Safe Bottled Water

I imagine you've heard about the cover-up relating to the benzene contamination of the Camp Lejeune water supply, which resulted in about a million people drinking and bathing in carcinogenic water. When a story like that comes out, your reaction might be to view your own water supply with suspicion. If you use a public water supply, you can allay your fears (or confirm them, depending on where you live) by reading the analysis your water company sends you every year. I think most of the time those reports are accurate, so while they don't tell the whole story, you can get a sense of whether your water is something you want to drink.

If it's not, you can drink bottled water, but you need to be aware bottled water may not be any better or any different from tap water, plus you may get some bonus chemicals from the container. You can choose 'good' water by reading the label. You can drink water from a source you know and trust or you can drink water that has been purified such that the unwanted contaminants have been reduced or eliminated. The purification method is important. Water that has been purified using reverse osmosis or distillation will be free from most impurities. When I buy bottled water I look for water that has been purified using reverse osmosis. I should mention that drinking water purified using distillation and 'distilled water' are not the same thing and are not equally good for drinking. Drinking water purified using distillation is water that was already safe to drink that has been further purified using distillation. Distilled water, on the other hand, could be water leftover from some industrial process that has been purified using distillation so that it's safe enough for ironing your clothes... it could still contain nasty contaminants. You're probably okay drinking 'distilled water' from the grocery store, but with all the other options out there, it would not be my first choice. Water that has been ozonated or irradiated is free from bacteria, but may still contain heavy metals and organic compounds. Water that has simply been labeled 'filtered' is suspect... I could pour tap water through a coffee filter and call it filtered.