Key Points
- Benefits of drinking filtered water
- Avoiding bottled water expenses
- Environmental impact of single-use plastics
- Potential hazards of drinking bottled water from single-use plastics
- Discovering which iSpring home filtration system best fits your family’s needs
What’s Lurking in Your Drinking Water
Most everywhere you look, people have bottled water in hand. In fact, in 2020 Americans alone consumed 15 billion gallons of bottled water, averaging 45.2 gallons of bottled water per American.
While municipal water supplies follow the Environmental Protection Agency’s federal standards and regulations, contaminants may still find their way into your water by way of
- corroded pipes that can leach harmful chemicals, such as lead, into your water supply
- hazardous waste site and industrial discharges
- pesticides and fertilizers from agricultural operations
- naturally occurring chemicals and minerals, such as arsenic
- sewage and food processing waste overflow
Any of these contaminants in your water supply is less than ideal and each has the potential to cause gastrointestinal, reproductive, and neurological issues for those who experience prolonged exposure or for those who may be at a higher risk such as the elderly, pregnant women, infants, young children, and those with weakened immune systems.
Because of this, coupled with the convenience provided, many turn to bottled water. Although there are obvious benefits from drinking bottled water, buying and drinking single-use bottled water comes at a economic and environment cost, not to mention, consuming bottled water from single-use plastics comes with its own set of potential health hazards. An alternative many do not readily consider is an in-home water filtration system.
Putting Money Back in Your Pocket
While many have a preconceived notion that in-home water filtration systems are costly, are surprisingly inexpensive. On average, iSpring’s reverse osmosis water filtration systems only cost between $200 and $500 the first year including purchasing the system and less than $100 each year to maintain the system thereafter including regularly replacing the system’s filter to ensure your family is always getting 99% impurity-free drinking water.
Whereas, the cost of regularly consuming bottled water can cost well over $1,000 a year for a family who averages five bottles of water a day. When putting things into perspective, it is apparent how the savings of having an in-home system quickly adds up.
In addition to saving money on drinking water with our under-the-sink RO systems, our whole house filtration systems can save money in the long run by extending your appliances’ lifespans by preventing mineral buildup on washing machines, dishwashers, and water heaters.
Considering the Reprecussions on Mother Earth
As part of iSpring’s mission, we strive to decrease the environmental impact of waste from bottled water sold in single-use plastic while providing accessible, affordable, high-quality water.
According to the Container Recycling Institute, out of the 70 billion single use plastic water bottles Americans purchased, 75% of them ended up in a landfill or incinerator and hundreds of millions end up as litter.
Purchasing a reusable water bottle and investing in a water filtration system is the simplest way to make a profound impact on protecting our environment from senseless, bottled water waste.
Single-Use Plastic Bottled Water: Healthy or Harmful
No one purchases bottled water thinking consuming its contents could be detrimental to their health. However, a Huffington Post article points out that the manmade chemical Phthalate, used to make plastic water bottles, can affect people’s endocrine systems and have been linked to reproductive, immune, and neurological disorders. Two factors increase the risk of water contamination in bottled water: length of time in the bottle and exposure to high temperatures, which many warehouses and transportation subject these bottles to as well as consumers leaving them in their hot cars.
This article also notes that it has been discovered that pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and heavy metals have been found in popular bottled water brands. Additionally, toxins, bacteria, fungus, and microbiological pollutants have also been found in bottled water as well as arsenic.
Allow yourself to rest easy knowing your family is not being exposed to harmful contaminants in your water by investing in an in-home water filtration system.