Table of Contents
Bottled water is often portrayed as being healthy due to the nutrients in the water giving rise to health benefits.
The reality though maybe somehwat different. In 2005 The World Health Organisation held a conference to look at the implications of consuming hard water, the impact of minerals on health and the potential cardio vascular health benefits.
The conclusion was that it was likely that hard water with a high mineral content helped reduce cardio vascular health problems and that magnesium was the main contributor to this. (WHO Water Saniation Health Conference 2015)
The nutrients that are most interetsing in water supplies are Calcium, Magnesium, Flouride, Sodium, Copper, Selenium and Potassium.
There are a number of studies that confirm that these minerals are healthy, however they can be sourced from both bottled water, tap water and food.
Therefore it cannot be concluded that bottled water is any healthier than tap water because of nutrient contents that are available in both bottled water, tap water and food. Bottled water fails to have any significant advantage in this area with filtered water providing an equally rich source of minerals an nutrients in the water.
Infact in Malta we have a rich level of nutrients in our water, as our independent tests on filtered water in Malta show the harmful contaminants are removed by the filtering process leaving healthy nutrients available.
Are there potential dangers with bottled water in Malta?
There have been many studies that focus on the safety of bottled drinking water that have studied that potential migration of chemicals from the bottles into the water and also microbial contamination.
There has been concern raised over the release of chemicals such as plastacisers which are the chemicals added to plastic to keep it flexible. (Migration of phthalates from plastic products to model solutions. Coll Antropol. 2003;27 (Suppl 1):23–30. )
The main concern is the presence of estrogen which has appeared higher in non-glass containers and is linked to breast cancer in women and prostrate cancer in men.
Microplastics - a modern danger
The subject of microplastics keeps coming up more and more in Malta. Microplastics are small pieces of plastic pollution that has started to enter our food and water systems and are being ingested by humans and animals. There is no current regulation for testing microplastics in bottled water, which s otherwise covered by many regulations.
In a 2018 study by OrbMedia microplastics were found in 92% of all bottled water in Europe. Guardian 2018
Is tap water safe to drink?
In Malta the mains tap water complies to all EU and WHO guidelines and is therefore deemed to be safe to drink. However in practice it is the taste of the water that it is commonly disliked.
Whilst there is a healthy high mineral content in Malta tap water there are also the contaminants caused by the chlorination of Malta mains tap water that are unwanted and can have risk associated with them at high levels.
The common contaminants in Malta tap water are these THM's, the by poducts of chlorination, microplastics, pharmaceuticals and nitrates.
Filtered tap water - a healthy and sustainable alternative to bottled water
Using an effective filter system on Malta mains tap water that leaves healthy minerals present in the drinking water but removes potentially harmful contaminants is a healthy and sustainable alternative.
A filter system such as TAPP EcoPro Water Filter in Malta removes or reduces over 100 contaminants in Malta's mains water including THM's, microplastics, pharmaceuticals and nitrates whilst leaving the healthy minerals present.
Customer reviews prove that the taste of filtered drinking water is great and the lack of reliance on bottled water for drinking water in Malta is greatly appreciated as it is far more convenient to turn on the tap and drink.
