If you can look past the flashy marketing for a moment, you’ll see that bottled water is no cleaner or safer than bottled water. While tap water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), bottled water is in the hands of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Underfunded and understaffed, the FDA sends representatives out to bottled water plants on an infrequent basis and does not enforce stringent labeling standards on bottles. An overwhelming percentage of bottled water is coming from municipal tap water supplies, but at a cost of about $1 to $3 per bottle. Force the FDA to enforce stricter regulations on bottled water to prevent large, money-driven corporations from profiting at the cost and health of the American public.

The EPA requires municipalities to report where tap water comes from, how it was treated, and the results of the water quality tests. However, very few bottled water companies report and publicize this information, mostly because they aren’t required to. Environmental Working Group studies have shown that many of the top bottled water companies allow pollutants and man-made chemicals to enter into their water supplies.

Even though regulations for small towns are often stricter than those in big cities, even big city regulations are stricter than those required for bottled water. A good portion of bottled water is bottled and sold in the state, so it slides under the radar of FDA regulation anyway. Please sign my petition to urge the FDA to enforce stricter regulations for bottled water companies across the country.