10 Benefits of Drinking Tap Water vs Bottled Water

Tap water vs bottled water? Yes, unfortunately for many it’s still a question.

Many people choose to drink bottled water for reasons like purity, safety, convenience, and taste. Some even consider bottled water to be more ‘premium’ than tap water, but is that really the case?

Let’s look at 10 benefits of drinking tap water and you’ll never want to buy bottled water again – no question about it!

1. Less waste

The most obvious benefit to drinking tap water vs bottled water is that it creates no waste and helps you go single-use plastic free. In the USA 50 billion water bottles are sold every year and at least 38 billion of them end up in landfills, roughly 60 million plastic bottles every day. Australians are even worse compared to the size of the population. They buy almost 15 billion plastic bottles every year and many of these end up in landfill or in our waterways. While we’re talking about waste and resources, did you know it takes 3L of tap water and 250 ml of oil to produce one litre of bottled water? It sounds outrageous, but it’s the truth. Drinking tap water stops you from creating more plastic waste as well as wasting water in the process.

2. More affordable

Here’s another outrageous fact while we’re at it: bottled water can cost as much as 2000x more than tap water. Let that sink in. Here’s an equation to demonstrate just how much more expensive bottled water is when compared to tap water: if you were buying 2L of bottled water a day, it would cost you around $2,600 at the end of the year. On the other hand, if you were drinking 2L of tap water a day, your yearly total would be less than $1.50. Shocked? You should be.

3. Better for the environment

There are so many ways that tap water is better for the environment than bottled water. Firstly, bottled water takes anywhere from 1-2,000 times the amount of energy to produce as tap water. When you consider bottle manufacturing, filling, shipping, and keeping water cold in fridges, it’s easy to see where the energy is going. At the same time, plastic water bottle manufacturing released more than 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2006. Compare this with tap water, which released none.

4. Drink local

We all know it’s better to eat local, but what about drinking local? Not many of us consider that bottled water comes from all over the world, whereas tap water is drawn from local sources. This keeps the water supply reliable, safe, and sustainable.

5. Safer

This will come as a surprise to many people, but bottled water isn’t actually ‘safer’ or ‘healthier’ to drink than tap water. In fact, tap water is even safer to drink than bottled water thanks to stringent regulations and safety standards set out in legislation. These standards identify contaminants, chemicals, and microorganisms that can be present in tap water and set a safe limit. Additionally, tap water is also tested more regularly than bottled water, making it a slightly safer option.

Related: Microplastics in Water Bottles. How Dangerous is it?

6. Tastes better

Another big myth about bottled water is that it tastes better than tap water, however research shows otherwise. In most blind taste tests, tap water was found to taste better than its bottled counterparts. That includes taste tests done by ABC News, Boston University, UDC Centre for Nutrition, Diet, and Health, and BBC News.

7. More sustainable

Tap water as a whole is a lot better on the environment than bottled water, and that stands true from a sustainability viewpoint as well. There are many bottled water companies that source their water from countries where water resources are already limited. This includes Fiji Water, as well Aquafina and Dasani which source water from drought-ridden areas of California.

8. Filter to your standards

If you’re really concerned about water quality, you can always test the water and buy a water filter to purify the water coming out of your tap. Water filtration systems also help with filtering out microplastics from water which are now present in both tap water and bottled water. On the other hand, it’s unlikely that anyone will filter water that’s coming out of a plastic bottle, leaving you to trust that the water is as pure as it says it is.

9. Chemical-free

If you like your water without toxic chemicals, it’s best to stick to tap. Most plastic water bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate or PET, which can leach chemicals into water over time (especially when a plastic bottle is being reused). PET is also hazardous to the environment due to the various toxic chemicals that are released in the manufacturing process.

10. More convenient

Come on, does it get any more convenient than turning on a tap and taking a drink? Tap water is always available, with no need to walk to the shops, make a purchase, or even unscrew a bottle lid. The benefits speak for themselves, tap water is a clear winner!

——

Jaroslaw Siekierski

Drink Tap Water

We’re an environmentally-conscious team that recognises just how lucky we are to live in a country where tap water is fresh, clean, and freely available.

So why not reduce waste on a massive scale and encourage more Aussies to make use of the fresh, clean drinking water that comes out of the tap? Join us!

Browse more blog articles related to tap water, bottled water and water filtration systems.

Related Posts

The 10 Best Zero-Waste Cleaning Products

10 Ways to Say No to Plastic in Your Everyday Life

Why Should You Avoid Plastic Water Bottles?