The Dummy's Guide to Bottled Water

Bottled water brands

We have to admit that we've never quite figured out why some people insist on drinking bottled water. For one thing, when a sixteen-ounce bottle costs $1.29, the price per gallon is over ten dollars (some of the same people will drive ten miles out of their way to save two cents on a gallon of gas), for another most of that "fresh, pure water" comes out of municipal supplies. So why not drink from your own tap (unless, of course, you live in Flint)? Apparently, some folks are afraid of chemicals, so they asked, and Dawn Sutton of Leaf.tv sort of answered, "What Brands of Bottled Water Contain Chloride and Fluoride?"

Had Sutton been half aware of the bottled water industry, she would probably have discussed the difference between natural spring water, e.g. Crystal Geyser or Perrier, and mass-marked bottled tap water like Dasani or Aquafina. That sort of information is readily available... Sutton, on the other hand, preferred to go in a different direction...

"Many people assume that bottled water is purer and safer than tap water, however, The Environmental Group investigated nearly 200 popular bottled water brands and discovered that less than two percent disclosed three important pieces of information that can affect safety: the water’s source, purification methods, and the chemical pollutants in each bottle." Is this dumbass kidding? Chlorine and fluorine are "chemical pollutants"? Well, not necessarily, given that Dawn's very next sentence begins with the statement that, "Fluoride is a natural element found in all drinking water...", which is probably surprising to people who know that fluoride isn't an element, it's an ion. And it isn't found in all drinking water, either -- heck, Sutton's next paragraph says, "...most sources..."; so which is it: all or most? Or maybe "many"?

Whatever the case, we find Sutton's information suspect for several reasons, the first of which is that Dawn apparently has no idea what chloride and fluoride are or how they get in water. The second, however, is more important: she includes a conspiracy website (the page now has closed membership, but is available via the Wayback Machine) as the source of much of her "information." That by itself is grounds for receiving the Dumbass of the Day award.

copyright © 2017-2022 scmrak

SI - CHEMISTRY