Ah yes, the ubiquitous water bottle. Everywhere I look, someone’s holding one, flipping one, carrying one, tossing one, or drinking from one. As I’ve written in the past, some of the plastics from these water bottles are embedded with poisonous toxins, which is part of the reason I prefer my water from the tap – with an accompanying filter, of course. Tap water generally requires a filter, but according to some tests done on a variety of store-bought bottled waters, bottled water may need filtering as well.

The Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based environmental advocacy group, embarked on a two-year study that tested the water content of several bottled waters from the Atlantic region (Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia) and California. Of the 10 varieties of waters sampled, ALL of the varieties were contaminated with one or more chemical – an unsettling finding, to be sure. But two varieties tested were particularly unsettling: Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Choice water and Giant Food’s Acadia water.

The researchers found a veritable smorgasbord of chemicals, additives, stimulants and bacteria in these worrisome waters, including caffeine, chlorine, coliform (bacteria, fertilizer, chemicals from solvents, even the pain-reliever acetaminophen! All told, 38 different kinds of contaminants were found in the 10 samples, but again, they were most prevalent in the Wal-Mart and Giant Food water samples.

Now, despite the prevalence of the bacteria in these and more than likely many other water bottles that were not tested, they nonetheless pass federal water quality standards. Federal Health Standards mandate that no more than 80 parts per billion water units be contaminated, which allows Wal-Mart and Giant Food to skate by without fear of federal prosecution. But they may yet be served by California’s attorney general, at least if the Environmental Working Group has its way. Why? Because every state has its own environmental standards with regards to water contamination. California’s environmental standards are stringent: no more than 10 parts per billion can be contaminated. Both the Wal-Mart and Giant Food waters exceed that limit two and a half times over!

I’m not saying that a 100 percent pure water exists. But when people are paying two to three bucks for a 12 oz. bottle of water, the contaminants ought to be kept at a bare minimum (certainly less than 10 contaminated parts per billion).

Hopefully, this study will serve as a catalyst for many to start consuming more water from the tap. I understand that the tap isn’t an option for some due to high contaminant counts in communities and cities, but I’m currently researching a great filter that should take care of that. It’s called Aquasana and I’m truly impressed by it. Its filtration system provides a nice, crisp, clean water, with a taste that meets or matches some of the best waters I’ve had in the past (the best tasting water tastes like, you guessed it, nothing).

More details on this great filtration system will be provided in a future column.