Is it better to drink bottled water or tap water?
Jules, 7 and a half.
Thank you for your question, which many people are asking. In fact, there
are several questions in one: is it better for taste, for health, for
the environment?
A different taste for your taste buds
People often choose to drink bottled water because they think it tastes better than tap water. The taste of water comes from its mineral salts and trace elements. Groundwater is in contact with rocks and will have more minerals than river water. Bottled water comes mainly from groundwater and springs, whereas tap water can also be taken from lakes and rivers: this is the case for almost 40% of tap water in France. Tap water can have an unpleasant taste due to the chlorine used to disinfect it, but simply leave the uncapped carafe of water in the fridge for a few hours: the smell and taste of chlorine will disappear.
Tap water is good for your health
People often think that bottled water is safer, but in France,
tap water is treated and disinfected. It is regularly monitored and subjected to very strict health standards, enabling us to drink it without risk every day. Tap water is therefore said to be safe to drink. Bottled water is not always potable, as some mineral waters do not necessarily meet these standards, and it is not advisable to drink the same mineral water every day. In fact, consuming too much or too little of certain minerals is not good for long-term health.
For the environment, limit plastic bottles
You should also know that drinking bottled water has a greater impact on the environment
than drinking tap water. Bottled water passes through a bottling plant, a storage center, stores and the consumer's car. On average, it travels an estimated 300 kilometers to reach our glasses. Then, a plastic bottle will end its life in an incinerator, be recycled (1 bottle out of 2 is recycled) and, in the worst case, be left in nature where it takes between 100 and 1000 years to degrade. Finally, having healthy tap water is a luxury that many people in some countries don't have, so don't hesitate to drink it!
Yvan Altchenko, hydrogeologist (AgroParisTech UMR GEAU)
and Flavie Cernesson, hydrologist (AgroParisTech UMR TETIS), members of the international UNESCO ICIREWARD center.
An article in partnership with The Conversation website.
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