Water Filtration

 Many people prefer bottled water because of its taste. The taste of all water has to do with the way it is treated and the quality of its source, including its natural mineral content. Most bottled water comes from a ground water source, where water quality varies less from day to day, or is treated and immediately bottled. Bottled water from a dedicated source or plant may have a more consistent taste than tap water, which comes from surface sources and must travel through pipes to reach homes.

One of the key taste differences between tap water and bottled water is due to how the water is disinfected. Tap water may be disinfected with chlorine, chloramine, ozone or ultraviolet light to kill disease-causing germs. Water systems use these disinfectants chlorine and chloramine because they are effective and inexpensive, and because they continue to disinfect as water travels through pipes to homes and businesses. Bottled water that is disinfected is typically disinfected with ozone or other technologies such as ultraviolet light or chlorine dioxide. Ozone is preferred by bottlers, though it is more expensive than chlorine because it does not leave a taste and because bottlers do not need to worry about maintaining disinfectants in water sealed in a container. Untreated water, whether from a bottle or a tap will invariably have the characteristic taste of its source.

If you are unhappy with the taste of your tap water, but also have a problem with the cost and/or environmental issues related to bottled water, there are a number of water filtration systems on the market today that offer an excellent alternative to both tap and bottled water, from basic filter pitchers to high-tech reverse osmosis units, with the cost factor becoming more and more excessible to the average person.

From the EPA Health Water Series.

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