What Is The Real Cost Of Bottled Water?
Sun, May 4, 2008
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As John McCain and Hillary Clinton tell Americans tales of a gas tax holiday to relieve us of a whole 20 cents per gallon this summer (we’re paying more than four dollars anyway) it’s probably worth discussing one of the other reasons that gas is so darn expensive…
Of course, the reason is demand. Although developing countries such as China and India take the blame, there are other forces at work. Bottled water for example, which despite being past its peak, consumes roughly 17 million barrels of oil every year, not including transportation. The worst part of it is that that’s not even half the problem.
In addition to the 17 million barrels of oil (equivalent to just under the GDP of the Cayman Islands at today’s prices) used in production, bottled water consumes gallons and gallons of water.
Three gallons of the wet stuff is required to produce one gallon of what you will happily pay a dollar for, largely because of the length and complexity of the various “purification” processes and the evaporation loss that takes place while the water is in the plant. This is quite an ugly statistic, when juxtaposed to the fact that less than one percent of the water on our planet is both accessible and potable.
Besides the extravagant amount of oil used to make the bottles and large volumes of water used in the bottling process, there are of course, several other considerations. Firstly, there are the transport costs – by the time you transport every bottle by rail or truck and keep it cool, you may as well have filled it one-fourth of the way with oil. Let’s also not forget the operating costs of the factories themselves and the profit the bottled water companies have to make for their shareholders.Therefore, purely from an economic standpoint, if you only drink bottled water, you’re a mug.
Beyond that, there is also an environmental impact from production. This in fact, is quite simple to calculate: every ton of PET plastic for the bottles produces 3 tons of carbon–adding 2.5 Million tons of carbon dioxide emissions to the 17 million barrels of oil.
Info from the Pacific Institute
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4 Trackbacks For This Post
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El real costo del agua embotellada Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 4:06 am[...] artículo, What Is The Real Cost Of Bottled Water? (inglés), donde se trata el tema del costo real en términos energéticos y medio ambientales del [...]
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Bottled Water: Making a Big (Bad) Impact Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 2:28 pm[...] good folks at Environmental Graffiti break down the true cost of bottled water – factoring in everything from the bottle manufacturing process to the oil burned in [...]
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Don’t Drink Bottles of Water « Greener Garden State Says:
May 19th, 2008 at 10:04 pm[...] to this article, 17 million barrels of oil are used to produce these plastic bottles, which we thoughtlessly toss in [...]
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An Idea Worth Saluting « Doug - Off the Record Says:
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:21 pm[...] be overtones in schools ecologically and for the parents financially. Not to mention the total cost of producing water in bottles that can be saved by this [...]
May 5th, 2008 at 2:42 am
We applaud the higher prices for gas. The higher the price of oil, the sooner we will have clean alternative energy. Americans need to learn to be less wasteful. We drive the biggest cars in the world. Our entire society is designed around driving. It is dumb!
The prices are going no where but up. Get used to it folks. The sooner oil and the internal combustion engine are obsolete the better.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
That’s why I say a good bottle of wine never hurt anyone. Glass of course made from sand and without the deleterious human health effects of some plastics that are being discovered.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I find it funny how all these “anti-bottled water” people only refer to water. What about coca-cola, and other beverages? Don’t they use water? Stop crying over nothing. I’d rather people be paying for bottled water, than drinking soda by the gallon.
Guess what? I buy bottled water, because I do not like fluoride in my water, fluoride is a posion used to kill rats.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Our society in America was built upon driving for convenience. This, in no way, is our fault. We are not wasteful for driving big cars, that is what we have to drive. We do not live in a country where are roads are 4′ wide, and very few of us live within a few miles of work. Yes, while I agree 100% that we need to evolve into a country with renewable energy, and electric cars, this all takes time.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I like bottled water and will continue to drink it!
May 5th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
No, we do not “need” to drive big cars, unless you mean because most of us a so fat we cannot fit into the same size vehicles the rest of the world happily drive?
May 5th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Mwhwhwahahahahah!!!!
Oh man, that is great!
First of all my dear, the place is called USA, NOT America. THREE countries make up North America and a bunch make up South America. USA is ONE country amongst all those.
Secondly, the Americas were NOT built to accommodate cars and particularly not Hummers and every type of SUV and MiniVan out there. There is NO necessity for those large vehicles, regardless of the size of road. Oh, and for the record, the roads in the UK are much smaller than those in the US and people still drive huge vehicles there.
Lastly, whose fault is it then when you choose to by a huge, petrol-sucking vehicle? Hmm??? Who’s forcing you down to the dealership to buy that car?
