Congress takes a deeper look at bottled water

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on July 9 sent letters to 13 bottled water companies requesting documents related to testing of bottled water and its sources and lists of names and locations of each company's water sources.

The move followed a July 8 hearing at which federal officials pushed Congress to impose for more stringent safety guidelines for bottle waters. Read "Is Tap Water Safer Than Bottled?" from the Consumer Reports Safety blog for more details.

"Our hearing brought a great deal of information to light regarding the differences between the regulation of bottled water and tap water," commented Representative Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat, on the committee's Web site. "We also found that neither the public nor federal regulators know nearly enough about where bottled water comes from and what safeguards are in place to ensure its safety."

During the hearing, officials cited these findings from a June 2009 report by the General Accounting Office (PDF):

• The FDA lacks specific statutory authority to require bottlers to use certified laboratories for water-quality tests or to report test results, if violations of the standards are found. Public water companies, by contrast, must report make public the presence of dangerous contaminants violations within 24 hours.

• Bottled-water companies don't have to reveal the presence of DEHP, a phthalate recently banned for use in children's products.

• Only "a small percentage" of 83 bottled-water companies could provide the same level of detail as municipal systems about their water, based on the GAO's review of bottle labels, company Web sites, and direct queries to companies themselves.

• Many of the state officials surveyed said that consumers often believe bottled water is healthier than tap water.

• State standards for bottled water, while often stricter than the FDA's, are less strict than state standards for public tap water.

In his testimony before the committee, Joseph K. Doss, the president and CEO of the International Bottled Water Association, claimed the IBWA's Code of Practice for bottled water is even more stringent than FDA requirements for testing and monitoring. But on July 9, the IBWA issued a release saying it was willing to work with the FDA to address the issues contained in the GAO report.

The bottled-water industry has faced increasing questions about the health and environmental impact of its product, packaging, and production processes.

And last week, residents of the rural town of Bundanoon, Australia, voted to ban the sale of bottled water after they discovered that their well water was being shipped about 100 miles Sydney, bottled, and then shipped back to them for resale. The same day, the premier of the state of New South Wales voted to end government purchases of bottled water.—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential Information: Find out how to read your municipal water report and check out our report on water-filtration systems (ratings available to subscribers), which covers faucet-mounted, countertop, undersink, reverse-osmosis, and whole-house models.

In new policy statement, American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not giving well water to infants

If you get your household water from a private well, you probably know that you should check the well annually for potential impurities like Giardia intestinalis, Shigella spp., E. coli 0157:H7 and coliform bacteria, Campylobacter jejuni, nitrate from sewage or fertilizer, radon, and arsenic. Groups like the National Ground Water Association, NSF International, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advocate for an annual assessment of water for the 15 to 20 percent of U.S. households that rely on wells.

But if you have infants or young children at home, you should be aware of a new policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Since infants in particular cannot metabolize nitrate, the AAP recommends that you not use water with a nitrate concentration of more than 10 milligrams per liter to prepare infant formula or give well water to a child younger than one year old. The statement suggests using bottled water for infants when nitrate contamination is detected or when the source of drinking water is unknown.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), which worked with the AAP on its recommendations involving children's safety, goes further in its own warnings. If you think your well has suffered structural damage, you're at risk of drinking tainted water and should have the water tested in case contamination occurred, says the NIEHS. The illustration (above) shows the suggested distances between a well and a number of possible sources of contamination; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that farther is better.

Private wells aren't subject to federal regulations and are only minimally regulated by states, according to the NIEHS. Because potential water problems differ by region, pay particular attention to alerts from state and local health experts.—Ed Perratore | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Call the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791) to see whether your municipality provides free or inexpensive testing or to find a certified testing lab in your area. And read our review of various types of water filters (ratings available to subscribers) and learn how to decipher your water report.

Do you drink bottled water? Take part in the "Bottled Water Label Scavenger Hunt"

Over the past several months we've covered a number of issues related to drinking water, including posts on concerns about the quality of U.S. drinking water, possible contaminants in drinking water, and states requiring deposits on bottled water.

Another organization that pays a lot of attention to drinking and bottled water is the Environmental Working Group. The latest effort from the EWG is the Bottled Water Label Scavenger Hunt, which the group touted in an e-mail it sent out earlier today.

