We all know we should be trying to drink lots of water throughout the day to stay healthy and hydrated, but with all the choices out there (more than 3,000!) it's hard to tell what is really worth spending money on. After all, when some of us were kids, plain ol' well water or tap water was just fine. For others, tap water wasn't safe to drink, and bottled water was a must. When I lived in Germany as a preteen, there were multiple times that we were advised to not only not drink the water, but to even boil it before we even bathed due to pollution issues on the river that served as our local water source. Needless to say, my mom and I came home addicted to Evian bottled water!
Since I have a habit of drinking bottled water and avoiding tap water, it's hard for me to fathom, even today, that water straight from the sink could be just fine for my family to imbibe. However, the "greenie" in me wants to eliminate our bottled water purchases and switch over to Nalgene bottles for the road and glasses at home. Even with my recycling efforts, I am well aware that it's a good idea to cut back on those bottled water purchases. Besides, I've recently learned that some of the bottled water on the market is nothing more than - get this - bottles of tap water.
Knowing my history on the issue, you can imagine how that little fact freaked me out, can't you? Yes, my skin was truly crawling on that one.
So now I'm on a little mission to figure out which bottled waters are actually worth purchasing. After all, at home I have my beloved Brita water pitcher which filters most impurities out of the tap water we use. But on the road, if I am using a Nalgene bottle (favorites of my husband and daughter) or a Klean Kanteen, I'm going to have to refill it sooner or later. Do I want to do that, or do I want to just buy bottled water and keep it in a handy cooler on the road for refills?
So what is the diff, anyway? Here are five types of water and a brief explanation of what they are:
- Artesian: water that has filtered through an aquifer, such as Fiji brand. It's bottled directly from an underground well without coming into contact with surface impurities.
- Enhanced: water such as Glaceau's Smartwater, which has added electrolytes and vitamins.
- Mineral: water that contains at least 250 mg per liter of dissolved calcium, magnesium, salts and other such minerals. It can be "sparkling" or "still".
- Sparkling: water that has been carbonated by minerals or volcanic gases, such as Sanfaustino brand. (Other bubblies such as seltzer water receive a shot of carbon dioxide during bottling to make them fizzy.)
- Spring: any water that flows naturally to the surface of the earth from an underground source. Spring water can be carbonated or still and mineral content varies.
Goodness. So many choices, eh? Maybe it's time to just get a self-filtering bottle and use the tap after all!
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