Don’t be silly.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
I drink bottled water every day, and when I’m done I throw away the plastic bottle. Why you ask? Because I simply don’t give a damn. The world’s going to hell in a handbasket, the least of my worries is “what can I do to save the enviroment” Once the US lanuches it’s nukes at Iran, it’s all over, hope you like the irriadated enviroment we have left because you pussies were too busy with plastic bottles to give a shit about real issues.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Tap water is great, but when you live in Phoenix and you don’t want to have permanent Diarrhea you have to drink bottle water.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I haven’t researched the specifics of some of thesde arguments, but several simply aren’t logical. I shall only address the ones to which I can speak, and the readers can infer possible mistakes with the rest of the logic.
Three gallons of the wet stuff is required to produce one gallon of what you will happily pay a dollar for, largely because of the length and complexity of the various “purification” processes and the evaporation loss that takes place while the water is in the plant. This is quite an ugly statistic, when juxtaposed to the fact that less than one percent of the water on our planet is both accessible and potable.
If the water were potable, it would not require purification. All water delivered for human consumption is purified and filtered, whether it is delivered in bottles or through pipes to your house.
Also, the writer decries the fact that there is much loss of water during this process. As we all know, this water is not “lost”, it simply evaporates. Then comes back at rain. To renew the cycle.
Many people who make these arguments state that most of the water on earth is salt and therefore undrinkable, and this is completely true, however they fail to understand that ALL the fresh water we drink if frm those same oceans, desalinated through evaporation. for every drop of water that flows into the ocean from the great rivers, a drop is moved from the ocean to the mainlands. Please… PLEASE! use your heads and know that we are NOT going to “run out” of fresh water. The supply in a given area may not meet current demand, but you can never deplete it permanently.
In my area (Dallas) the biggest issue for water conservation is sprinkler systems for our beautiful lawns. I know for a fact that I (who use my irrigation systems very little) use many HUNDREDS of times more water for my grass than I do buying bottled water, and I love my bottles.
How about we go after the sprinklers before we go after bottles?
May 5th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I have to say I don’t drink it….and if you don’t like fluoride in your water, get a filter! A one-time buy with only minimal cost to replace filters after that. I have one on both my faucets and shower in my apartment.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
You get an A+ for drama and going to extremes.
The difference between bottled water and soda is that water is supplied conveniently in many homes from any number of sinks or sometimes a refrigerator, soda is not.
Your comment about fluoride is silly. There are health benefits to fluoride in the proper doses and to imply otherwise is a bit ridiculous.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Yes bottled water is bad, but many offices in the uk don’t have drinkable tap water because of poor antiquated plumbing ect. Much of our water is ok to drink, i mean ok as in its not going to kill you, but then drinking your oun urine probably wont kill you immediatly either but it will taste terrible. Get a grip if you put the resources you use to deride bottled water into supporting renewable fules for transport ect then we would have such a big problem would we?
Who is the mug now?
May 5th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Some of those posters really typify the rotten attitude we have in America today. Selfish and ignorant. I LOVE bottled water. I would buy huge bottles of it every day if I could. The Brita just doesn’t match Poland Spring for taste. But I’m not such a doosh that I could hold my head up if I was really that inconsiderate and selfish to completely waste the earth’s resources just so I can like the taste of water more. There are people starving all over the world without clean water to drink.
As for gas, look back at the war efforts during WWII. People didn’t waste ANYTHING. It’s sad to think that today’s Americans can’t even give up their gas-guzzlers or bottled water to help the future, because it means a minor inconvenience.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Where’s the sources to back up your facts?
May 5th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
apparently you’re also stupid because dentists gives you flouride for your teeth.
iron is a poison too in large amounts so no more of that. heck avoid water too since if you drink too much you could die.
bottled water like most of the things we Americans do is stupid. this is interesting reading though.
drink the tap water. it won’t kill you douchebags.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Interesting. What’s the answer?
May 5th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
“We applaud the higher prices for gas. The higher the price of oil, the sooner we will have clean alternative energy.” I hate pricks like you, I live in the UK and there isnt a public transport system that will allow me to get too and from work quickly and cheaply so i have to drive. Luckily for me work pays my fuel but i feel very sorry for people who dont get this and have a increasingly large chunk of there pay packet taken, as far as im concerned energy should be a service and how that service is produced i dont care i want to turn on a light in my house and where the elec came from for that isnt my concern becuase it should be down to the service provider and the goverment to make it green… same with travel if there were a viable alternative to my car then i would use it … but there isnt so i have no choice. I hate fucking wannabe hippies that critacise everyone for dirivng a car using energy when they are happy to sit at home and sponge
May 5th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
I live in a portion of the US with horrendous water. It not only tastes bad, but is also very hard. The water softener only makes it taste a bit saltier and flatter. I do reuse bottles and I buy bulk water from Water and Ice, that uses RO/DI process. While this uses a lot of water, what am I supposed to do?
