The UK is one of the largest consumers of bottled water in Europe. Offices provide water cooling machines, restaurants only offer bottled water and supermarkets sell more bottled water than any other soft or alcoholic drinks [6], but what are the environmental impacts of this consumption?
Bottled Water
The perception of bottled water is a clean, fresh and healthier alternative to tap water [7]. It is this perception along with convenience that has resulted in a multi billion pound bottled water industry that exists in the UK today [7] [6] [4]. However this perception is generally unfounded [7] [13] [3] and the detrimental environmental impacts outweigh any potential claims of health benefits.
What are the Environmental Impacts of Bottled Water?
- According to Thames Water a litre of bottled water produces approximately 600 times the quantity of CO2 than mains equivalent [9].
- Production of plastic and glass bottles uses significant quantities of energy, water and hazardous substances
- Global transportation of bottled water to meet demand results in a large international carbon footprint [10]
- The production of one plastic bottle can use up to seven times the amount of water held in a bottle [14]
- Disposal of bottles to landfill [10].
- There is no European legal requirement to display quality standards of the water contained in bottles [7].
Tap Water
Tap water is often taken for granted and is a precious commodity unfortunately not shared globally. The UK is fortunate having some of the cleanest providers of tap water globally and at a price up to 500 times cheaper than equivalent bottled water [7]. Tap water must meet strict quality standards, and consumers of tap water have the ability to check this quality through the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) [5]. Tests have also shown that tap water is just as safe as bottled water [3] [4].
What are the Environmental Impacts of Tap Water?
- The transportation of tap water from source to consumer can involve a distance of underground piping. These pipes can be poorly maintained and may result in a significant loss of water through leakage to the surrounding area. Reportedly in 2009, 3.29 billion litres of water were lost in the UK [2] enough to fill over 130,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.
- Impending drought caused by changing seasons and climate can lead to tap water demand competing with essential water for river maintenance [8] [12].
Which Source is the Sustainable choice?
When considering whether to purchase a bottle of water or pour another glass from the tap, the sustainability of the source of that water should be a key consideration. As demonstrated the more sustainable choice should be tap water.
However bottled water has, and continues to reduce its environmental impact. Labelling requirements have become more stringent, plastic bottles are more recyclable and contain reduced quantities of harmful chemicals [11] [6].
However these improvements are minimal and do nothing to tackle the carbon footprint associated with the production & transportation of the bottles, and the sourcing and processing of spring water. Unless in very specific circumstances (e.g. en emergency or tap water standards are not met) bottled water should be replaced with tap equivalent. Preparedness is the key to reducing bottled water consumption i.e. knowing when water will be required and carrying tap water in recyclable containers.
Although tap water is the obvious “environmental choice” much can be done to improve its transportation and storage which would further increase the sustainability gap between bottled and tap water.
References
[1] The Independent; ‘Environmental Insanity’ to drink bottled water when it tastes as good from the tap. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/environmental-insanity-to-drink-bottled-water-when-it-tastes-as-good-from-the-tap-405955.html, (2006)
[2] The Daily Mail; http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1291435/Enough-water-22m-people-leaking-water-firms-pipes-EVERY-DAY–warned-hot-weather-cause-hosepipe-ban.html (2010)
[3] Green Lifestyle Magazine: http://greenlifestylemagazine.net/issue-3/bottled-water-vs-tap-water.php, (date unknown)
[4] EHow: Bottled Water Vs Tap Water http://www.ehow.co.uk/about_5371489_bottled-water-vs-tap-water.html, (date unknown)
[5] The Drinking Water Inspectorate: http://www.dwi.gov.uk/, (2010)
[6] British Bottled Water Producers: http://www.britishbottledwater.org/vitalstats.html (2010)
[7] Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management: Bottled Drinking Water http://www.ciwem.org/policy/policies/bottled_water.asp (2005)
[8] Bottled Water Information: Sustainability and the Environment http://www.bottledwaterinformation.co.uk/default.asp?section=3&subsection=11 (2010)
[9] The Guardian: BBC accused of wasting £406,000of public money a year on bottled water. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/11/bbc-bottled-water (2009)
[10] All about Water; The effects of Bottled water on the environment: http://www.allaboutwater.org/environment.html (2008)
[11] British Soft Drinks Association: http://www.britishsoftdrinks.com/default.aspx?page=679 (2010)
[12] The Guardian; North-West England Faces Hosepipe bans after drought warning. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/20/north-west-england-hosepipe-ban-drought-warning (2010)
[13] BBC; Health: Fluids http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/nutrition/healthy_water.shtml, (2008)
[14] The Good Human: 12 Reasons to stop drinking bottled water. http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2008/12/29/10-reasons-to-stop-drinking-bottled-water/, (2008)
