Think Outside the Bottle

The Truth About Tap

Coca-Cola, producer of Dasani water, is currently under investigation for filling its bottles with filtered tap water and selling it to consumers at $1.00 - $1.50/pint (16 0z) while people can drink the same water at home for .0007 cents/pint.  

Approximately 25% of all bottled water is just tap water; sometimes treated, sometimes not! [Source: All About Water: allaboutwater.org] In a blind taste test, 75% of NYC residents preferred tap water to bottled water. Approximately 70% of bottled water is never tested by FDA (because it doesn't cross state-lines and is therefore exempt). Even the 30% of bottled water that is tested isn't tested as thoroughly as EPA tests for municipal water sources. The FDA requires that bottled water be tested once per week, whereas the EPA requires municipal tap water to be tested 100+ times per month. Waltham's drinking water comes from the Quabbin Reservoir and is provided via the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) distribution system. The MWRA supplies some of the best water in the United States, so don't waste your money on buying bottled water! Every municipal water supply is required to provide its customers with an Annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). Bottled water suppliers are not subject to this reporting requirement. You can access Waltham's CCR via the City's Water & Sewer web page or click here to download it now. Calculate what you could save by drinking tap water instead of buying bottled water - Click Here

Waltham's tap water is highly regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.  Waltham and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority test the drinking water system continually.  Problems detected, if any, must be communicated ASAP to citizens.  waltham's Water Department publishes an annual Water Quality Report and mails it to all households and posts it on their website. 

Bottle-Less Water Coolers and Britas Throughout campus there are numerous water fountains which provide cold, fresh water from the Quabbin Reservoir. If you still don't feel comfortable with tap water - consider investing in a Brita Water Filter. They are inexpensive and easy to use; and can save you hundreds of dollars wasted on buying bottled water. Even better: now on campus yuo can find bottle-less water coolers located in the La Cava Lower Cafe Eatery. These water coolers are connected to the tap and provide chilled water with extra carbon and micron filtration to remove 99% of chlorine and any residual lead or bacteria. So fill up your reusable water bottle! Stainless Steel Water Bottles Costs associated with single-use plastic water bottles spread far and wide. Popular bottled-water producers like "Fiji" have commodified a public resource, thereby restricting access to clean water by forcing people to pay for it. Unfortunately this often happens in developing countries where most people do not have enough money to pay for bottled water. When plastic bottles are not recycled plastic bottles sit in landfills for 700-1000 years, the time it takes for plastic to degrade. Additionally, many water bottles end up as ocean litter, polluting the environment and killing animals. For more information about this fact learn about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - a spot in the pacific ocean twice the size of the U.S. with a massive collection of man-made waste (also known as the Trash Vortex) The CRI (Container Recycling Institute) reports that only 4% of single-user water bottles get recycled, that leaves 4 billion (2 million tons worth) of water bottles in landfills or in the ocean. Buying one-time use water bottles costs the average American $400 a year - in 200 7 Americans spent $16 billion on bottled water. Re-using one-time use plastic bottles can pose a serious health risk. Research has shown that normal wear and tear to this plastic bottles (such as sitting in the sun or a hot car) can cause leakage of toxic chemicals such as BPA or DEHP; both chemicals linked to breast & uterine cancer. Producing bottled water uses 47 million gallons of oil per year [Source: Mother Nature Network] Take the Plastics Pledge! There is a section of the Pacific Ocean twice the size of the continental United States called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Within it, 100 million tons of plastics swirl in a vortex of currents. There is so much plastic in the water that it outnumbers zoo plankton six to one! This plastic ends up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals. In fact, one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die globally each year due to ingestion of, or entanglement in, plastics. Plastic is forever, with virtually every piece of petroleum based plastic ever made still in existence. That's why it's so critical to our oceans and beaches that we dramatically reduce our use of plastics, especially single-use plastics, starting today. You can make a difference for our world's oceans, waves and beaches -- pledge to rise above plastics today. [Excerpt Taken from: Plastic Pledge's About Page]