Bottled Water Regulations Are Lacking

In The News - Crystalline Water

by Mark Bogen, Sun-Sentinel South Florida Edition
published July 17,2003

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a lawsuit that was filed against Nestle, the parent company of Poland Springs.

The lawsuit claimed that Nestle advertised that the water came from "some of the most pristine and protected sources deep in the woods of Maine," when it allegedly came from common ground water sources. Although Nestle has denied the allegations of the lawsuit, only time will tell whether Poland Springs water is actually from those protected sources.

Since writing about this lawsuit, I received many e-mails and letters about bottled water and the laws that apply to this industry. Apparently, many readers mistakenly think that the law requires bottled water to be the most pure water sold in the United States.

After researching this issue and reading several reports, including one from the National Resources Defense Council, many people may reconsider their perceptions of bottled water.

Most municipal water sources are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The bottled water industry is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. What is most surprising is that city water or water from your tap is much more regulated than bottled water.

For example, under federal regulations, city water has to be disinfected before it is delivered to the consumer, while there is no requirement for bottled water to be disinfected. City water is not allowed to have E. coli or fecal coliform, while the FDA does not impose this same standard for bottled water, according to the National Resources Defense Council study.

Depending on the municipality, city water usually is tested hundreds of times a month for bacteria, while bottled water is only required to be tested once a week. Furthermore, under the law, bottled water does not have to be tested for parasites such as cryptosporidium or giardia, while municipalities that use surface water sources must be tested.

Cities are required to have their water tested for certain chemical contaminants once every three months, while bottled water companies must test only once per year. Last, city water must be filtered to remove pathogens, while bottled water is not required to filter any of its water, the study says.

Not only is bottled water less regulated than city water, the bottled water companies are not required to disclose their water sources or the chemicals, if any, that are in their water. Any consumer can contact its city water operator and receive a report detailing all chemicals and contaminants in the water.

Given the fact that tap water is significantly regulated, a surprising government and industry estimate is that about 25 percent of all bottled water in the United States is actually bottled tap water.

While your bottled water may be providing you with the most pure water available, the important thing to remember is that you might never know what chemicals, bacteria or other substances are in your bottled water until our legislators require full disclosure like the municipal water systems.

(Reprinted with permission.)