Drinking more water every day is about the best move anyone can make to improve personal health. That's common knowledge.
You probably have learned that the human body is about 70 percent water, as is the Earth.
It's likely you're aware that drinking eight glasses of water a day is the standard recommendation to boost energy and fight disease, and you might know that sipping the stuff at snack times can help reduce weight gain (we often think we are hungry when in fact we are thirsty).
But there are some things you probably didn't know about water, unless you have read the August issue of Consumer Reports, which tested 39 bottled waters and sampled seven municipal water supplies.
The major difference in taste of bottled waters can be traced to the type of plastic used for the bottle. Water in the clear PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic typically used for 1.5 liters or less tasted better than water bottled in softer, opaque HDPE (high-density polyethylene) commonly used for one-gallon bottles.
Even higher-rated brands, such as Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water, Albertson's Natural Spring Water, Pure American and Poland, were praised in PET bottles but criticized for the melted-plastic taste in the gallon size.
Some were even called out in the larger containers for "a hint of wet-dust flavor." So much for saving money on the economy size.
Volvic Natural Spring Water was rated the highest for flavor ("very clean, no off-flavors") while Dannon Natural Spring Water ("relatively clean; hint of sweet, fruity plastic flavor") and Arrowhead ("hint of sweet, fruity plastic flavor" were next in the ratings at less than half the cost per glass. Volvic, the only brand rated as "excellent," costs the most: 29 cents a glass. That compares with 14 cents for Dannon and 12 cents for Arrowhead.
None of the waters contained any contaminants above current standards among bottled water industry organizations. But some brands tested above the new maximum arsenic level of 5 parts per billion (ppb) proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
For the most part, bottled water is better regulated than in previous decades. There are clear labels for such categories as spring water (probably the best overall choice), purified drinking water and mineral water.
Americans drank 15.5 gallons of bottled water a person in 1999 compared with 1.5 gallons in 1976.
The magazine's editors found that waters in 5-gallon polycarbonate plastic jugs (the kind most often used in water coolers) tasted better than waters bottled in PET or HDPE plastic, but that the polycarbonate can sometimes leave residues of bisphenol-A, a chemical associated with cancer in animal studies. It is speculated the substance would most affect developing fetuses, judging from the animal studies.
If all of this information leaves your head swimming a bit, that's understandable. The human brain is 90 percent water.
