Bottled Water Issues free essay sample

The most important issue is the health impact not only for humans, but for watersheds. Bottled water companies pump 75 gallons per minute in some places (Hopey). Bottling companies take water from different areas that sometimes need the water for municipal uses. For example in the small town, Bakersville, the bottling company in Somerset County wants to come in and bottle up the water from Laurel Hill Creek that supports it. By bottling the water in this small river, the water levels are dropping, which is causing fish and other species to die off (Hopey). In this small river there is a fish hatchery, which breeds a breed of salmon that is close to being an endangered species. By drawing too much water, the fish in this hatchery won’t survive and all the efforts will be lost. In addition the water is being consumed faster than the regions near the bodies of water can replenish the water tables. Examples where this is being seen is in the Great Lakes are and Texas. Farmers and Fishermen are directly affected by these drops. (Arnold) Also by shipping the water off, the water is not returning to its original watershed and doesn’t replenish its original watershed. This can cause drought and lakes and rivers begin to run dry. Bottled water is being purchased on a larger scale all over the United States. In 2007, every five minutes citizens used $11. 7 million and 2 million bottles. In that whole year alone 8. 8 billion plastic water bottles were used. With numbers this large and climbing, it’s understandable that companies like Nestle wants to bottle from Lake Michigan. Several small towns in Michigan see how big of an issue this could turn into. Nestle is currently pumping 200 million gallons a minute to be bottled. Many cities are trying â€Å"think outside the bottle,† campaigns to keep the water within the watershed. They want to promote protection of the ground water and surface water. Cities see the issues with pulling water from their resources and shipping it off to other parts of the country. (Gibney) Some of these issues include: water tables dropping, water levels decreasing, and drought. Sometimes mud flats are created which can turn in to sever drought land area. Another issue with bottled water is fossil fuel usage. The oil that is used for the production of the plastic for the bottle is tremendous. To make enough bottles for the demand in the United States, it requires more than 17 million barrels of oil annually. (Arnold) That amount is enough to fuel 1 million cars in America for a year. (Arnold) In addition to that, When these bottles are produced they release toxic gases which contaminate the air and in the water. This problem continues when they aren’t properly disposed of. The Container Recycling Institute says that 86% of the bottles used in America become litter or in landfills. Bottled water can take over 1000 years to biodegrade if in a landfill. Arnold) Another issue is incineration. When bottles are incinerated they release even more toxic gases into our atmosphere. Bottled water has also been the source of many unseen health problems. Bottled water has been linked to cancers because of the plastic bottles slowly breaking down. The plastic bottles have also been linked to many other health related issues. Some of these other health issues include: hormone dis ruption, immune deficiencies, obesity, miscarriage and lowered fertility. (Thompson) Also some studies have shown that most bottled water is nothing more than bottled tap water. Arnold) Bottled water has also been known to have other contaminates like fertilizers, caffeine, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, industrial solvents, and other harmful chemicals. (Ochel) Bottled water has many more issues than it has benefits for people in most cases. By changing certain things, bottled water could become a problem of the past and water resources can be properly used. Solving the Problem of bottled water is more complicated than it may seem. The â€Å"simplest† solution is banning bottled water. Facts show that by banning bottled water, the general population will save money because the water bottles are more expensive than tap water. In some places cities are banning bottled water and installing public fountains and encouraging people to bring their own bottle. An example of this is the town of Bundanoon in Australia. (Foley) They were the first to ban bottled water in the world. In the United States, several cities are working on banning bottled water. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, Phoenix, along with many other cities, are working on banning bottled water. They have done this by making it illegal to spend their city funding on bottled water. (Doss) While Bundanoon†s story is a success; we must look deeper and look at the whole picture. By banning bottled water, a lot of jobs will have to be cut. With our economy like it is can we as a nation really afford to cut all those jobs? Also to ban bottled water there would need to be cooperation with the bottling companies to stop selling the product. That will not be an easy task since it is a growing product. Companies will be losing top sales if bottled water is banned nationwide. Bottling companies will most likely not be pleased with the outcome of this. By slowly banning bottled water in certain areas of the country, and following to others, the transition will be easier on everyone including