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Bottled Water vs. Tap

For most people which is healthier?

October 22, 2010 |
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Supplementary Info

Bottled Water vs. Tap, 5.0 out of 5 based on 3 ratings

Sources Cited

J Environ Sci Health A Tox Hazard Subst Environ Eng. 2008 Mar;43(4):335-47. Chemical, microbial and physical evaluation of commercial bottled waters in greater Houston area of Texas. Saleh MA, Abdel Rahman FH, Woodard BB, Clark S, Wallace C, Aboaba A, Zhang W, Nance JH.

Acknowledgements

Transcript

If you are more of a water person, Which is healthier—bottled or tap? In terms of both chemical and microbiological purity? For most people, which is healthier—who says bottled? Who says tap? And the answer is tap, based primarily on bacterial contamination found in some brands of bottled water recently. The only population that should really stick to bottled or filtered is pregnant women during the summer in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas and, Maryland, where the chlorination spike has been found a little too high for comfort.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Dianne Moore.

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. And check out the other videos on beverages. Also, there are 1,449 other subjects covered in the rest of my videos--please feel free to explore them as well!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

    Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. And check out the other videos on beverages. Also, there are 1,449 other subjects covered in the rest of my videos–please feel free to explore them as well!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/TrindaNehmer/ Trinda Nehmer

    how does distilled water rate compared to bottled water and tap water?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/nickyc/ NickyC

      Hi Trinda,

      Distilled water is water that has been turned into steam, leaving the impurities such as chlorine, lead, fluoride, washed up pharmaceuticals, and essentially everything else behind. The steam is then condensed to make pure water. This process also kills and removes bacteria, viruses – basically anything that is organic or inorganic. This water is a pure as it gets. While some people claim that the removal of minerals during this process is harmful, we actually get most of our minerals from the food we consume, and not water.
      Therefore, I believe that distilled water, by removing all impurities, is the safest water you can drink.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/MarkTucker/ Mark Tucker

    I have heard and read that the “only water that our bodies can actually use to clean their cells, is the water contained in vegetables” and that “bottled mineral water only serves to pollute the body, as the minerals have a low bio-availability and the body needs to work to remove them”.

    Then I am told in conferences that actually there are “studies that prove that bottled mineral water is good for you and that there are scientific studies proving this”, although nobody could actually produce any of these studies.

    I also hear that “tap water is polluted” and that with the “high amounts of pollutants, oestrogen, etc. it is best to avoid it”.

    I am then told that the “only water to drink is reverse osmosis”, as the “vegetables we eat will provide the water that the body needs for bodily functions” and the “extra water that is drunk – the reverse osmosis – will be pure and therefore not pollute the body, but will serve to lubricate the digestive system”.

    Then I read that reverse osmosis, being “empty and containing no minerals, will leach the minerals from the body creating deficiencies”.

    Another claim that I am now hearing is that we should drink “Kangen Water”, which apparently “alkalises your tap water” (although nobody says what it adds to do this or what is actually filtered from the water, i.e. pollutants, pesticides, etc.). It’s a filter system that you connect ot your tap water. The claim here is that “your body absorbs this alkaline water with miraculous effects”, even going as far to claim that it “can help cure some forms of cancer”. Nobody explains however how this water can pass through the acidity of the stomach and still end up alkalising the body when absorbed!

    There are probably other claims that I have heard and forgotten, but wondered if you have any information or have done any research here?

    Many thanks… Mark

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/chelsea/ Chelsea

    Mark Tucker: Tap water is highly regulated and tested for safety, whereas other sources are not. You can find water quality reports online from the Environmental Protection Agency if you’re in the US. From these reports (which can be found online), you can find what contaminants your tap water may contain, then simply look for a filter that works best for you in your area. From this, you can determine an in-home filtration device that will work best for you. The type of filtration is completely dependent on the quality of the water, so that should be the first step you take.

    As far as mineral content, whole foods are the best place to obtain minerals, vitamins, and all things necessary in your diet. There may be one supplement worth taking, however. See this video for more information: http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/vitamin-supplements-worth-taking/

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/deemae/ Deemae

    What about the water in the U.K that’s fluoridated?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/evanbrand/ evanbrand

    What basic water filter do you recommend for daily drinking (does Pur pitchers do the trick?)?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/evanbrand/ evanbrand

    What shower filter(s) do you recommend (I am based in NYC and, like other US cities, the water supply has excessive chlorine, bromine, and fluorine).

