Name: Giniung Augie Patridinia

Chemichal Engineering 2A
Consumption of Bottled Water in The Modern World
More people in the world buy bottled water than fruit juice or fizzy drinks. Despite tap
water being freely available and safe in many countries, bottled water is widely consumed
around the world. This have negative effects on the environment, including water wastage and
pollution. From 1990 to 2005 the rate of bottled water consumption more than quadrupled,and
some estimates state that around 200 billion bottles are now consumed every year. This high
level of consumption is contributing to several environmental problems. It takes on average 3
litres of regular water to produce just 1 litre of bottled water. Based on 2011 consumption rates,
that equates to over 100 billion litres of water wasted every year ,an important concern given that
fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce across the globe. And then bottled water production,
including packaging, transportation, and refrigeration, also generates CO2, contributing to
climate change . It certainly has a hefty carbon footprint with some reports estimating around
82.8 g of CO2 for a half litre bottle, not insignificant when everyones drinking it. So, is it
healthier? And does it taste better?
Now lets get educated on why bottled water is bad for the environment. It uses a lot of
oil in the production of plastic , 17 million barrels of oil are used in the production of plastic
water bottles per year. This is enough oil to fuel 1 million cars for a year. Consume the bottled
water can make tons of waste ,only 1 out of 5 plastic water bottles are recycled contributing to
the 3 billion pounds (1,500,000 tons) of plastic bottle waste per year. Further, the PET
(polyethylene terephthalate) of 1 bottles cannot be cleaned properly over time so it is not
recommended that they be reused. And PET bottles never really biodegrade, and if theyre
incinerated instead they release toxic fumes. Other types of plastics can biodegrade, but it takes
anywhere from 450-1000 years. There are alternatives, the most popular being plastic made out
of corn, but is it really any better to use water to grow food to make bottles to put water into?
Especially when there are so many hungry people in the world. Most dangerous effect of use
bottled water, that plastic is killing the ocean and its inhabitants. Ever heard of the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch (also called the Eastern Garbage Patch)? Its a patch of trash in the Pacific

Ocean, that is may be as big as the US and be 100ft deep. The patch is made up mostly of
plastics of various types and sizes since most of the other trash biodegrades or breaks up over
time. This plastic pollutes the ocean as well as animals in the ocean. In 2009, researchers from
Nihon University in Chiba, Japan, found that plastic in warm ocean water can degrade in as little
as a year (not PET). Those small bits of plastic are toxic chemicals such
as bisphenol A (BPA) and PS oligomer that end up in the guts of
animals or wash up on shorelines, where humans are most likely to
come into direct contact with the toxins. When
animals eat plastic, they will die, it has been
estimated that over a million sea birds and one
hundred thousand marine mammals and sea
turtles are killed each year by ingestion of
plastics

or

entanglement

according

to

Greenpeace. Now we can buy Bottled Water in

everywhere thats mean they become

litter

everywhere. I couldnt find any figures on how much water bottle litter there is, but if we ever go
outside of our house we know that there are empty water bottles everywhere, like in the streets,
in the beach, in the river, and other public place.
On the other hand, tap water doesnt use plastic, and therefore there is no waste or litter,
it uses a fraction of the energy,oil and doesnt have to be transported by plane, ship or truck and
therefore only causes a fraction of the pollution
that bottled water does, and, well, lets just say
no animals were harmed in the making of this
tap water.So what we can do? Its simple, we
should stop buying it and carry an eco friendly
reusable water bottle. Buy a great water filter that can be fitted to your kitchen faucet so the
whole family can fill up with ease. If you have to buy, buy bigger the bottled water. I prefer
to buy the large water containers that last me almost two week, and then can be refilled. You
can do today to start solving the plastic water bottle problem.