Learning More About the Water We Drink
Gregory Pierce, co-executive director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, spoke to Women’s Health and Voice of San Diego about the relative safety of tap, bottled and filtered water. “On average, the water in the United States is held to a higher standard and tracked more closely than that in other high-income countries,” said Pierce, who directs the center’s Human Right to Water Solutions Lab. Compared to tap water, “bottled water has less oversight and fewer rules. It’s usually not safer,” he said. But Pierce added, “It’s a good idea for everyone to look into the quality of the water coming out of their tap, as water quality often varies even within the same city.” If tap water, looks, smells or tastes bad, residents should contact the local water agency, government offices or advocates, he said.
This is the third time in the past few months that I’ve heard about bottled water being less safe than tap water. I wonder if that’s (drinking bottled water) a common cause of people getting sick, and they aren’t even aware it’s an issue.
I’m going to start keeping cold water in non-BPA bottles that we can grab and use on the go instead of using bottled water.