, meaning that it rarely loses or gains extra matter. The same water that existed on the earth millions of years ago is still present today.

13. The total amount of water on the earth is about 326 million cubic miles of water.

14. Of all the water on the earth, humans can used only about three tenths of a percent of this water. Such usable water is found in groundwater aquifers, rivers, and freshwater lakes.

15. The United States uses about 346,000 million gallons of fresh water every day.

16. The United States uses nearly 80 percent of its water for irrigation and thermoelectric power.

17. The average person in the United States uses anywhere from 80-100 gallons of water per day. Flushing the toilet actually takes up the largest amount of this water.

18. Approximately 85 percent of U.S. residents receive their water from public water facilities. The remaining 15 percent supply their own water from private wells or other sources.

19. By the time a person feels thirsty, his or her body has lost over 1 percent of its total water amount.

20. The weight a person loses directly after intense physical activity is weight from water, not fat.

1 / 8 people lack access to safe water

 

Around the globe, nearly 1 billion people lack access to safe water. The scope and impact of this crisis are staggering. Illnesses resulting from a lack of safe water kill more young children than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. Tragically, the United Nations has reported that even more people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war.

In addition to this catastrophic loss of life, water poverty cripples all development efforts. Water insecurity water keeps children, especially girls, from attending school. Parents miss work due to illness or caring for a sick family member. Existing medical conditions, such as HIV/AIDS, are exacerbated. Development is not possible without addressing water and sanitation. Climate change, population growth, industrialization and urbanization all threaten to make the situation much worse. Immediate action is needed.

While this crisis is devastating and getting worse, there is room for hope. Deaths caused by water-borne illnesses are overwhelmingly preventable. Dedicated efforts have unequivocally shown that solutions exist, and that progress is possible. Through concerted efforts by governments, organizations, and private sector actors, roughly 200 million people have gained access to clean water during the past decade.

This progress demonstrates the possibilities for solving the crisis; however, it is insufficient. Meaningfully addressing this tragedy will require unprecedented collaboration between all sectors of society in order to provide sustainable solutions.

 

Source |  http://www.globalwaterchallenge.org