Don't drink bottled water even if it's natural spring water. It's not the great, pure, healthy drinking water that the bottling companies would have you believe. In some respects it may be clean water, but there will always be things in bottled water that require filtration.
Even Reverse Osmosis or Distilled Water in Bottled Water Needs Filtration
In addition to common water contaminants, bottled water contains "Nano-plastics". Nano-plastics are microscopic-sized particles from plastic. These tiny plastic particles can't help but dissolve in the water in the bottle.
Nano-plastics are far more dangerous to the body than most people are aware. They cause inflammation, oxidative stress and other health conditions which underlie diseases.
The EWG, Environmental Working Group, recently found all kinds of other things in bottled water. They found even human wastes, bacteria and pharmaceuticals in several brands of bottled water.
The pH of bottled water is another concern. The bottled water industry uses ozone to kill pathogens. Ozone is very acidic, so the bottled water treated with ozone is more acidic than its source water counterpart.
The minimal filtration needed to counteract the acidity of ozone is to use an Alkaline PH Pitcher (portable water filter). This will remove chemicals, chlorine, plastic Nano-particles and will raise the pH to about 9.5.
Most Bottled Water Has an Unhealthy PH
Our bodies need pH balance to be healthy. If you eat or drink an average American diet (which is highly acidic), then chances are you need more alkalinity from your water.
The healthiest water to drink is alkaline water, well-filtered, and filter it yourself rather than buy it bottled.
The PH of Bottled Water Brands
This video shows 20 brands of bottled water, tested for pH.
Testing the pH of 20 brands of bottled water.
Chlorine
Tap water of course also needs filtration. It has chlorine and other contaminants in it. The PH Pitcher will work well on that too.
Chlorine disinfects well, but in the body it acts as a free-radical and it is good to filter it out.
The pitcher also removes harmful byproducts of chlorine.
Fluoride
Fluoride is not the healthy, awesome, teeth-saving element many big companies and bureaus would have us believe. It's a potentially toxic mineral when consumed in anything more than just trace amounts.
Fluoride is so tiny it gets into the brain and nervous system, where it does a lot of harm. Its dangers are similar to lead. Because of this I take fluoride filtration very seriously. To remove Fluoride you need to let it slowly seep through the pitcher or another carbon filter.
There are also special Fluoride filters.
A lot of people buy bottled water because they think the bottling companies are removing fluoride. In most cases bottled water still has fluoride in it.
Here's my testing on brands of bottled water containing Fluoride.
Fluoride Testing of 21 Brands of Bottled Water vs Ionized Water
Fluoride testing of many popular bottled water brands
Do Bottling Companies Filter the Water Better than Your Municipal Water Company?
Many times the filtration process used by water bottling companies isn't even as good as municipal water companies. This is because of the steep regulations on municipal water vs practically no regulations on bottling companies.
BOTTLED WATER DATA CHART
I put the brands visually on this pH-chart to show their tested pH-levels from lowest (most acidic) to highest. Then the chart below that shows the brands of bottled water in alphabetical order. I also included testing I've done of tap water from several locations.
Brands Tested: Absopure, Amway Perfect Water, Aquafina, Aqua Hydrate, Arrowhead, Super Chill, Chippewa, Core, Crystal Geyser, Culligan, Dasani, Deer Park, Evian, Essentia, Eternal, Evamore, Fiji, Function, Gerber Pure, Great Value, Hilton Head Tap, Ice Canyon, Ice Mountain, Icelandic, Ionized Water, Lassens, Life Water, Los Angeles Tap, New York City Tap, Northern Chill, Penta, Perrier, PH Pitcher, Poland Spring, Propel, Gerber Pure, Nestle Pure Life, Real Water, Smartwater, Soda (canned), Spring Water by Walmart, St. Louis Tap, Vitaminwater, Volvic, Voss, and Zephyrhills.
Environmentally, Here's More Frightful Truth About Bottled Water
We ship hundreds and thousands of square miles worth of plastic wastes around the world (to 3rd world countries) because our landfills cannot contain them all.
We need to wake up and become responsible for our planet.
Clear, Pliable Plastics Present Serious Dangers to Us and Our World
BPA is not the only chemical of concern in bottles. There are many potentially disease-causing agents in the make-up of plastic bottles.
Water, the universal solvent, has the ability to leach all kinds of chemicals into itself. So, there's an issue with leaching of the harmful chemicals too.
Do Popular Brands of Bottled Water Taste Better?
Bottled Water Companies spend millions of dollars to make you believe that bottled water tastes better than tap.
The real truth is the opposite. The fresh taste of filtered tap water and more thorough filtration is a fact proven many times.
ABC's Bottled Water vs Tap
Extreme Filtration, Like RO and Distilled, Are Unhealthy
Extreme filtration removes healthy electrolytes from the water. We need these electrolytes for our cells to function properly, and they are often hard to come by. It's far better to consume the electrolytes naturally dissolved in water.
Trace Minerals
Many trace minerals found in water should stay in the water. If you remove them with extreme filtration then the water will act as a sponge for minerals later on.
Bones, joints and muscles need the dissolved minerals from the water, and they certainly do not need to lose their minerals.
If you drink a lot of extremely purified water it could cause issues.
Dental Health
In a recent research study bottled water tested even more acidic than the bottling company reported. This study, by the Dental Hygienists' Association, showed dental health relies on a balanced pH diet.
Hard Water - Good or Bad?
Hard water isn't bad for you. It contains lots of dissolved calcium and other minerals. In fact people who live in hard water areas are less likely to get heart disease. Hard water has a positive influence on cardio-vascular health, liver health and general body health. Here are a couple of reports about it:
BEST WAYS TO FILTER WATER
A slow-flow through activated carbon filters will remove a fair amount of most contaminants, even Fluoride. Some filters even rated for 99.99% removal of contaminants (see #1, below).
WATER IONIZERS: For Those Who Want the BEST
A water ionizer is a unique machine, with many health benefits associated with it.
For more information about me, here is my testimonial. I urge you to study this subject further by clicking this button. It changed my life.
Comparing The Cost of Water Filters vs Bottled Water
This chart shows the cost of water ionizers or the PH Pitcher, over time. are far cheaper than bottled water.