these companies. Also there will need to be some sort of system to monitor that these companies to make sure they don’t produce anymore and to track the movement of products all over the country. Reducing production numbers, bottled water will be less available and companies will have to move towards bottling or packaging other products. By first reducing the number that can be produce by companies; the population can learn to use alternatives such as refillable water bottles. An easier step or smaller scale project that can be done. By banning stores and gas stations to sell this consumer good in cities by individual basis, people will have to work a little harder to get this to work and start moving in to leaving the plastic bottle behind. To make that kind of transition easier on the citizens a solution to the convenience of bottled water is reusable bottles. There are several types of reusable bottles. There Plastic ones, Aluminum ones, and now there are glass ones as well. Sadly research shows that even plastic reusable water bottles release BPA which is Bisphenol A into drinking water. (Doss) BPA is an industrial chemical used primarily to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. Polycarbonate plastic is the plastic used for plastic reusable water bottles. Aluminum bottles are better than plastic ones but glass is so far the best solution. (Doss) Glass bottles are less expensive than the others. They also are recyclable if broken and don’t take as much energy to produce. In addition to banning bottled water in towns and cities, is to build public fountains. Public fountains can be installed into any building that has municipal water connected to it. Fountains in the long run are a great investment for buildings. Unfortunately they are expensive. Their cost ranges from $500 to over $1000. (Barrier-Free) With prices like these many cities may be uncertain about installing fountains in public buildings. There is also a chance of up keep and maintenance. Several public buildings already have drinking fountains installed but need work done or turned back on. By keeping these and doing repair work, public buildings will no longer need to stock bottled water in vending machines to make strides in banning bottled water. By providing drinking fountains this reduces the need of bottled water. Another way to solve the paranoia about bottled water being cleaner or safer than tap water is to install a water purification system on your faucets. Home water filtration is very logical not only to clean water even more but in the end it is much cheaper when used with refillable bottles. Home filtration systems also take out more than municipal tap does. Home filtration systems costs anywhere from $20 to even $120. (Strand) Some top brands of filters include: Brita, PUR, Crystal Quest, and Aquasana. (Strand) Families who are concerned about tap water and bottled water are recommended to purchase these filter systems. These filters are convenient and through my research have shown to be the biggest thing that can be done to solving the problem of bottled water. In conclusion I believe that eventually we as a country, and eventually as a world will be able to move completely away from plastic water bottles and into other solutions. Bottled water is overpriced and is quickly destroying ecosystems if nothing is done, this problem will most defiantly amplify. Even though bottled water may seem like a convince, it is very inconvenient to our bodies and to the environment. Bottled water’s effect on the environment is tremendous and all aspects of bottled water is negative in relation to our environment. Everything from the production, the bottling, the shipping, and disposal has harmful effects. There are many ways the United States and other countries can work to move away from bottled water and into healthier and safer solutions. The first step is to start using reusable bottles, preferably glass ones, and getting water filtration systems for our tap water. These two steps do not have to cost that much. Both are ways that are easy and beneficial for the health of people and t the same time work on saving our environment. Also public buildings can work towards repairing and installing municipal fountains and promote â€Å"banning the bottle† by doing this. As a result of doing these few things, strides to helping the world water crisis will defiantly be done. Works Cited Page Arnold, Emily and Larsen, Janet. â€Å"Bottled Water: Pouring Recourses Down the Drain. † Earth Policy Institute. February 2, 2006. lt; http://www. erth-policy. org/plan_b_updates/2006/updates51gt; â€Å"Barrier-Free Water Cooler† Drinking Fountain Doctor. Kully Supply Store. 2010. lt; http://www. drinkingfountaindoctor. com/complete-units/by-style/water-coolers/barrier-freegt; Doss Holdings Inc. and Strand, Charles. â€Å"Bottled Water- Healthy or Hoax? † Bottled Water Blues. Doss Holdings Inc. Sun Water Inc. 2011. Foley, Meraiah. â€Å"Ban on Bottled water, Apparently a first, ect. † New York Times. 17 July 2009. A9(L) Gale Science in Context. Web. 3 Dec 2010. Hopey, Don. â€Å"Somerset Company’s Proposal to bottle Water from Creek stirs controversy. † Pittsburg Post-Gazette. July 5, 2009. Ochel, Evita. â€Å"Bottled Water: Not worth The Price or Your Health. † Evolving Wellness. October 18, 2008. Strand, Charles. â€Å"Water Filter Comparisons. † Sun Water Systems, Inc. 2010. Thompson, Kati. â€Å"Un-bottling Our Water Supply. † Celsias.