The United States of America has some of the safest and cleanest drinking water globally. Nevertheless, tap water still comes with numerous contaminants that cause severe health problems. Thankfully, we have water filtration systems and bottled water to keep the health issues at bay.
Both bottled water and water filters are safe for consumption as they are clean and pure. But, talking about cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness, filtered water gets an edge over bottled water. If you’re confused about deciding among the two, we’re here to help.
Let’s go through water filter vs bottled water in detail to help you decide which type of water is the best for your home.
Water Filter vs Bottled Water — Which is Better?
Considering the environmental factors, healthiness, and cost-effectiveness, our verdict is that you should go with filtered water. Getting a good water filtration system installed in your house will allow you to consume fresh and safe water at all times.
Moreover, it is also good for the environment as you won’t be buying tons of plastic bottles. However, we’ve mentioned the pros and cons of both filtered water and bottled water in the article above, and we suggest you decide as per your personal requirements.
Questions to Ask Before Making the Decision
Following are a few questions that you should be asking yourself before you pick between filtered water and bottled water:
1. Do you want clean and fresh water for drinking only or other uses as well?
If you want clean water for drinking purposes only, bottled water should do the job. However, if you wish for fresh and safe water for cooking, cleaning, and other household chores, installing a water filtration system will be an intelligent decision.
2. Does convenience matter to you?
Plastic water bottles need to be moved, take up storage space, and require recycling. On the other hand, a water filtration system only requires annual maintenance. If convenience matters to you, getting a water filtration installed should be your go-to.
3. What is your water usage?
If you hardly use water, and there aren’t many people in your house, you should stick to bottled water. However, if you have heavy and regular water usage, getting a water filtration system would make sense to save time and make a cost-effective decision.
4. Do you want to lead an eco-friendly life?
If you’re concerned about the environment and don’t want to indulge in increasing the amount of plastic on our earth, you shouldn’t be buying bottled water.
5. Are you short on space?
If space is an issue in your house, it is wise to invest in a water filtration system as these systems usually fit under the sink and don’t take up extra space.
6. Is portability important to you?
If you want easy access to water and like the idea of a portable water cooler, you should go with the option of bottled water without a second thought. However, getting a water filtration system should be your pick if portability doesn’t concern you.
What is Filtered Water?
When tap water goes through a filtration process to turn it into clean and safe drinking water, it is known as filtered water. Tap water can get filtered in several ways depending upon the method of filtration used. Ion exchange, reverse osmosis, water pitchers, and distillation are the most common methods to filter water.
Filtered water tastes and smells good. Reverse osmosis and charcoal filters are the most commonly used water filtration systems. Let’s quickly go through these systems and understand how they work:
1. Reverse Osmosis Filters
Reverse osmosis filtration systems force the water through a semipermeable membrane that eliminates all the viruses, bacteria, and other unwanted particles found in water.
A reverse osmosis process works effectively, and it removes almost all the contaminants. However, the process is a little slow, and it isn’t easy to maintain these systems.
2. Activated Charcoal Filters
Activated charcoal filters effectively remove some bacteria, unwanted particles, and chlorine. However, these filters aren’t successful in getting rid of all the contaminants.
Moreover, these filters require regular maintenance as well.
Filtered Drinking Water Benefits
Filtered water has numerous benefits. Let’s take a look at a few pros of filtered drinking water below:
1. Odor-Free
Does your tap water smell fishy and funny? The funny smell in tap water is due to the presence of chlorine. Chlorine is added to tap water to ensure that all the bacteria get killed.
All kinds of water filtration systems effectively remove chlorine alongside other harmful particles. In addition, drinking filtered water will ensure that the water doesn’t smell weird.
2. It is Good for Health
Water filter systems remove all sorts of unwanted particles that can be harmful to your health. These systems work in a way that they remove harmful components and leave minerals and nutrients that are required by our body.
3. Fits your Budget
Bottled water can be costly when you start using it regularly. Filtration systems require initial costs, but they are cost-effective in the long run once they’re installed.
4. Tastes Good
As water filters remove all the contaminants and foul odors, they automatically make water taste better. As a result, filtered water tastes much better than tap water. On top of that, filtered water also tastes better than bottled water.
5. Get Water On-Demand
This is one of the best things about getting a water filtration system installed at home. Water filters filter and store clean water in their tank. Then, as you keep using the water, the filter keeps filtering more water. This ensures that you never run out of filtered water.
Moreover, you can get access to filtered water with just one tap on the button.
Drawbacks of Filtered Water
Water filtration systems have a few drawbacks as well. Let’s take a quick look at these cons:
1. High Initial Costs
The initial costs of getting a water filtration system include buying it and installing it at your house. Unfortunately, these costs can be a little over the top.
However, when purchasing a water filter, you’ll see that budget-friendly options are also available in the market. Moreover, once installed, maintaining a water filter is simple.
2. Filters Require Regular Replacement
Another drawback of a water filter is that it needs to be replaced regularly. Timely cleaning or replacing the filters will ensure that your system works efficiently and effectively.
However, all these costs combined, a water filter still proves to be less expensive than bottled water.
What is Bottled Water?
Bottled water is water that has been filtered and made safe for consumption, keeping the Food and Drug Administration regulations in mind. Bottled water is often available in plastic bottles.
Benefits of Bottled Water
Let’s discuss a few benefits of bottled water:
1. Highly Convenient
Bottled water is highly convenient as it does not require any installation or regular maintenance. You can carry water bottles anywhere with you and drink water with ease.
2. Bottled Water is Better than Tap Water
Tap water contains various chemicals, heavy metals, and other contaminants that make it harmful to your health and affects its taste and smell.
Before getting packed, bottled water goes through a process to ensure these contaminants get eliminated. Therefore, bottled water has better quality than tap water.
3. Has a Better Taste
As bottled water doesn’t contain any contaminants, it smells and tastes good. Bottled water doesn’t contain chlorine as well.
Drawbacks of Bottled Water
In this section, let’s take a look at the drawbacks of bottled water:
1. Impacts the Environment
Plastic has a significant impact on the environment, and it is harmful to our planet. Although it is recyclable, very few water bottles go through recycling.
Most of the plastic bottles that are used and thrown make their way into landfills or become litter. If we rely on decomposing, we’ll have to wait for ages considering a plastic bottle will decompose in 450 years.
Moreover, it takes huge amounts of oil barrels to make plastic bottles in the first place. This clearly shows how adverse the impact of plastic bottles is on our environment.
2. It can be Expensive
Buying bottled water regularly can be very heavy on your pocket and can put a toll on your expenses. Therefore, before you decide to drink bottled water regularly, we suggest considering this factor.
Final Thoughts
After going through our thorough guide, we hope you understand the basic difference between filtered water and bottled water and their benefits and drawbacks, respectively. Both filtered water and bottled water are clean and safe for consumption.
Hence, it is up to you to decide which type of water you want to consume daily.
FAQs
Which is better: filtered water or bottled water?
Both filtered water and bottled water are good for health as they are free from harmful components. However, filtered water is usually preferred among the two as it is cost-effective, tastes better, and doesn’t have a huge impact on the environment.
Is it really good to consume filtered water?
Yes, water filters are designed to eliminate lead, viruses, bacteria, and other harmful particles from tap water. Water filters perform different water cleaning techniques and methods to ensure that you get clean and fresh drinking water.
Is it worth it to filter your water?
Yes, it is worth it to filter your water. Tap water contains various unwanted components such as dirt, dust, bacteria, viruses, and heavy metals that can harm your health. Water filters eliminate these particles and provide clean water for consumption. Moreover, water filters make tap water taste better.