In the letter, the EWG asks, "Ever look at a bottle of water and wonder, 'Where does the water come from? Is it purified? Did the FDA make sure it's safe and clean?' "

The e-mail goes on to say that to participate in the scavenger hunt, "The next time you buy a bottle of water . . . choose a non-sparkling, unflavored water bottled in glass or clear plastic." The EWG wants you to remove the entire label from the bottle since it needs all information for its project. Then send the label with the following information to the EWG (Environmental Working Group, Attn: Nneka Leiba, 1436 U Street NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC, 20009): the name of and the location of the store where you purchased the water; the date you bought the water; and your name and e-mail and regular-mail addresses.

According to the EWG, the person who submits the most unique labels by June 15 will win a stainless-steel water bottle and a reusable grocery bag; anyone who participates will get the EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides magnet. e-mail | Twitter

Essential information: Learn how to decipher the report from your community water system.

More states requiring deposits on bottled water

The number of states requiring deposits on plastic bottles of water will reach six by the end of this year. In cash-strapped New York, the 5-cent deposit on bottles of water will go into effect on June 1, according to this USA Today report.

In New York, the move will not only cut litter and increase recycling but could also earn the state $115 million in unclaimed bottle deposits each year. Massachusetts might add its own deposit law for water, sports drinks, and iced tea in 2010.

Bottle deposits on water likely represent yet another troubling issue for the bottled-water industry. There have been reports of hazardous chemicals in bottled water, and the environmental impact of bottled water has gained prominence. Factor in the recession and money-conscious consumers possibly abandoning pricey bottled H₂O for tap water, and you can see how bottled-water companies might be hurting. After years of steady growth, total consumption of bottled water fell 1 percent in 2008 over the previous year, according to the International Bottled Water Association.

If you drink tap water already or are considering a switch away from bottled water—perhaps in advance of Earth Day on April 22—read our report on water filters (ratings are available to subscribers). Store water in containers that are free of bisphenol A, or BPA; these include polyethylene, stainless steel, or aluminum with BPA-free liners.—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter

Essential information: Turn your old plastic soda bottles into slow-release watering devices for your plants.

By the Numbers: UNICEF's Tap Project aims to provide safe, clean drinking water worldwide

$1

Minimal amount patrons of restaurants nationwide are being asked to pay for tap water as part of the third annual U.S. Fund for UNICEF's Tap Project, which runs through March 28 as part of World Water Week. A single dollar can provide 40 liters of safe, clean drinking water, enough for 40 children for a day, according to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

UNICEF says that almost 900 million people around the globe lack access to clean drinking water and that 4,200 children die every day of water-related diseases. The organization has efforts under way in more than 90 countries to enhance access to safe water and sanitation.

Last year, more than 2,300 restaurants in 44 states took part in the Tap Project. To find a restaurant in your area, perform a search here.

Essential information: Concerns about drinking-water supplies in this country remain, as we reported last fall. Since it's important to know what's in your water, learn how to decipher the report from your community water system. Then determine whether you need a home water filter.

EWG finds contaminants in bottled water

We recently reported on the debate over bottled drinking water and tap water. Bottled-water sales have boomed in recent years, but the backlash against it has seen tap water emerge as a more environmentally sound drinking option.

Concerns over the purity of bottled water, as reflected in a new report from the Environmental Working Group, might also force you to consider drinking only or switching back to filtered tap water. (Read “Deciphering Your Water Report” to learn how to determine the quality of the water at your home.)  The EWG tested 10 brands of bottled water, all of which came up positive for chemical contaminants. Cancer-causing agents were found in the samples bought in California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia.

If you’re considering flushing away bottled water for environmental, health, or, yes, financial reasons—bottled water costs many times the price of tap water—read our report on water-filtration systems, in which we reviewed carafe, faucet-mounted, countertop, undersink, reverse-osmosis, and whole-house models (available to subscribers). And watch Home Editor Bob Markovich’s recent appearance about drinking water and water filters on CBS’ The Morning Show.—Daniel DiClerico

Decades later, concerns about U.S. drinking water still exist

In 1974, Consumer Reports published a three-part series titled "Is the Water Safe to Drink?" The first installment was an indictment of the country's many contaminated water supplies; parts two and three discussed potential remedies. At the community level, Consumer Reports called for a rapid improvement of water-processing facilities. For individual households, the investigation identified two potential solutions: bottled water and home filters. (Download the three PDFs at the bottom of this post to read the series.)

