As Paralel.az reports, scientists from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health have studied the health and environmental impact of bottled water. The study was published in the journal Science of The Total Environment.
Researchers and colleagues from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia examined three drinking water options in Barcelona. This included unfiltered tap water, household microfilter water, and bottled water. The impact of each choice of drinking water on a person is assessed in two dimensions - the impact of water consumption on health and the impact of its production on the environment. Barcelona was selected as a suitable model because of the robustness and data richness of the analysis. It was noted that the city is supplied with water from four pumping and filtering stations. The first filters water from the Lobragat River, the second and third purify water from the reservoirs of the Ter River basin, and the fourth dehydrates seawater to obtain water. According to the information, the quality of drinking water at each station is different. Researchers studied the health status of 4,000 people in ten districts in Barcelona to assess the health risks of each source of drinking water. With regard to the content of trihalomethanes in drinking water, the health hazard as a by-product of water chlorination has been studied. The researchers hypothesized that raising this level in drinking water may increase the risk of bladder cancer. While scientists say the link is clear, some uncertainty remains. According to the report, one of the subjective factors is the suspicion of the presence of chemicals in tap water. It was noted that if the water in the bottle comes from natural sources, it does not undergo chlorination, so the THM content in it is lower than in tap water. This was confirmed by a study by Spanish scientists. However, scientists noted that bottled water may contain untested germs and other chemicals. For example, plastic bottles and water containers are washed using caustic soda (potassium hydroxide) and hydrochloric acid.
Scientists say that people are switching to bottled water for one reason only - the widespread belief that tap water is of poor quality. He also said that the risk associated with drinking water quality is highly subjective and depends on everyone's personal preferences, external data, health concerns, and trust in government suppliers.
Scientists have estimated the shelf life of the bottled water using special software and methods. This allowed us to assess the damage done to the ecosystem, as well as the indirect impact on human health associated with the production of bottled and tap water. The results show that if the entire population of Barcelona decides to switch to bottled water, every two years three species of flora and fauna will disappear in the production of glass for the inhabitants. In other words, the cost of extracting raw materials for glass production will be $ 83.9 million per year. This is about 1,400 times more than the impact of Barcelona's sewage pumping stations on flora and fauna, and 3,500 times more than the production of tap water for the population.
According to the report, manufacturers are primarily interested in the consumption of bottled water. As a result, one of the study's authors said that overall, tap water has a greater impact on the environment and health than bottled water. Catherine Tonne noted that home filters significantly reduce THM in tap water. It is also said that if you pay attention to the condition of the filters, filtered tap water is a good alternative to bottled water.

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