Water is clearly one of, if not the, most precious resources that we all, universally require. The debate rages on as to whether the carbon costs of buying bottled water outweigh any concerns some have about the quality of tap water.
We wanted to find out more and invited
Tap &
The British Soft Drinks Association to present their points of view as to whether or not tap water is preferable to bottled water.
But most importantly, we want to hear your views in the comments below. We also want you to vote above.
YES, tap water is preferable to bottled water
Despite being the founder of the Tap campaign, whose mission is to take on the bottled water industry and get people turning on their taps, I secretly admire those in the water business. Forget selling ice cubes to eskimoes, they’ve gone one better: through inspired marketing, they’ve persuaded millions of people to fear tap water and believe healthy hydration is only available from mountain springs and Hawaiian aquifers.
So before bombarding you with facts and figures, I want to set out three truisms which I ask you to bear in mind as you consider this debate.
Firstly, bottled water is a business within which genuine sustainability is inescapably at odds with the corporate objective of selling. In a truly sustainable world, bottled water would not exist, but no industry person could ever wish for this, because they sell disposability – irrespective of its offsets and recycled bottles. Whatever the greenwash, be under no illusion: fighting climate change and selling bottled water are mutually exclusive affairs. This is an industry that consumes immense resources, generates mountains of unrecycled rubbish and contributes generously to Co2 emissions. It is, quite simply, a climate disaster.
Secondly, the real marketing strategy of bottled water is not health and wellbeing but fear. One job of bodies like the British Soft Drinks Association is to undermine public confidence in tap water, so expect lots of this from their spinner and recognise it for what it is – negative propaganda designed to instil fear and sell product.
Thirdly, tap water is good – hell, it’s actually a miracle! Because I don’t have a vested interest, I can admit it’s not always perfect and in some places it can taste funny. But what an incredible privilege we in the West enjoy in having safe, clean, fresh municipal water so freely available. (Ironically, the bottled water industry knows this better than most, since one quarter of bottled water sold worldwide is actually filtered tap water!)
Bottled water is, in fact, the triumph of marketing over common sense. Despite being 250 times cheaper than bottled water, and although most tap water tastes very good (in Decanter Magazine’s blind tasting of 24 bottled water brands, Thames Water came joint 3rd!), we’ve become obsessed that purity can only be found in bottles. But the truth is we aren’t buying water but brands, and when you take the brand away, the overwhelming majority simply can’t tell the difference.
British consumers spend billions on bottled water each year and worldwide the industry uses around 27 million tonnes plastic. We ship our water from Fiji, France and New Zealand (and I’m afraid even the stuff from the British Isles racks up ample travel miles). Meanwhile, tap water generates no rubbish, costs us next to nothing and is tested rigorously and regularly (in 2006 the Drinking Water Inspectorate gave 99.96% of tap samples a clean bill of health). I mean really, where’s the debate?!
Across the country, tap water is of incredibly high quality – but I want it even better so that no one can say of their water that it ‘tastes funny’ or they’re worried it isn’t clean. For those who need reassurance, Tap would heartily encourage every home, office and restaurant to install top notch filtration units so we never have to buy a bottle again. Not only would it pay for itself in a year, but it’d end, once and for all, the colossal consumer scam that is bottled water. In a world beset by environmental and financial crises, we need more things that are sustainable, cheap and healthy – for once, it’s literally on tap.
Joshua Blackburn is Founder of Tap and creative director of ethical communications agency, Provokateur.NO, tap water is not preferable to bottled waterIt is not simply a question of whether one type of drink is preferable to another: they both have a role to play.
People do not generally make a simple choice between bottled and tap water. In fact, research shows that the alternative drink choice to bottled water for many people would be tea, coffee or another bottled drink.
People choose a drink for different reasons. Taste is usually very important and functionality can also be a major deciding factor - providing a much needed energy boost or contributing to a persons 5-a-day fruit and vegetable target. Some people may choose a product with all ‘natural’ ingredients others because they want a zero calorie drink.
Hydration is one of many reasons why people choose a particular drink and bottled water offers one of the best ways to stay hydrated throughout the day. Carrying a bottle of water around with you is easy, carrying a tap around with you is not.
Whether at work, on-the-go, at home or in a bar or restaurant, there are many different reasons why people choose a particular type of drink, and many different occasions on which to do so. No single drink can meet all these needs.
Another misunderstanding is that tap water and bottled water are basically the same product. They are not.
Drinking water, whether tap or bottled, is to be encouraged, but tap and bottled water are different products. Unlike tap water, bottled water is not treated with chemicals and by its very nature, is pure, safe and sustainable.
Bottled water may only be obtained from defined and protected underground water sources. Abstractions of water are permitted only within strict and sustainable limits.
For any drink, whatever its origins, it is necessary to keep its environmental impact low and the bottled water industry has gone to great lengths to do this.
PET plastic bottles are 100% recyclable and increasing quantities are being recycled: the amount recycled rose by 68 per cent last year. The industry is committed to encouraging people to recycle their bottles and actively supports a variety of on-the-go recycling initiatives.
The bottles themselves are also being redesigned so that they contain less plastic – a typical 2 litre plastic bottle is now 40% lighter than it was 25 years ago. Increasingly they are being made of recycled plastic themselves.
Despite common misconceptions, bottled water usually travels much smaller distances than most other food and drink products. The vast majority (more than 75%) of bottled water is sourced from UK producers, while most imported water comes from France.
It is not a question of one type of drink being preferable to another. Each can have a role to play. In all areas of our lives, people now expect more choice and more control over the things that affect them. That includes their choice of drink. Bottled water, as with other drinks, can play a role in providing that choice.
Richard Laming, Communications Director, British Soft Drinks Association