Water Filters Win Over Bottled Waters: EWG's 2011 Report

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released their EWG Bottled Scorecard for 2011. EWG has been producing these reports since 2009 to make a stand against companies who fail to disclose information about their bottled water like where the water comes from, how's it purified and the contaminants in it. Read their report for 2011 and you'll learn that (yikes!) 9 out of the country's 10 best-selling water bottle brands don't release any of details to the public. Moreover, EWG's survey where they tested 173 bottled water products found that 32% of the brands fail to reveal their treatment method or the purity of the water and 18% failed to reveal where the water came from. EWG's Bottled Water Scorecard shows the bottles with the best labels and also the worst. Take a look at some of them. It could effect what brand you decide on. EWG assigned grades to each of the bottles. Note: no water bottle received an "A".

Water Bottles with the Best Labels:
Gerber Pure Purified Water - Grade B
Nestle Pure Life Purified Water - Grade B
Penta Ultra-Purified Water - Grade B
Evian Natural Spring Water - Grade C
Fiji Natural Artesian Water - Grade C
Great Value Purified Drinking Water - Grade C

Click here for the full list EWG Bottled Water 2011 Scorecard >>

Water Bottles with the Worst Labels:
Aquafina Purified Drinking Water - Grade D
Deer Park Natural Spring Water - Grade D
Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water - Grade D
CVS Gold Emblem Natural Spring Water - Grade F
Publix Purified Water - Grade F
Wegmans Spring Water - Grade F


Ultimately, EWG recommends filtered tap water. It's the only thing that received an "A" on their scorecard. EWG says, "You'll save money, drink water that's purer and help solve the global glut of plastic bottles." This said, below are some of the water filters that EWG recommends. These are taken from EWG's Water Filter Buying Guide.

Pitcher Water Filters*:
Clear2O CWS100A Water Pitcher, $18.20
Culligan PIT-1 Water Filter Pitcher, $13.50
PUR 2-Stage Flavor Pitcher, $21
Brita Space Saver Pitcher*, $16
GE GXPL03H Filtration Pitcher, $14.95
Mavea Elemaris Filtration Pitcher, $31


Faucet-Mounted Water Filters**:
GE Faucet Mount System, $30
Instapure F8 Ultra Tap Water Filter, $39.09
PUR FM-3333 Faucet Mount Filter, $20
PUR FM-9600 Faucet Mount, $40
PUR Flavor Options FM-5050B, $49.99 $34.15
Brita Faucet Filtration System, $13