Americans drank over 46 gallons of bottled water per person in 2023, according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation. Yet most bottled water is not safer or cleaner than tap water – and often is simply tap water put into plastic bottles.
Unlike public water suppliers, bottled water manufacturers are not required by law to disclose the levels of any contaminants in their products – including those linked to health concerns – so you don’t know what you’re getting.
here are extreme circumstances where bottled water might be the safest option. For example, starting in 2014, residents of Flint, Mich. were forced to rely on bottled water when their tap water was considered unsafe to drink. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes and wildfires caused by the climate crisis, may make tap water temporarily undrinkable in certain areas.
But for almost everyone else, filtered tap water is the clear winner. Here are five reasons why you should skip bottled water and choose filtered instead.
1. Save money
A gallon of bottled water at a convenience store can cost from $1 to $4 before tax. Tap water costs just $0.002 per gallon, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. If you buy bottled water, you’re paying as much as 2,000 times compared to getting it from the faucet.
Instead of spending money on plastic water bottles, consider investing in a high-quality tap water filter if it’s within your budget. Even low-cost filters can cut many contaminants from drinking water.
2. Learn what’s in your water
Laboratory testing by EWG revealed nasty stuff in popular brands of bottled water – disinfection byproducts, industrial chemicals, prescription drugs and even bacteria. Independent testing found the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS in bottled water.
But you’ll never hear that from your bottled water manufacturer, as the industry doesn’t have to disclose its testing for contaminants in the water it sells. Local tap water utilities are required to do such testing each year and release their findings to the public, so you have a better idea of what you’re getting when you rely on water out of your faucet.
3. Avoid plastics
A 2008 EWG investigation found that PET plastics – used to make water bottles marked with a “1” on the bottom – can contain dozens of chemical additives, manufacturing impurities and breakdown byproducts. These are among the 80-plus contaminants that could leach from the bottle into the water, which you then consume.
Drinking bottled water could also lead to the ingestion of microplastics in our bodies. Scientists have found over 200,000 particles of micro- and nano-sized plastic in an average liter of bottled water.
If you’re on the go, a reusable glass or stainless steel container is your best option.
4. Reduce trash and pollution
EPA statistics show that less than 30 percent of PET plastic bottles and jars were recycled in 2018. That means the other 70 percent clogged landfills, harmed fish and wildlife, and polluted waterways.
Scientists estimate that about 8 million tons of plastic enter the global ocean every year, with some collecting to form huge, free-floating landfills like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is estimated to be about twice the size of Texas.
5. Reduce energy use
Trash isn’t the only environmental problem caused by water bottles.
t takes energy to make the bottles, fill them with water and ship them to your local convenience store – sometimes over great distances. A seminal 2009 analysis by the Pacific Institute, a global water think tank, found that bottled water requires 2,000 times more energy to produce than tap water.
Why not keep it local – and filtered?
February 2025