May 5th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
You think you like bottled water, but thats just good marketing. The differences tend to be minimal, aside from convenience. Try getting a filter for your tap and some re-usable bottles. Will save you money in the long run, and you won’t have to carry heavy cases of water home from the supermarket… Although, I’m sure you just get those delivered….
May 5th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Buy a filter, there are plenty of them that will remove hexafluorosilicic acid (H2SiF6) and its salt sodium hexafluorosilicate (Na2SiF6).
Also, these are used as rat poison, not the fluorides listed above, learn some basic chemistry,
* aluminum phosphide
* calcium phosphide
* magnesium phosphide
* zinc phosphide
May 5th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Am I the only person that became thirsty for bottled water after reading this article and looking at the picture?
It’s sad that bottled water wastes so much, but as a whole I doubt it’s impact is as significant as other food/consumable production.
Has anyone gone through the costs/effects of home water filtration units? If only our tap water were as pure as it should be to begin with.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
I have a Everpure H-1200 filtration system and it works great. It will filter 1000 gallons and replacement cartridges are only $180 for both. Compare that with drinking bottled water every day and it comes out pretty cheap and better for the environment.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
ok… so bottled water consumes 17 million barrels of crude oil a year. we as Americans ALONE consume 20 million a DAY. in addition each barrel is allocated into percentages for refining purposed (motor oil, gasoline etc.) so on a greater scale… ask yourself if this is a big deal… i say yes when it comes to the price of a bottle of water, on the gas side we save nothing not even a penny at the pump. i love the STRONG LIBERAL vocabulary this hippie blogger used to make it seem this was a major concern for gas prices…. GET A JOB HIPPIE
May 5th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
An important point that the author leaves out is that there are no federal regulations on bottled water, though our tap water is highly regulated. When I was serving in Americorps in Atlanta, we heard a lecture from a water advocate who had us all squirming in our seats with how disgusting Georgia’s tap water is. My first question to him was whether he drank bottled water. Surprisingly, he doesn’t, “Better the devil you know,” he said. Don’t think for a second that bottled water is in some way of higher quality. In fact, after Fiji water did an ad campaign disparaging Cleveland tap water, Cleveland retaliated with a survey. Turns out that the Cleveland water tastes better and has less bad stuff in it.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Those who think they like and hence drink bottled water are true “consumers”. They buy it because buying things makes them feel good. Spending gives them a sense of power. They will often waste half of the bottle of water. Wasting stuff is also a power trip.
This type of mentality considers you are a pussy if you are thrifty. Thrift is not very macho in their minds.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Water Filters! Cheaper AND cleaner than well-marketed bottled water any day.Water from plastic bottles does have that plastic taste. Plastic is also a petroleum product–as in oil! Buy bottled water and you’re just perpetuating the dependence on foreign oil! While you’re at it, switch to synthetic oil next time you get an oil change. Just don’t believe the hype about changing oil every 3,000 miles. Synth oil is good up to 15,000 miles.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
The fallacious arguments are killing me! :-)
First of all, the point is that bottled water has an alternative. Tap water. Show me an alternative to soda from a can or a bottle which can be piped into my household and I’ll gladly switch.
Secondly, it is interesting to note that all bottled waters have flouride in them. Some are actually at higher levels than tap water (in some geographical areas, particularly metropolitan areas)!
May 5th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Wow. Lovely. What real issues are you referring to? That your government wants desperately to get into Iran, damn the consequenses? When was the last time there was forced conscription in the US? Yeah, Watch for that to happen again soon!.
ent we have left because you pussies were too busy with plastic bottles to give a shit about real issues.
Ah… bring water from home?
Get a grip if you put the resources you use to deride bottled water into supporting renewable fules for transport ect then we would have such a big problem would we?
Sorry. Still don’t get the reason one cannot find other ways to transport water. Oh, and by the way, the testing that has been done on bottled water shows much higher concentrations of bacteria than regular tap water. Add to that whatever chemicles leech into the water from the bottles it is stored in… yuck. No thanks.
Urine, for the record, is sterile and yes, drinkable. Tastes crap, but you’re right, it won’t kill you.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
This is an absolutely terrible article. There are many, many legitimate reasons why overuse of bottled water is shortsighted and wasteful, *however* the source linked for this posting is absolute rubbish. They seem to be trying to intentionally skew what they’re presenting, which is intellectually dishonest at best.
