Drinking water has evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry over the last several years. This rapid growth has spawned every imaginable type of drinking water as companies try to find their niche in this rapidly growing industry. On retail shelves you'll find everything ranging from natural spring water to electrolyte-enhanced distilled water. What does this all mean? The bottled water industry might have the most innovative and effective marketing strategies of all consumer products.

Do consumers really know what they're getting when buying bottled water? The packaging can be impressive, but also misleading. The regulations on bottled water are very loose. The FDA states that bottling companies are only required to state the source from which their water was acquired, not how it was treated or purified. There are several studies that have shown some bottled water to be nothing more than plain old tap water -- the same stuff you pay for on your water bill each month!

It sounds appealing that the source of some bottled water is from a picturesque mountain stream or natural spring, but would you really drink water directly from  a mountain stream? Consider this...what if you went trout fishing in the mountains, would you dip a cup in the stream and take a big swig of water to quench your thirst? Probably not. Running streams and natural springs are natural habitats for fish and other wildlife that naturally eliminate their waste in these waters. Does it still sound appealing? So back to bottled natural spring water...wouldn't it be important to know how the water was treated before it reached your mouth, and how the biological and inorganic contaminants were removed from the water before being bottled? Don't be duped by these aggressive and appealing marketing strategies.

The example above is an extreme example only to illustrate a point. At minimum you can expect bottled water to meet the minimum standards of your local municipal water supply -- in other words, "tap water". Quality is only part of the equation. Cost to you and profits to the bottling companies are the other half of the equation. Bottled water is a highly profitable business. Have you considered how much you're paying for bottled water when measured against what you're paying for gasoline? Let's say a gallon of gasoline is $2.00 per gallon.  It's not uncommon to pay $1.50 for a liter of bottled water! Have you done the math yet? In comparison to gasoline, you're paying $5.69  per gallon for bottled water! Now that you know what you're paying, are you at all curious what it's costing the bottled water company? High-volume commercial purification systems can purify a gallon of water for about a penny (sometimes less). They of course have to bottle and ship it, so let's say the total packaging and shipping cost is $0.50 per 1 liter bottle.  Not a bad profit when you're paying equivalent to $5.56 per gallon!

What's the point of all this? If you're concerned about your drinking water, you can make your own purified drinking water for a fraction of the cost of buying it from the store or having it delivered to your home or office. QH&W offers home and commercial distillation drinking water appliances through our Quality Water Systems division.  Distilled water is recognized as the purest form of water, and the benchmark by which all other water is measured. The average cost to operate a typical home distillation appliance is about 3 Kwh per one gallon of water. If you're paying 6¢ per kilowatt for electricity, it'll cost you about 18¢ to distill your own freshly distilled drinking water! Furthermore, you'll have the peace of mind knowing it was freshly distilled right in your own home or office.

Peace of mind is an interesting concept and can have a couple different meanings when thinking about bottled water. Of course you want peace of mind in regards to the quality of your drinking water, but have you considered the likelihood of a terrorist attack on our drinking water supplies? Bioterrorism is a serious risk that can't be ignored in today's world climate. How well do you know the delivery person bringing your water to your home or office? What security measures has your local water municipality implemented to ensure your drinking water is safe? The truth of the matter is that you have no control, and there are multiple points of compromise for a terrorist attack on our drinking water supplies. Your safest bet to ensure the safety of your drinking water is to purify it at your home or office. The industry refers to this as point-of-use (POS).

For more information on our distillation drinking water appliances and general drinking water education, please visit http://www.qualitywatersystems.net.