Bottled water industry not been well regulated

Keene State College environmental science students have been studying bottled water in the United States along with the environmental impact of the bottles themselves.

Professor of geography Jo Beth Mullens, along with her Solving Environmental Problems class, have studied the bottled water industry over the past semester.

"The industry has not been very well regulated. It has gotten a little bit better, in terms of they have to have an expiration date these days and they have to show the source," said Mullens, "But the reality is that it really hasn't been a well regulated industry."

According to Mullens, the products of many bottled water companies is straight from the tap.

"In some cases the sources are simply spring or ground water sources within communities. In other cases bottled water has been extracted simply from tap water," said Mullens.

According to Mary Jensen, coordinator of sustainability programs, even popular brands such as Dasani, by Coca-Cola, are filled using municipal tap water.

"People are paying tremendous amounts of money for bottled water which is convenient, but it's not providing anything in terms of quality," said Mullens, "They are paying large amounts for something they can get out of the tap for free. You don't hear people getting outraged at that, you hear people outraged at prices at the pump for oil, but you don't hear people reevaluating what they're spending money on in terms of something that could be free to them."

According to Jensen, the production cost plays a role in the product price. The production of one gallon of bottled water uses five gallons of fuel, between the production of the product, the container and fuel to ship the product.

Jensen also spoke of the limited uses for recycled plastics.

"Plastics can be recycled efficiently but the recycled material is not usable for much," said Jensen. "Most plastics are not heated enough to kill off contaminants."

Jensen explained the process of recycling plastics may not use much energy but the ability of plastics to absorb whatever it contains in its first form leaves the recycled material tainted.

Aside from the problems with the bottles themselves, Mullens and her class have looked at the problem fuel burned to ship a resource around the country that is already available

In most cases tap water in the U.S. is safe to drink, especially compared to that of many developing countries.

"Average tap water is safe in our country by far and large for people to drink," said Mullens. "In other countries, because of the lack of prevision of a safe drinking water source, bottled water has served an important role. It's not that all individuals in those countries can afford to buy bottled water. When you're talking about developing nations, you are talking about some individuals in those countries that are paying as much as one fourth of their income to secure a safe drinking water source."

According to Mullens, families that can't afford safe drinking water may face high infant mortality rates because of contaminants in water leading to dehydration.

"Worldwide we still look at, statistically, something like six thousand children a day of water born disease," said Mullens. "Kids get biological pathogens which cause them to get diarrhea and they dehydrate and die. This is still a critical issue, can those families that face that kind of infant mortality buy bottled water? Often times no."