Testing the Waters

Quenching thirst can be a lot more complicated these days than walking to the water fountain or just turning on the kitchen tap.

Hundreds of bottled waters are sold in the United States, ranging from water distilled from steam to make it "cloud-like" and presumably better able to rehydrate the body, to water purported to enhance athletic performance. Bottled water comes flavored with fruit essence, laced with peppermint and fortified with vitamins.

There's sparkling water, spring water, artesian well water, water with calcium, water with added protein, water sweetened with Splenda and water with enough caffeine to rival a strong cup of coffee. And for those who like to sip from exotic locations, there's bottled water from Fiji and Iceland. All of them have zero calories.

Americans are so eager to lap up bottled water that it's second only to soft drinks as the leading beverage consumed in the United States, according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation. In 2005, we drank nearly 8 billion gallons of bottled water -- that's 26 gallons per person -- and paid more per gallon than for gasoline. The $10.1 billion annual tab in the United States for bottled water is higher than the gross domestic product of Malawi and Liberia combined.

So why ante up a buck or more for a bottle of water that costs less than a penny per glass from the tap?

People drink bottled water "for quality, safety and good taste," says Stephen Kay, vice president for communications at the International Bottled Water Association, a trade group that represents bottlers, distributors and suppliers. "They're reaching for bottled water for hydration and refreshment."

Just don't count on any special health benefits. "There is no health advantage being gained by these drinks, although the flavor can increase your intake," says Scott Montain, a research physiologist in the military nutrition division of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Mass.

Nor is bottled water proven to be safer than tap water, although that's often the consumer's perception. Federal law requires only that bottled water be at least as safe as tap water -- not safer. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates all bottled water as a food, dictating ingredients, labels and even definitions for spring, artesian, mineral and other types. The FDA also requires plain bottled water -- but not waters with added ingredients such as vitamins -- to meet stiffer manufacturing standards that also apply to baby food and foods with very high or very low acidity. Various state regulations also apply to bottled water.

But a four-year study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental advocacy group, still found major regulatory gaps. By NRDC's calculation, 60 to 70 percent of waters sold in the United States are exempt from the FDA's tougher manufacturing standards for bottled water. Among the products that don't have to comply with those rules are seltzer and other waters that have added carbonation, club soda, flavored water and fortified water.

"Even when bottled waters are covered by FDA's specific bottled-water standards, those rules are weaker in many ways than EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] rules that apply to big-city tap water," the NRDC found.

So whereas big-city tap water can't contain any E. coli or other fecal coliform bacteria and is tested 100 times or more a month for these pathogens, bottled-water plants face no such prohibition and are required to test just once a week. Plus, most cities that use surface water for drinking, including the District, test for cryptosporidium and giardia -- two common microbes that can cause diarrhea and other intestinal problems. Bottled-water companies aren't required to test for those either, because underground, not surface, water is the source. And while public water systems are required to report their test results, "none of the bottled-water test results have to be made public," notes Erik Olson, director of advocacy for NRDC. "It's completely based on voluntary compliance."

The FDA examined posting test results on bottled-water labels and concluded that "it wasn't feasible," Kay says. Since bottled water is regulated by the FDA, he says that "if products were out of compliance, they would not be available in the marketplace." Plus, consumers can request testing information directly from bottled-water companies.