Thirty-four years later, cleaning up the nation's water supplies remains a work in progress. In many states, at least 10 percent of the community water systems reported health-based violations last year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Drinking Water and Ground Water Statistics for 2007. (Nebraska had the highest level of systems with violations: 24 percent.)

Another hot-button issue related to drinking water is bottled water. Bottled water has become hugely popular among U.S. consumers in recent years and is a cash cow for its purveyors. But there's been a backlash against the consumption of bottled water because of the billions of plastic and glass containers created annually by this trend (see our Buzzword on precycling), not to mention questions about the quality and sources of the water in all those bottles.

Manufacturers of home-use water filters likely see an opportunity in the debate, hoping that consumers will abandon bottled water and use water filters instead. Indeed, during the last week of September, I attended a press event in New York City hosted by Zero Technologies, maker of the Z-Pitcher and Z-Bottle (shown). We haven't tested these products, which use five-stage ion-exchange filters and are designed not to clog, claims the manufacturer. (November 21 update: Brita, maker of water pitchers with filters, has announced its own filter-recycling program. Starting in early January 2009, you can drop of spent Brita filters at Whole Foods Market stores or mail them directly to Preserve, which makes products made from recycled materials. Go to www.brita.com in January for more details.)

For the "(How) Can We Go Back to Tap?" event, Zero Technologies assembled a panel that included Andrea Beaman, a holistic-health counselor and natural-foods chef; Laura Jana, M.D., a pediatrician who advocates against soda—and, hence, for water; Alex Matthiessen, president of Riverkeeper, an environmental group that works to protect the Hudson River; and Elizabeth Royte, author of Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It.

The consensus among panel members was that tap water is better than bottled water for the environment, noting that your tap water could be contaminated, so you should filter it. (Recognizing the potential negative environmental impact of spent filters, Zero Technologies has implemented a recycling program in which consumers who return their used filters to the company will get a discount on replacements.)

In our latest test of water-filtration systems, we reviewed  carafe, faucet-mounted, countertop, undersink, reverse-osmosis, and whole-house models. Read our report for all the details, including buying advice and ratings of more than two dozen models (available to subscribers).—Daniel DiClerico

Essential information: If you're concerned about the quality of the water in your area, check out your Consumer Confidence Report, or CCR. Learn how to obtain your CCR and understand the information in it by reading "Deciphering Your Water Report."

Download Is_the_water_safe_to_drink_part_1.pdf

Download Is_the_water_safe_to_drink_part_2.pdf

Download Is_the_water_safe_to_drink_part_3.pdf

How safe is your drinking water?

Nine states recently filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over a rule the federal agency published in June that, according to an October 2, 2008, report from the Associated Press, "exempts the discharge of pollutants in 'transfer waters' from permitting requirements." The states say the ruling could contaminate supplies of drinking water and harm fisheries.

Reading the rest of the story might raise concerns about how safe your drinking water is. If bottled water is not an option for you—be it for financial or environmental reasons—you might consider getting a carafe, faucet-mounted, countertop, undersink, reverse-osmosis, or whole-house type water filter.

Learn more about drinking water in our review of water filters, find out how to decipher the water-quality report you get from your water company, and refer to our Ratings of more than two dozen models (available to subscribers).

And be sure to watch this video of Home Editor Bob Markovich's recent appearance with Harry Smith on CBS' The Morning Show, during which they discussed drinking water and water filters.

 

March 22 is World Water Day

March 22 is designated as National Goof-off Day, but that date also signifies a more significant event: World Water Day.

While water conservation and quality have been a concern in many parts of the world for years, it wasn’t a mainstream issue in this country when the United Nations General Assembly designated the day during its 1992 Conference on Environment and Development.

But today large swaths of the United States are mired in drought conditions, the water infrastructure is in bad shape in some areas, and according to an Associated Press investigation earlier this month, traces of pharmaceuticals have been found in the drinking-water supplies of 41 million Americans.

