Everyone has their preference among the choices of  bottled, tap or filtered water. My roommates and I all have different favorites. I loved bottled water. I loved how I could grab it, put it in my bag and drink it whenever I felt the need. Besides that, I detest drinking the water out of most of the fountains on campus. In some buildings, the water tastes like dirt. However, as bottled water becomes increasingly popular, are people actually hurting themselves by not drinking from the tap?

    As I said before, I loved bottled water. I loved the taste, the portability and the many sizes of the bottles. The common argument of people who drink tap is that they don't have to pay for their water. Water is meant to be free. Honestly, I was more than willing to pay $3.99 for a 24-pack of Kroger purified drinking water. All of this was before I wrote this article and tried filtered water.   

    According to the Community Water Company in Green Valley, Arizona, tap water is much better for me. A chart, listed in the links on the right side of this page, compares tap water, which is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and bottled water, which is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Whether or not this chart is accurate or is biased in favor of tap water is for you to decide. I will say it was interesting to learn all of these things about tap water.

    For instance, I had no idea that tap water "systems operators must be certified," according to CWC. I never really thought about people having to filter tap water or that it is tested by labs. The chart also reminded me of how I'm constantly being told that fluoride is in tap water, which prevents tooth decay.

    Another website I visited to get information about the debate between the two types of water is called AllAboutWater.org.

    Then I began researching items about bottled water and its effect on the environment. I'm sure most people know that bottles are supposed to be recycled. I still find it astonishing that so many people don't care about recycling. How difficult is it to just drop a bottle in a recycling bin instead of a trash can? This simple act is something that people all over the world seem to have trouble doing.

     Because people are not recycling, it causes the bottled water industry to drastically increase the amount of waste in the world. The crazy thing is, after all the research I've done, I've found an overwhelming public aversion to bottled water in comparison with tap. I always thought everyone loved bottled water. You can imagine how sad this made me.

     On AllAboutWater.org, they talk about the benefits of filtered tap water. So I decided to give filtered water a try, and I drank a glass of purified water from a PUR water filter. I was very surprised to find that bottled water and filtered water taste the same. Filtered water definitely tastes better to me than regular tap water.

     After seeing all sides of the issue, I think filtered water is the way to go. Go out and buy a Nalgene bottle, wash it and refill it with filtered water. If you don't believe me, just try it. It might result in your giving up precious bottled water for the underrated tap.