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| Michelle Couri, MD, FACOG |
Part I of II
By Michele Couri, MD
In January, Concord, Massachusetts, became the first U.S. town to ban the sale of single-serving plastic water bottles. There are plenty of reasons why more than 28 universities and other communities have enacted similar bans. Switching to a tap-filled reusable bottle filled with filtered water will help reduce the global inundation of plastic bottles and save money. Americans spent $10.6 billion on bottled water in 2009, paying up to 1,000 times the cost of tap water, according to Food and Water Watch.
At our recent Couri Center Cooking Class, a question was asked about water and home water filtration systems. Many attendees agreed that “water” was a topic they wanted more information on. Hence, a newsletter article was born. I think that we all realize that we should be drinking more water, but how much is optimal, is tap water OK, is bottled water better, and what about home filtration systems? If you have ever attended one of our cooking classes, you probably have heard me say how critical it is to read the labels of the food you are eating. Better yet, eat food without labels. But, what about water? Do you know what is in the water you drink? We all harp on our kids to drink more water, but what exactly is lurking in the water they are drinking? I digress, but we will return to this rather unsettling thought.
According to the Institute of Medicine, women should drink about 91 ounces of water each day and men about 125 ounces. Drinking purified water and enough of it is absolutely critical for optimal health. Water helps nutrients flow into cells and acid wastes flow out. Because we lose nearly 3 quarts of water a day through respiration, sweat, and urine, it is important to replenish it daily.
Although it is so convenient to buy bottled water, it is extremely wasteful on multiple levels, plus it most likely isn’t derived from the rain and melting snow on the peaks of the Northern Alps as the label suggests. Millions of plastic water bottles add to the already bloated landfills every year. Since our space is extremely limited, we end up shipping our mountains of garbage to developing countries, or dump it far out to sea. Plastic bottles are one of the most ubiquitous forms of trash that pollute our oceans, rivers, roadways, and parks.
In turn, marine life and birds mistake plastic litter for food and end up choking and dying in droves. Eco-costs of the bottled water industry are staggering. The U.S. bottled water industry consumes over 50 million barrels of oil a year, enough oil to fuel 3 million cars for one year. The EPA estimates that nearly a quarter of one popular brand of bottled water, for example, originally comes from tap water at a price of at least 300 times the cost of the tap water that comes out of your faucet. The recommended eight glasses of water a day for one year costs about $1,400 in bottled water versus only 49 cents in tap water. You may be wondering about the impact that recycling has on this industry. Sure, the 70 million empty water bottles the U.S. produces per day can be recycled, but the sad truth is, about 86 percent of them end up in the trash. If that wasn’t convincing enough for you, then ponder this — that highly inflated bottle of water is often nothing more than tap water. The bottled water industry is subject to minimal regulation and oversight, and most bottling plants go uninspected for years on end. Popular brands may contain the same toxic chemicals, pesticides, drug residues, and pathogens that occur in tap water. The Environmental Protection Agency oversees municipal water quality, while the Food and Drug Administration monitors bottled water. A test of more than 1,000 bottles of water commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council concluded that bottled water is not cleaner or safer than regular tap water. As stated earlier, the review also noted that at least 25 percent of bottled water is just tap water.
Tap water is by no means perfect, however. Despite federal, state, and local water regulations, contaminants can still make their way into our water supply. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently analyzed nearly 20 million records from state water officials and discovered that “testing by water utilities has found 315 pollutants in the tap water Americans drink.” More than half of these detected chemicals aren’t subject to health or safety regulations and can legally be present in any amount. And although federal guidelines do govern the others, 49 of these contaminants were found to exceed set levels in different parts of the country, thus polluting the tap water of 53.6 million Americans.
Be sure to join us next month for Part II of this important article about water.
At the Couri Center, we believe in restoring health to Women’s health care. Call about our TLC Program (Total Lifestyle by Couri) to help women improve their healthy habits and reduce the risks of chronic disease. Call 309-692-6838 or visit www.CouriCenter.com.
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