Bottled v tap - the great water debate

Plastic bottles

Can we be green and drink mineral water when plastic bottles are derived from one of the world's most scarce resources, oil? The Earth Policy Institute reported in 2006 that 1.5 million barrels of oil were used to make 26 billion bottles of water in the US. That's the equivalent of running 100,000 cars each year.

But could we make things better by recycling our empty plastics? Danone say that the UK has one of the lowest recycling rates in Europe. The Waste and Resources Action Programme reports that three out of four bottles are not recycled. Three million bottles per day arrive in landfill sites which, according to the Container Recycling Institute, take 450 years to break down.

Mehmet Seferoglou from Minton says bottled water customers are becoming more aware of recycling: 'A lot of our customers who traditionally preferred glass bottles are now switching to plastic as it is easier for them to recycle,' he explains.

There isn't just waste from plastic. The amount of wasted tap water that escapes down the plug is immeasurable, according to Thames Water.

Spokesperson Amy Dutton says: 'The average person uses 150 litres of tap water per day. Two litres of this is for drinking and the rest for washing and cooking. We encourage households to be more water efficient, to use water butts, save a flush, turn off taps when brushing teeth and to take showers rather than baths.'

What's in a glass?

Chemicals are added to tap water to make it drinkable and kill off bacteria. There are claims that traces of a chemical cocktail can be found in tap water. Mehmet Seferoglou says: 'There's chlorine, fluorine, arsenic, radium, aluminium, copper, lead, nitrates, pesticides and hormones in tap water.

'The water in the Thames has been through someone's body three times and then sits outside our homes in a lead pipe. If tap water is so good for you, why do people recommend that it is boiled before it's given to newborn babies?'

Amy Dutton, of Thames Water, sets the record straight when it comes to chemicals in tap water.

'Thames Water and the rest of the water industry use chlorine to disinfect water and stop the spread of infectious disease and we've been doing that for years. The levels are carefully controlled and monitored and are less than 1mg per litre, the recommended amount by the World Health Organisation.

'The only chemicals we use are chlorine, iron - an essential nutrient - and aluminium salts (used in two Thames Water areas) to clarify the water. The levels are one-tenth of the recommended level.'

Going underground

Old lead, underground pipes have been said to taint tap water en route to our homes. Mehmet Seferoglou claims: 'The water is sitting under our homes in a lead or clay pipe. In our factory, we extract our own water and use stainless steel pipes, which are cleaned and sterilised every day.'

But Amy Dutton says: 'I can confirm that there is essentially no lead present in the drinking water we supply as it leaves our treatment works. The network of mains which transports the water to your tap are not constructed from lead.'