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Which type of water is better? The answer may surprise you.

Acool, refreshing swigof water is hard to beatwhen you are thirsty. When you need a drink of H2O, you have two choices: Fill up a glass from the fau- cet, or grab a store-bought bottle of water. If you're like many people, you probably reach for the bottled water.

A few decades ago, each American drank about one gallon of bottled water per year. Now each of us drinks about 30 gallons—the equivalent of 200 20-ounce bottles of water a year! What caused the spike in bottled water's popularity? It's healthy, convenient, and available everywhere, from stores and schools to fast-food restaurants. And it's cleaner and tastier than tap water, right? After all, bottled-water ads and labels tout the purity of their products.

The reality is that water

from your faucet is as good as bottled. "The United States has one of the best municipal tap water systems in the world," says Peter Gleick, a water expert at the nonprofit Pacific Institute and author of Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession With Bottled Water. "It's reliable and cheap, and the quality is superb."

Here are reasons it is safe and smart to drink water from the tap:

Tap water meets strict standards of cleanliness.

The Environmental Protection Agency regulates public water sources, making sure they are free of contaminants and pose no health risks. The Food and Drug Administration does the same for bottled water. But the two agencies have different sets of rules for overseeing the two types of drinking water.

Tap water comes from a variety of natural sources, like lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and underground aquifers. Before it reaches your faucet, the water goes through multiple purification processes. Treatment removes harmful

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The reality is that water from your faucet is as good as bottled.

chemicals, such as pesticides, fertilizers, and other pollutants

' that may have leached into the water, as well as disease- causing bacteria.

Cities are required to test the safety of the public water supply hundreds of times a month and to make water- quality reports available to the public. On the other hand, bottled-water plants aren't as closely monitored; it is mostly up to manufacturers to ensure the safety of their products.

Tap water saves you money.

Your parents pay a monthly water bill for the water used by your household. Even though tap water costs your family money, it is relatively inexpensive—less than a penny per glass. Bottled water is not nearly as cheap: Ounce for ounce, it can cost as much as 2,000 times more than tap water! Most of the hefty price tag comes from the packaging, shipping, and marketing—not the water itself.

If bottled-water buyers think they are paying for

SAT/ACT WORDS

Pristine: in original condition, unspoiled

Portable: easily carried

or moved

Residual: remaining at the end of a

process

superior-quality water from a pristine source, guess again. The truth is that many bottled waters are actually repack- aged tap water. When a bottle says "natural spring water," the water comes from a groundwater source. But, says Gleick, "a significant amount of bottled water, 45 percent, starts as munici- pal tap water, sometimes getting additional processing before it's bottled."

Tap water is environmentally friendly.

Many people purchase bottled water because it comes in a convenient package they can drink from on the go. Once their thirst is quenched, the plastic bottle gets tossed.

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C H O I C E S NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011 11

Drinking from fountains and using

drinking glasses helps the environment.

Americans throw away 1,500 plastic bottles every second. Most end up in landfills, where they can take hundreds of years to break down. Less than 30 percent of plastic bottles get recycled.

Tap water can be just as portable as bottled water if you invest in a reusable container you can carry with you and refill from a faucet or drinking fountain. Reusable bottles cut down on waste and reduce the need to make new plastic ones. Plastic is made from oil, and Earth has a limited supply of this resource.

Tap water passes the taste test.

All water—bottled and tap—contains dissolved minerals, like calcium and magnesium, that give it its taste. Your city's tap water may taste different from another city's because of differing amounts of these naturally occurring minerals. To create a more neutral flavor, many bottled- water companies adjust the mineral content of their products. Still, "in blind taste tests, people can't reliably tell the difference between tap water and bottled water," Gleick says.

Another thing that affects tap water's taste is leftover—but harm- less—amounts of chlorine

added to public water systems to kill microbes. Some bottled-water manufacturers use ultra- violet light or a blast of oxygen instead of chlorine to disinfect their water. These methods work just as well and don't leave behind a chemical taste. There's an easy fix to make your tap water taste fresher, though. Attach a filter to your faucet, refrigerator water-dispenser supply, or a special pitcher to remove residual chlorine.

Tap water is a healthy choice.

Your body is 70 percent water. It's necessary to replenish the fluids you lose every day to keep your body functioning properly. Of all the drink choices you can make, water is the best. It's calorie-free and doesn't contain caffeine, which can further dehydrate you.

So no matter whether the water you gulp comes from the tap or a prepackaged bottle, you can rest assured that you are doing some- thing healthy for your body. Just remember that a sip from a water fountain, a reusable container, or a cup filled from a faucet is just as good for you as one from a store-bought bottle. It's also easier on your wallet and the planet.

—Cody Crane

TEST YOURSELF Are these statements true or false? Answers are in the Teacher's Edition.

1Nearly 80 percent of plastic bottlesget recycled. True M False

Most people can't tell the difference between the tastes of tap and bottled water.

True M False

Ounce for ounce, bottled water can cost as much as 2,000 times more than tap water.

True M False

The Environmental Protection Agency regulates both tap and bottled water.

True M False

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS California has passed a law requiring bottled-water companies to provide information about the source of their water on their labels, as well as water- quality reports upon request. Do you think a similar law should be passed that includes all bottled water sold in the United States? Why or why not?

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