Bottled Water

Water went from being a free natural resource to one of the most successful commercial products of the last one hundred years. That's a big story, and water is big business. Gleick exposes the true reasons we've turned to the bottle, from fear mongering by business interests and our own vanity to the breakdown of public systems and global inequities.

How and why branded bottles of water have insinuated themselves into our daily lives, and what the implications are for safe urban water supplies. How did branded bottles of water insinuate themselves into our daily lives? Why did water become an economic good—no longer a common resource but a commercial product, in industry parlance a “fast moving consumer good,” or FMCG? Plastic Water examines the processes behind this transformation. It goes beyond the usual political and environmental critiques of bottled water to investigate its multiplicity, examining a bottle of water's simultaneous existence as, among other things, a product, personal health resource, object of boycotts, and part of accumulating waste matter. Throughout, the book focuses on the ontological dimensions of drinking bottled water—the ways in which this habit enacts new relations and meanings that may interfere with other drinking water practices. The book considers the assemblage and emergence of a mass market for water, from the invention of the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle in 1973 to the development of “hydration science” that accompanied the rise of jogging in the United States. It looks at what bottles do in the world, tracing drinking and disposal practices in three Asian cities with unreliable access to safe water: Bangkok, Chennai, and Hanoi. And it considers the possibility of ethical drinking, examining campaigns to “say no” to the bottle and promote the consumption of tap water in Canada, the United States, and Australia.

The Drinking Water Book takes a level-headed look at the serious issues surrounding America's drinking water supply. In the completely revised comprehensive guide to making tap and bottled water safer, you'll find unbiased reporting on what's in your water and how to drink safely. Featuring the latest scientific research, Ingram evaluates the different kinds of filters and bottled waters and rates specific products on the market. The Drinking Water Book: · Honestly and thoroughly tackles a subject vital to ongoing environmental, health, and safety concerns · Shows how to avoid bogus safety tests, scams, and unnecessary expenditures · Explains the toxins in our water, how to test for them, and how to get rid of them · Details which toxins aren't regulated by federal and state water standards

An in-depth look at the changing approaches that environmentalists, governments, and the open market have taken to water through the lens of world history. When we turn on the tap or twist open a tall plastic bottle, we probably don’t give a second thought about where our drinking water comes from. But how it gets from the ground to the glass is far more convoluted than we might think. In this revised edition of Drinking Water, Duke University professor and environmental policy expert James Salzman shows how drinking water highlights the most pressing issues of our time. He adds eye-opening, contemporary examples about our relationship to and consumption of water, and a new chapter about the atrocities that occurred in Flint, Michigan. Provocative, insightful, and engaging, Drinking Water shows just how complex a simple glass of water can be. “A surprising, delightful, fact-filled book.” —Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel “Instead of buying your next twelve-pack of bottled water, buy this fascinating account of all the people who spent their lives making sure you’d have clean, safe drinking water every time you turned on the tap.” —Bill McKibben, author of Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet “Drinking Water effortlessly guides us through a fascinating world we never consider. Even for people who think they know water, there is a surprise on almost every page.” —Charles Fishman, bestselling author of The Big Thirst and The Wal-Mart Effect “Salzman puts a needed spotlight on an often overlooked but critical social, economic, and political resource.” —Publishers Weekly

Bottled and Packaged Water, Volume Four in The Science of Beverages series, offers great perspectives on current trends in drinking water research, quality control techniques, packaging strategies, and current concerns in the field, thus revealing the most novel standards in the industry. As consumer demand for bottled and packaged water has increased, the need for scientists and researchers to understand how to analyze water quality, safety, and control are essential. This all-encompassing resource for research and development in this flourishing field covers everything from sensory and chemical composition, to materials and manufacturing. Presents a detailed analysis and sensory characteristics of water to foster research and innovation Provides the latest technological advancements and microbiological characterization methods in the field Includes regulatory tools for beverage packaging to help industry personnel maintain compliance

The objectives of this project were (1) to measure consumer satisfaction with tap water quality, (2) to investigate demographic trends in consumer satisfaction and consumption of tap water alternatives, (3) to identify the factors that cause consumers to purchase and use bottled water and POU/POEs, and (4) to develop a list of recommendations for water utilities that can improve consumer satisfaction and help bridge gaps between perception and reality. The following are highlights from the research project: Consumption rate of tap water alternatives is highly dependent on geographic location (20% usage rate in the Midwest vs. 80% on the West Coast). Tap water drinkers are more satisfied (20% on average) than tap water alternative drinkers concerning various aspects of tap water (e.g., overall quality, taste, appearance, smell, safety, healthiness). Tap water quality had limited influence on consumer satisfaction. The highest level of correlation (between satisfaction and water quality) was found to have an R2 - value of 34%-64% for hardness and total dissolved solids. Safety was the primary motivator for filtered water drinkers. Bottled water drinkers were divided between taste, safety, and healthiness.

Over the past decade, per capita consumption of bottled water in the U.S. has more than doubled. With this increase have come several concerns in recent years about the safety, quality, and environmental impacts of bottled water. The FDA regulates bottled water as a food and is responsible for ensuring that domestic and imported bottled water is safe and truthfully labeled. This report: (1) evaluated the extent to which FDA regulates and ensures the quality and safety of bottled water; (2) evaluated the extent to which fed. and state authorities regulate the accuracy of labels and claims regarding the purity and source of bottled water; and (3) identified the environmental and other impacts of bottled water. Includes recommendations. Illustrations.

Abstract: The hearing is the first on the activities of the bottled water industry and on the regulation of the industry by the Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition of the Food and Drug Admonistration. It addresses the inadequacies in the FDA's regulation of bottled water.