At Perfect Water, we are on a mission to help the environment. With over 25 years as an established water filtration company in Cork, our primary way to help the environment is to focus on what we know best – water. With that in mind, no water-related environmental issue is more glaring than the surge in ocean plastic worldwide. In this post, we will look at one of the solutions – filtered tap water.
On average, every Irish person produces 61kg of plastic per year, that’s the equivalent of 55,000 single-use plastic coffee cups [1]. Reducing the number of plastic bottles we use can help curtail this number significantly. Just think of how often you’re out and about and you decide you want a bottle of water; what happens to that bottle later? More than likely it is thrown into a general waste bin when it has served its purpose. How much of our plastic waste could be reduced over our lifetime simply by opting to fill a glass with filtered tap water or choosing a reusable water bottle instead?
If the environmental impact isn’t enough, here are three more reasons that might encourage you to ditch the plastic bottle and embrace filtered tap water in your everyday life.
Softer plastic bottles are toxic when heated
When BPA plastic (the material of most of our plastic bottles) is exposed to heat, tiny amounts of chemicals are released into your water bottle [2]. While you
won’t be hospitalised from drinking this water, scientists are more worried about the long term effects of the toxins absorbed by your body. Even if this post doesn’t convince you to completely ditch the plastic bottle, you should at least be keeping plastic bottles out of heat and sunlight.
Most bottled water is just tap water that has been filtered and sold
Although the branding on a water bottle gives you the impression that the water comes directly from a clean, mountain stream, generally, nothing can be farther from the truth. Most water is sourced from, you guessed it, the tap [3]. So grab your reusable bottle, turn on your own tap and drink your clean, filtered water.
You save when you opt for filtered tap water instead of bottled water
Some people buy large amounts of bottled water because they simply do not trust tap water. Of course, buying a bottle of water for €2 seems much cheaper than getting a filter, until you do the calculations. Take a look at the table below and see for yourself:
| Number of people in household | 2 People | 4 People | 6 People |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily cost of 2L bottled water – €1 | €2.00 | €4.00 | €6.00 |
| Daily cost of home-filtered water at 2.5cent/litre | €0.10 | €0.20 | €0.30 |
| Weekly cost of bottled water | €14.00 | €28.00 | €42.00 |
| Annual cost of bottled water | €728.00 | €1456.00 | €2184.00 |
| Weekly cost of home-filtered water | €0.70 | €1.40 | €2.10 |
| Annual cost of home-filtered water | €36.40 | €72.80 | €109.20 |
| Annual savings | €692.00 | €1382.00 | €2073.00 |
| Cost of water filter | €90.00 | €90.00 | €90.00 |
| Savings after the first year | €601.00 | €1292.00 | €1983.00 |
Plastic bottles aren’t going anywhere any time soon. However, we can still make an effort to educate others to avoid using plastic bottles whenever possible. Drink filtered tap water for your health, drink filtered tap water for the environment and even drink it for your wallet. There are just too many reasons to ditch the plastic bottle!
[1] RTE – Web article – “Here’s why Ireland has a Plastic Waste Problem and what local people are doing about it”
[2] National Geographic – Web article – “Exposed to extreme heat, plastic bottles may ultimately become unsafe”
[3] MindBodyGreen.com – Web article – “4 Reasons To Never Drink Bottled Water Again”
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