Why Aren’t You Drinking From The Tap?
By John Guilford,
Engineer, Dallas, TX
Last month, as I have done for the past three years, I took a weeklong mission trip with my church to Honduras. The trip had its challenges, not the least of which was an expulsion of the president within hours of our return flight. But by and large it was a great experience. We left with a feeling of kinship and support for our brothers and sisters in Honduras. We also left with a feeling of relief in not having to use bottled water exclusively.
One of the first things I did upon my return to Dallas was to drink long and deep from a water fountain. Such devices are non-existent in developing countries such as Honduras. Other water-based luxuries that we take for granted, such as ice in our fountain drinks, or slush drinks from the convenience store, simply are not to be found. Even if these things were available on the streets of Tegucigalpa, for example, virtually no one would use or buy them because the public water supply is full of bacteria and parasites.
During the Mission Trip, I worked in our makeshift pharmacy in support of the doctors that we brought down with us. I can tell you that at least 90% of the patients we saw had active or recently treated parasites. I’m sure the public water supply is to blame.
With all this in mind, why is it that so many of us in the United States still purchase and drink bottled water? Our cities and governments have spent billions of dollars to provide us safe, drinkable water at pennies per gallon. Many cities and towns tout their “Superior” public water supply ratings. Yet I am regularly amazed when I see people shell out a dollar or two for filtered tap water, in many cases.
I have heard the reasons why: “It’s cold.” “Tap water tastes funny.” “I’m in a bar and I’m an alcoholic.” All of these are, at times, reasonable reasons why we might use bottled water. But on a national basis, the use of bottled water contributes to so many ecological problems, that I wish people would reconsider their approach.
For example: Bottled Water produces up to 1.5 million tons of waste each year. Foodandwaterwatch.org reports that it takes 47 million gallons of oil to produce those bottles. Other groups studying the issue report that it requires three times as much water to make the bottle as it does to fill it, and 60 million plastic bottles are disposed of every day in America alone.
My ideas were given a test on Saturday night at the July 4th fireworks show at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. It was very warm and with no breeze blowing, everyone was looking for something cold to drink. For sale at the concessions there was a choice—Soft drinks or bottled water, each for $3. Why weren’t there just long lines at plentiful water fountains?
The recession has forced many people to curb their bottled water use. While we are learning to do without, I suggest that it might be a good time NOT to restart the habit of drinking bottled water once we can afford it again. So many countries’ residents drink bottled water by necessity. Thankfully, the United States is not on that list. We do have choices. We should at least think twice before picking up that case of bottled water.
