Tap water and Bottle water (Essay Sample)

Tap water and bottle water Name: Institution: Introduction A raging debate has been ongoing for whether to use bottled or tap water. Others prefer bottled water while others prefer tap water. Many would prefer tap water because of the low costs involved while others would go for bottled water for safety purposes. Below is a description that clearly brings out the clear picture concerning tap water and bottled water. Tap water versus bottled water Tap water provides quality water used for human consumption and other general purposes. Apart from consumption tap water may be used for, bathing, washing clothes, commercial and industrial use via piped distribution system (International Bottled Water Association, 2015).Tap water system has exclusive rights of providing water to consumers in specified geographical and urban regions. Consumers cannot therefore choose the tap water system that should serve them at their residential places or even their business premises. On the other hand bottled water refers to a packaged food product being sold in individual, sanitary, sealed containers. Humans can only use it for consumption. Consumers can, however, choose from a variety of choices available to satisfy their particular tastes and price preferences (International Bottled Water Association, 2015). The sale occurs in many different package sizes. The common sizes being 3 and 5-gallon containers used in bottled water coolers. Other sizes include 2.5-gallon refrigerator size containers, and "on-the-go" half-liter, one-liter, and 1.5-liter convenience size packages. Various reasons guide the consumers’ choice of bottled water, for instance; taste, convenience, and quality. Bottled water seems to be the fastest growing beverage in the world despite environmental groups advocating that the consumers should turn to the usage of tap water. The failure on the part of municipal water supplies to provide quality services enables some users to opt using bottled water that they perceive to be more efficient (ABC News, 2015). There are more standards regulating tap water in Europe and the United States than those applied to the bottled water industry hence putting the safety issue of bottled water in question. Bottled water is a primary concern for the security of the environment. United States of America’s citizens uses about 50 billion water bottles annually, and recycling of most bottles is never done (ABC News, 2015). That, therefore, causes a lot of litter to the environment and inhibits the fertility of the soil. That is contrary to the tap water that gets piped directly to the houses of consumers causing less pressure on the environment. The transportation process of the bottles and keeping them cold also leads to burning of fossil fuels, which give off greenhouse gasses. Furthermore, in the process of pumping ground water, the bottled-water companies draws heavily on underground aquifers harming watersheds. Bottled water also leads to wastage of water resources since the production of one liter of bottled water takes up to three liters of water (Karlstrom & Dell'Amore, 2010). That implies that to conserve more water consumers should be encouraged to consume more tap water than bottled water. The use of bottled water and tap water, however, varies globally. Developing countries, for instance, have fewer sources of safe tap water and hence the demand for bottled water would be high in such countries (Karlstrom & Dell'Amore, 2010). On the other hand developed nations like the United States of America and the European Union have well-established tap water system and hence many of their citizens would prefer consumption of tap water over bottled water. However, the regulation of tap water opens an opportunity for the bottled water business to thrive. For example, the federal government in the U.S. regulates tap water and conducts regular screening for dangerous pollutants. The regulation has prompted the public to shift to consumption of bottled water, whereby the public consume 79 liters of bottled water per capita per year on average (Karlstrom & Dell'Amore, 2010). That has made the bottled-water industry so successful to the extent of outpacing, coffee, milk, and juice regarding gallons of drinks sold. The rise in the sale and consumption of bottled water has had more adverse impacts than advantages. That has compelled policymakers and activists to take steps towards reducing it and encourage people to drink tap water (International Bottled Water Association, 2015). The Australian city of Bundanoon made history as the first town in the world to completely ban bottled water from its stores' shelves in September 2009 substituting it with water fountains around the city. Other cities in the United States have followed the suit, for instance, San Francisco and Seattle, no longer buy water for city use. Chicago on its parts has put measures in place to discourage bottled water by taxing additional five-cent on each bottle. Major Restaurants in those cities have also given up bottled for filtered tap water (International Bottled Water Association, 2015). Other cities are also on the way towards discouraging bottled water consumption. The shift towards tap water has boosted businesses that make reusable water bot...