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/evanbrand/ evanbrand

    Is Poland spring water reputable?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/papayoyo/ papayoyo

    I heard recently that tap water is bad for health as the chlorine kills off the body’s beneficial bacteria.

    What about home filtered tap water or boiled mineral water?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/chrish/ ChrisH

    Chlorine, like fluoride, is an industrial toxin, and should be avoided. Tap water in some areas is full of it. All so-called natural spring, well, tap or mineral water, irrespective of whether filtered or boiled, will still contain anything, from (hopefully) lifeless bacteria and virus husks to inorganic metals, salts, minerals, trace elements etc. – pollutants all – turning every glass of water into a potentially life threatening cocktail. The powerful water lobby denies it, of course, and produces (or claims to possess) studies that offer scientific proof. I remain unconvinced – mainly because of scientific proof to the contrary (bone density comparisons between consumers in areas with very high and very low mineral content water, for example, where severe osteoporosis incidence was found to be almost double in the high mineral content water area). Not a paradox – the “enriched” water blocks absorption of organic (food) calcium, resulting in deficiency.
    In answer to your question, papayoyo, think H2O. That’s what your body cells want, nay, need. H2O, no toxic cocktails. Distilled water is almost 100% H2O. So is RO water. The latter has a waste factor, though, as it is said to take between 10 to 20 liters of tap water to produce a liter of RO water (depending on the device used, I guess).

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/papayoyo/ papayoyo

    Thanks ChrisH for your informed reply. I’m inclined in the same direction of thought. Though what would you say to the argument that distilled and RO water leech minerals and nutrients from the body? Isn’t all life on the planet sustained by water that is infused with elements from the environment? Isn’t perfectly pure water an artificial and unnatural thing? I guess rain water is pretty pure but on it’s way down it must absorb “stuff” from the atmosphere.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/chrish/ ChrisH

      Thank you for that question, papayoyo.
      The bizarre notion of water maliciously leaching valuables from our organism (in the process leaving the infinitely more available – as no longer organically fused – waste materials, toxins, “ash”, etc., in the body cells) is persistently being bandied about by – I suspect – the water lobby (and maybe pension funds?).
      It has no scientific basis. The opposite is in fact true. Pure H2O enhances the efficiency of the metabolism, as H2O will readily transport nutrients through cell walls, and cleanse waste products from the cells in direct exchange.
      Rain is nature’s distilled water. The (mostly man-made) pollution it picks up in the atmosphere is in fact the “artificial and unnatural” thing. Being an efficient solvent, water begins breaking down whatever it encounters as soon as it hits the ground. For many simple organisms, amphibians, fish and practically all plants this fortified water is imperative to sustain life. Higher organisms generally can’t fully utilize the large molecular structure of inorganic minerals etc. and need to obtain the necessary from organic sources (food). Drinking the inorganically enriched (mineral, tap, well, spring) water will inevitably put strain on the organism, causing mineral deposits in joints, arteries, kidneys etc., contributing to arthritis, stroke, renal failure, arteriosclerosis etc., thus effectively reducing human life expectancy…

      • Moonchasis

        Your statements in the last paragraph are interesting. Can you please provide research and studies showing what you claim: 

          ”Drinking the inorganically enriched (mineral, tap, well, spring) water will inevitably put strain on the organism, causing mineral deposits in joints, arteries, kidneys etc., contributing to arthritis, stroke, renal failure, arteriosclerosis etc., thus effectively reducing human life expectancy…”Thank you. This is very interesting but I do think it warrants documentation  to back it up.

      • Moonchasis

        thank you but please show who did this research. What study, and who were the authors of it?  Otherwise I am to assume that you are just making a theory based on what seems obvious to you. Surely you researched this and can provide the information on the study.

  • Moonchasis

    I can’t find a single study that claims that the minerals in mineral water are unhealthy for the human body. Can anyone provide some evidence of this?  I like natural mineral water but some people raise concerns so I am curious.

  • dharmarules

    Dear Dr. Greger, we are thinking of buying a water filtration system made with coconut shells that they say makes the water cleaner than any other system with no chemicals, if possible I would like your comments if you are familiar with this system, it’s the one with Ed Bagley advertising for it.Thank you for all you do !

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