What's in Your Bottled Water?

Two new reports are calling for bottled water to be labeled with as much information as municipalities disclose about tap water. Meanwhile, demand for bottled water continues to shrink, thanks to the recession.

The reports, from the Government Accountability Office and the Environmental Working Group, both note that people know (or can easily find out) much more about what's in their tap water than they do about what's in their bottled water.

Before the recession hit, sales of bottled water were growing at double-digit rates every year. Between people coming to the realization that they can get water from their kitchen sinks and policy changes requiring large organizations to limit use, demand is now flat or sinking, according to the Associated Press.

Consumers are increasingly troubled not only by the insane amount of plastic used to make the bottles but also by the fact that bottled water often contains more contaminants than tap water does—or at least by the fact that they don't know what bottled water might contain. And many other consumers still believe that bottled water, simply by virtue of its being bottled, is safer than tap water. Obviously, there's a lot of confusion out there.

A subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing today on regulating the industry.

Bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, while tap water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency as well as state and local governments. Water quality standards are about the same for both, but the FDA, as usual, is toothless when it comes to enforcement, a fact highlighted in the GAO report.

Richard Wiles, senior vice president for policy and communications for the EWG, told the AP that if "municipal tap water systems can tell their customers this information, you would think that bottled water companies that charge 1,000 times more for this water could also let consumers know the same thing."

Industry officials contend that we should just believe them when they say their product is safe. Joseph Doss, president and CEO of the International Bottled Water Association, actually testified that if consumers want to know what's in their water, they can contact the company that makes it.