Are Water Filters Sustainable? What Most People Don’t Consider 🤔

Australians have more choice than ever when it comes to drinking water.

For most households, tap water is treated to meet Australian drinking-water standards. But many consumers still choose bottled water because of concerns about taste, ageing plumbing, dissolved minerals, chlorine, or other substances they would prefer to reduce before drinking.

The problem is that relying heavily on bottled water creates another issue: cost, plastic waste and a much larger environmental footprint.

So how did bottled water become so popular, and is there a more sustainable alternative?

How bottled water took over the world 🗺️

Bottled water has existed for well over a century, but its popularity increased dramatically during the second half of the twentieth century.

Early bottled water was commonly sold in glass containers and was often marketed as a convenient alternative in places where drinking-water quality or availability was inconsistent.

The introduction of inexpensive plastic packaging made bottled water lighter, cheaper to transport and far easier to distribute on a large scale.

By the 1990s and 2000s, some of the world’s largest beverage companies had entered the bottled-water market, helping turn what had once been a relatively niche product into an everyday consumer purchase.

Marketing also played an important role.

Bottled water was increasingly positioned around ideas such as purity, health, hydration and convenience. Over time, carrying a bottle of water became completely normal — and for many people, preferable to simply filling a glass from the tap.

The result is now a huge global industry.

For consumers who regularly buy bottled water, however, the convenience can come with considerable financial and environmental costs.

The Environmental Impact 🌲

The environmental impact of bottled water goes far beyond the bottle itself.

Producing bottled water can involve:

• manufacturing plastic bottles;
• processing and packaging the water;
• transporting bottles to warehouses and retailers;
• refrigerating products in some retail environments; and
• collecting, recycling or disposing of the packaging afterwards.

Each stage requires energy and resources.

Research has found that bottled water can require substantially more energy to produce and distribute than supplying the equivalent volume of tap water.

Plastic production is also closely linked to fossil-fuel consumption, while transportation adds further greenhouse-gas emissions — particularly where bottled water travels long distances before reaching the consumer.

Then there is the waste.

Although plastic bottles can be recycled, not every bottle makes its way into a recycling system. Plastic pollution remains a major environmental problem in Australia and around the world, affecting waterways, oceans and wildlife.

Bottled water may also use additional water during its manufacturing and supply process beyond the amount ultimately contained in the bottle.

Taken together, this means the environmental footprint of bottled water can be significantly greater than simply drinking water supplied through the tap.

Microplastics

Another issue receiving increasing attention is microplastic and nanoplastic contamination.

Studies have detected plastic particles in samples of bottled water, although concentrations vary depending on the product, packaging and analytical method used.

This does not mean bottled water is automatically unsafe to drink.

It does, however, highlight an important point: bottled water is not necessarily a completely contaminant-free alternative simply because it comes in a sealed bottle.

For consumers trying to reduce their dependence on single-use plastic, this creates another reason to consider alternatives.

A more sustainable alternative

One option is to filter water at home rather than repeatedly purchasing bottled water.

A high-quality filtration system can allow households to use their existing water supply while reducing selected substances depending on the filtration technology used.

Different filtration methods perform different jobs.

Activated carbon filtration, for example, can help reduce substances associated with taste and odour, including chlorine.

Reverse osmosis goes further by using a semi-permeable membrane designed to reduce a wide range of dissolved substances and contaminants that conventional carbon filtration alone may not target.

For households that currently purchase large quantities of bottled water, using a reusable filtration system can also significantly reduce reliance on single-use plastic bottles.

That can mean:

• less plastic packaging;
• fewer bottled-water purchases;
• less transportation associated with bottled water; and
• potentially lower long-term drinking-water costs.

If you want to find out more about this you can visit https://h2ostores.com/ 

Sources

Waters Co Australia
https://www.waterscoaustralia.com.au/blogs/news/bottled-water-vs-filtered-water

Sustainability — Environmental Impacts of Bottled Water
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/12/9760

The Water Project — Bottled Water and Waste
https://thewaterproject.org/bottled-water/bottled_water_wasteful

WWF Australia — Plastic Pollution
https://wwf.org.au/get-involved/plastic-pollution/dont-let-nature-go-to-waste/

Minderoo Foundation — Plastic Waste Makers Index
https://cdn.minderoo.org/content/uploads/2021/05/27094234/20211105-Plastic-Waste-Makers-Index.pdf