Question

3. Based on the reading and your knowledge, write a short paragraph explaining whether you think it is safe to drink bottled water today. Support your responses with evidence.

Answer 1

Today most of the people are adding the habit of drinking bottled water into their life without knowing the pros and cons of the matter. In America bottled water is considered to have become a way of life. But the question arises is it good and healthy to drink bottled water at present? Since most of the people are quite sceptical about tap water therefore, according to the research almost 90% of people are shifting to the next available alternatives that is bottled water. However, today most of the tap water are drinkable because of the implementation of Safe drinking water act.

Taking United States for the base of following research and study, it is found that over the period there has been an accumulation of plastic bottles which is creating a problem of thrash and it is reported each year by US. According to the research which was done by the GAO (Government accountability office) recently in the year 2014 (which is the most recent data available) shows that almost 70% of plastic water bottles which are being sold in US are not going through proper FDA (food and drug administration) regulation checks.

Other than that, alone in the US the plastic water bottled industry is holding a total business of $19 billion in the year 2017. Moreover, during the presidents of both the parties in US, the food and drug administration were understaffed. In addition to that the agencies also allowed the industries to fill the bottle with tap water. However, it is not guaranteed whether the water is treated well or not.

Another research which was done in the year 2010 by the NRDC or Natural resource defense council conducted a research by testing more than 100 plastic water bottles. From the research they found that there where more than third of the plastic water bottles where containing traces of bacteria and chemicals more than the limit which was mentioned by the state or industry guidelines. One such similar example of another research by consumer reports done recently showed that most of the brands selling bottled water was unsafe because of the traces of arsenic found in them.

Therefore, from all the analysis of the research studies and reports it could be concluded that, at present drinking water from bottled water is not safe. Yes, it is true that there is a rise in demand and supply of bottled water, however, more strict regulations needs to be implemented to make it safer. Till then the above conclusion remains the same.