All The Benefits of Bottled Water - For Free

With seventy per cent of the planet covered in water it seems absurd that water shortages should be so commonplace. If only the water in the seas were drinkable there’d be no problem. Even the water we run from the tap has to be treated and filtered before it arrives in our kitchens.

We all know how vital water is for life on earth, yet we pollute it and waste it as if it didn’t matter at all. Even now we dump our waste - human and chemical - into the oceans, often untreated. Not surprisingly, this has been catastrophic to marine life. It is bad enough to be so callous towards sea creatures and vegetation, but this cavalier attitude has extended to the way we treat our own water supplies.

In all civilised countries the supply of water to the public has rightly been taken very seriously since the link between disease and polluted drinking water was discovered. But even in recent times there have been lunatic schemes such as the compulsory fluoridation of water, supposedly to reduce tooth decay in children.

The suspicion, whether justified or not, that the water we run from our taps is becoming less and less fit to drink has led to a boom in the demand for bottled water. Originally this was mostly from recognised spa towns and wells that produced exceptionally pure water, often containing beneficial trace elements not found in ordinary tap water (and which most healthy people don’t need).

Later, as more and more companies sprang up and onto the bandwagon, there has grown to be a glut of bottled water from places you’ve never heard of, and which may or may not be any better than your own tap water. As it is impractical to supply this water by pipes in the same way as your local water company supplies your tap water, it has to be conveyed by way of your local supermarket or store in plastic bottles.

In Britain, for example, around three billion litres of bottled water are consumed every year, supplied in 13 billion plastic bottles, less than a quarter of which are recycled. The Container Recycling Institute reports that in Britain 90 per cent of plastic bottles end up in landfill sites - 30 million of them arriving each day to start a 450 year journey to final decomposition.

Much of the bottled water we drink has travelled hundreds of miles from where it was collected. Every bottle has emitted 100 grammes of greenhouse gases in being produced. Many people will shrug and say it’s a question of choosing between inflicting more and more environmental damage and having to drink foul-tasting water.

But it’s not. Because now I’m going to tell you how you can enjoy spa-quality water out of your kitchen tap. So instead of paying high prices for bottled water and contributing to environmental damage, you can have pure water for free - or at least for no extra charge above your usual water supply costs.

Just fill a jug with tap water and put it in the fridge overnight. In the morning any chemical smells or tastes that may have infected it originally will have disappeared. It will be pure, unpolluted water that tastes every bit as good as your bottled water, and in most cases a lot better. And you’ll have kept your money in your pocket.

By:Philip Gegan