zombies

Wrong Bottle to Open

            In today’s fast-paced world, convenience is the be all and end all of motivation.  If something is convenient, it is viewed as better than comparable, less convenient products.  Nowadays, bottled water is a perfect convenience for people on the go, a quick drink of something that the body requires to keep going.  But bottled water, for all its convenience, is not necessarily the safe alternative to tap water that most people think it is.

            The history of bottled water is filled with rumors and strange ideas of miracle cures and the fantastical powers of fresh spring water, but most scoffed at the idea of ”selling something that God gave everyone for free.” While water has been humanity’s drink for millennia out of necessity, it wasn’t until 1845 that someone came up with the brilliant idea to bottle spring water and sell it as a cure for digestive ailments. The Rickers family of Poland, Maine bought a piece of land near the natural springs and built a resort and bottling facility there, touting their water as “wonderful” and selling it for 15 cents per stoneware jug.  Their great talent in selling the water over the years came from masterful publicity, telling anyone who would listen about the water’s ability to retain freshness and its pure, pristine taste (Cleveland 1).

            While people slowly became enamored with the idea of this pure, potable potion, they began to forget about the tap water than for so long quenched thirst and fulfilled so many needs.  Someone in a rush is much less likely nowadays to fill a glass or thermos with water than to simply pick up a sealed bottle of Ozarka and get to the car.  Nearly devoid of taste besides the clean tang of water, bottled water is hyped as the clean alternative to tap water that some people seem to think contains poison or mutagens or some kind of insane chemical castoffs.  Tap water tends to have different tastes for the region it comes from, and it carries the hint of underground minerals and maybe even a little bit of gamey, wild scent from nature.

            However, the government sets much higher standards for the cities and counties that filter the water that goes into your home than the ones they hold the bottled water companies to, a fact which most people do not know.  For example, in 1990 the organic compound benzene was found in Perrier sparkling water, a carcinogenic substance found in gasoline, synthetic rubber and dyes. The FDA and the bottled water industry in general suffered a great deal of scrutiny after the FDA’s failure to find the substance, but while the public outcry against this was loud, it did not end with much of an increase in water safety standards.

            Seven years after the FDA was given a list of standards that it was supposed to enact upon the bottled water industry to ensure the safety of consumers, only a few had been put in place.  Most of the rules were either ignored, put to the side for later, or were simply not written out for the FDA to rule upon.  These standards are such a low priority that the FDA has only an estimated one half of a person dedicated to bottled water regulation.

            According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, bottled water is not required by law to meet the same standards as city tap water, a gaping hole in legislation which is supposed to protect consumers.  For instance, while the EPA has a prohibition against any confirmed E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria in tap water, there is no such rule on the books for bottled water producers.  There is simply a limit to the maximum number of coliform bacteria with no specific prohibition of fecal coliform or E. coli (NRDC c.4).

            These are not harmless bacteria that simply exist in all water, they are harmful contagions that can cause gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract which, when untreated, is the worldwide leading cause of death in children.  City water officials have to test city water facilities at least 100 times a month for such bacteria, while bottled water technicians only have to test once a week.

            Also not required by law for bottled water companies is the testing for Cryptosporidium and Giardia, protozoan parasites often found in untreated drinking water. Note untreated. These parasites can cause severe diarrhea and stomach pains, and while not life-threatening to adults, it can become severe and non-resolving in small children and immune-compromised individuals such as AIDS patients.

            DEHP, also known as dioctyl phthalate, a probable human carcinogen, endocrine-system disrupter and a chemical agent produced in plastics manufacture, is a substance regulated by the EPA for city tap water, but oddly enough not for bottled water, which comes bottled in plastic bottles.  The FDA has also refused to set standards for the presence of acrylamide, asbestos, or epichlorohydrin, all of which the EPA regulates in tap water (NRDC c.4).

            On top of all that, government and industry estimates indicate that about 25-30 percent of bottled water actually comes from a city or town’s tap water, often times without any further filtration or treatment.  For instance, Pepsico’s Aquafina brand of bottled water, which pictures beautiful mountains on the label, does not mention anywhere on the label that the water comes from municipal tap water.  Some other labels are misleading, like the “spring water” label of a bottled water product in Millis, Massachusetts, drawn from a well located in the middle of an industrial warehouse facility that was contaminated with industrial solvents, including trichloroethylene at levels above FDA and EPA standards.

            People throughout the nation buy and drink bottled water under the assumption that is safer than tap water,  and while it is usually safe enough to drink and very convenient, there is one thing that most bottled water does not have, and that’s fluoride.  The substance added to most city tap water to help strengthen teeth and prevent tooth decay is import to dental health, and parents who give bottled water to their children should either buy fluoridated water, or inform their dentists that the children are not drinking fluoridated water.

            While it is not necessary to do away with bottled water altogether, it is more expensive and not by rule a safer product.  Tap water from the faucet is more heavily regulated and safer to drink, and only cost pennies a day, while bottled water can contain many harmful chemicals and bacteria and cost as much as four dollars a gallon.

Works Cited

Cleveland, Debbie R. "Poland Spring." Framingham. 23 Nov. 2002. None. 04 Dec. 2007            <http://www.framingham.com/collecting/polandspring.htm>.

Nrdc. "NRDC: Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype." Natural Resources Defense Council. 28 Mar.

                1999. NRDC. 04 Dec. 2007 <http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asp>.

After several weeks of trying to sell my Mustang, its finally been plucked from the vine.  The awesome thing about it is that it was picked up for someone very special.

The folks at Keith Craft Motorsports called me up and told me that they wanted to take a look at the car, and so they came by and inspected the goods.  After they decided that it was what they wanted, they made me an offer.   When we agreed on a price, we signed the papers and got the check deposited and that's when they told me some cool news.

The car I sold them was going to be rebuilt into the 67-68 Terlingua 1 Racer collection for Carroll Shelby himself.  Not only that, but it was going to be in car shows and on TV, in pictures and everything.  So exciting!

So I got a new computer, and I'm pretty excited about it.  2,4 gig core2duo processor, 2 gigs of RAM, geforce 8800gts, and dual 22" widescreen lcd monitors.  its a pretty boss setup I have going.