The goal of World Water Day is to bring global water issues to the fore. This year’s theme is sanitation, which covers matters like hygiene promotion, sanitary facilities, water quality, and wastewater management. In 2006, the theme was water culture; in 2007, water scarcity.

What can you do about your own water? Start by assessing the quality of your water. Your community water system is required to provide you with an annual Consumer Confidence Report, or CCR, a detailed statement on the quality of the water in your area.

If you’re concerned about water quality and want to buy a water filter, read our latest report. The article covers the different types of filters, which range from carafes that you store in the refrigerator to whole-house systems; the Ratings (available to subscribers) include more than two dozen products.

If you want to conserve water at home, read “50 Ways to Save Water” on GreenerChoices.org and follow the tips here:

• Water your lawn only when necessary. "Watering Basics" offers detailed expert advice.

• Run your washing machine only when it's full. When you’re buying a new washer, refer to our water efficiency Rating to find a model that uses less water.

• Don’t wash dirty dishes by hand or prerinse them before loading your dishwasher. A household that uses its dishwasher almost daily could save up to 6,500 gallons per year by eliminating prerinsing.—Daniel DiClerico

Deciphering your water report: Can you have confidence in the water you drink at home?

Your community water system is required to provide you with a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), a detailed statement on the quality of the water in your area, every year. The report must include information on the source of your water, the detected levels of dozens of regulated contaminants as well as the corresponding federal and state limits, and details on how the water company is reducing levels of contaminants that are too high.

Our analysis of the CCRs from 25 major municipalities nationwide found that the information in those documents is often far less clear than the water. Only three municipalities met all federal and state limits on the regulated contaminants. None of the other 22 consistently exceeded those limits, but their CCRs showed that some tested water samples contained significant quantities of contaminants such as lead, chlorine, and E. coli.

To find out what's in the water you're drinking, you need to get a copy of the CCR from your water system. Larger water systems often post current and archived CCRs on their Web sites or those of the municipalities they serve. You can also find them at www.epa.gov/safewater/ccr/whereyoulive.html. Don't make your CCR evaluation a one-time project. We recommend that you compare your current CCR with earlier (and future) ones to determine whether a reported problem is a blip or a long-running issue.

Once you get the multipage report, look for the data tables, which are required to highlight any high levels of contaminants (story continues below).

Consider page 14 from the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority's "Drinking Water Quality Report 2005." (Download the report.) The Lead Results graph shows lead concentrations in the district's water during 2004 and 2005. In 2004, D.C.'s residents were getting water that was in gross violation of the Environmental Protection Agency's guideline for lead, which fixes the 90th-percentile concentration at 15 parts per billion (ppb) or less. In 2004, the 90th percentile in the nation's capital was 50 to 60 ppb.

While the lead levels did improve the next year, another table in the district's report shows that during the July to December 2005 monitoring period, 10 of 102 samples exceeded 15 ppb. Such results mean that almost 10 percent of the faucets might have been dispensing water above the EPA's action level. "Although the district did not technically violate the EPA rule," says Deborah Wallace, a senior project leader in the Consumer Reports Technical Division who conducted our recent testing of water filters, "the ratio of samples with elevated lead concentrations to total samples was so close to violation that compliance is really a matter of luck or of a sampling program very carefully designed to produce the appearance of compliance."

One aspect of CCRs could be confusing to consumers. Some contaminants, especially arsenic, lead, nitrate, nitrite, and radon, that are present in concentrations above federal or state limits but appear in only a small proportion of the samples require only a health warning in the report. They do not need to be highlighted in the tables. What's more, those warnings are often written so that they seem more like an explanation of a substance's potential health effects rather than an alert to its possible presence in your water. And you might have to scour the report for them. Fortunately, CCRs include a contact at the relevant water system to answer your questions and clear up any murky areas in the report, so call the company if you have any questions.

And remember, even the most thorough CCRs describe only the quality of the system's water as a whole and cannot provide specifics about what's flowing out of your tap. To find out whether the water at your home has picked up contaminants such as copper, lead, bacteria, and cysts, have it tested. Call the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791) to see whether your municipality provides free or inexpensive testing or to find a certified testing lab in your area. For more information from the EPA, visit the Ground Water & Drinking Water site.