Blog # 6 Counter Arguments for Bottled Water

Lillian Boatwright
English 101
May 14, 2010
Blog # 6
Counter Arguments for Bottled Water

Argument # 1

Many consumers have stated that their reason for solely drinking bottled water is for health reasons. They say bottle water taste better than tap water; it’s cleaner, and safer to drink. Unfortunately, this is not true when in fact most bottled water is purified tapped water. For example, ABC/20/20 did a special about “Is Bottled Water Better Than Tap?” They stated, “One of Aquafina’s sources is from the Detroit River!”(Stossel 2). Also, “20/20” had several national bottled water tested by a microbiologist of New Hampshire, and studies revealed that there were no difference between tap water and bottled water.

Argument # 2

Despite the claims from the International Bottled Water Association that bottled water regulations from the FDA are as stringent and protective as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for public water supplies. According to The Environmental Working Group who performed a survey, “all but a few bottled-water products don’t list where their bottled water comes from and how it is treated, and publish quality-test reports on their Web sites” (Zhang 2). The FDA doesn’t have total control of the quality of bottled waters. The U.S. GAO (Government Accountability Office) stated “The FDA considers bottled water low-risk, assigning only two or three employees to inspect bottling facilities.” Although there were violations at the water sites, the agency barely did anything about it. Also, “The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the $11.2 billion industry, doesn’t keep track of companies that produce bottled water and doesn’t require companies to report positive tests for contaminants, federal officials told a House hearing Wednesday”(Zhang 1).