Firstly they assume that all required energy is being created directly from crude oil, which is silly. They couch the statement by saying ‘the equivalent of’ which makes it technically defensible, but they are obviously trying to present an image. It seems to work, because the posting above presents it as being a straight up oil value. If I wanted to, I could go on and on about how it takes two Hiroshima’s (equivalent) to make a year’s worth of bottles.
This is, of course, completely ignoring the fact that when you look at footnote two (which is apparently the source for the energy used to make a bottle) there is no mention anywhere on the page of that number. It’s a flowchart of materials used in plastic manufacturing.
The next statement, regarding CO2 production is sourced, but a couple of minutes of looking hasn’t tracked down an original copy of the report. It is, however, my suspicion that they’re quoting a number that assumes every bottle is created from new materials. Recycling of consumer bottles is commonplace and cuts CO2 emmissions significantly.
The third one, regarding how 3 times as much water is used as is produced isn’t even worth commenting on. They make absolutely no attempt to cite anything and just say it’s what they ‘estimate’. That’s utterly worthless drivel from an organization that pretends to be a research and information gathering organization.
This is a perfectly valid direction to investigate and I’m sure there are dozens of well put together reports that investigate the environmental impact of bottled water. This one, however, is absolutely worthless.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
You are supposed to get your own RO system. They are not that expensive and very inexpensive to maintain. They make a great add-on to a softener system; I have one.
May 6th, 2008 at 3:47 am
When you say that people who drink bottled water are mugs, mugs of what exactly? Mugs of water? This just doesn’t make any sense to me. No one has ever witnessed a mug of water trying to drink a bottle of water. These things just do not happen in nature.
May 6th, 2008 at 4:06 am
I must say that Atlanta’s tap water is pretty good and i would rather drink it than bottled water but whatever way you look at it energy goes into supplying households with water and in some places it is safer to drink tap water. my father worked in a coke plant (the kind used to make plastics) for a good number of years and the tap water was not drinkable due to all the contaminants floating in the air. Its all about supply and demand
May 6th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Yawn
Still drinking bottled water
May 6th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Tell me, do you know how much water and plastic Hollywood uses to produce DVDs and CD’s? In 2005, DVD’s alone produced 214,000.000 lbs of plastic. How much water? Who knows. Stop buying DVDs and CD’s and save the freaking planet.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:39 am
Have you considered purifying your own tap water? And if it makes you feel more sophisticated, after purifying it from the faucet, bottle it yourself! Just make sure to reuse the same bottle many times over, please.
May 7th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
haha … lets tack on more zeros at the end there, it’ll make it seem like a bigger number. …
There’s many much bigger issues at hand than freaking bottled water, but it’s not about how much we consume, it’s that we consume. You can’t change ppl with one quick swoop and say “you will now not buy SUV’s” .. nah it takes baby steps, and not drinking bottled water is one of those small steps. It gets u to start thinking green, so that in the long run u will choose not to waste as opposed to be forced to have to not waste … we’re much more likely to change if we have a choice about it, and much more likely to make small changes than big enourmous ones like not ever driving SUVs
May 8th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Why should India and China take the blame for rising oil prices?
May 8th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
The vast vast majority of municipal water is perfect for drinking. We have terrific water in our city yet everyone in my former office chose bottled water for convenience alone. It’s shameful.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Hi David,
I agree that bottled water for Coke et. al. is equally bad. A couple things to add: your assumption that you are not getting fluoride in bottled water is mistaken. See the NRDC tests on bottled water. Lots of it has fluoride and other chemicals. Well-filtered tap water carried in a reusable bottle is not only far cheaper but you can have much purer water. Secondly, the environmental cost of created soft plastic bottles – for Coke, water, whatever – and then paying for trucks to ship it around, and burning fuel to keep it cold burns a lot of petroleum and hurts the environment. This is unsustainable, and we need to do better.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:14 am
Wow, great discussion, and some ridiculous theories. But, putting those aside, we should all agree that the convenience that our country in particular thrives upon, is killing this world. Fast food restaurants and single serving containers makes for far too many things to be thrown away, recycled, etc. If you buy in bulk and store the products in reusable containers, you greatly reduce the amount of waste your household ‘makes’. Water is the same thing. If you don’t have potable water from your faucets, do the right thing: get reusable jugs from a water store, and get those refilled. When you run out of the house, don’t grab a puny, disposable water bottle. Rather, go buy yourself a SIGG bottle and refill from the large bottle. BULK is the answer to many things.
Many people think that since they recycle those little bottles that they’re doing the right thing. I thank you for recycling, but I won’t applaud you until you start doing the right thing, and stop living off of convenience.
October 31st, 2008 at 8:11 pm
I feel guilty drinking bottled water.
November 8th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
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November 24th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
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