Bottled water is not necessarily safer than your tap water. In fact in many cases bottled water is less healthy than tap water. Aquafina recently revealed that the souce of their pristine water is directly from the tap. Bottled water companies are not required to meet stringent water qualities in terms of contaminants, purity and filtration. EPA sets standards for tap water provided by public water systems; the Food and Drug Administration sets bottled water standards based on EPA's tap water standards.

Consumers who choose to purchase bottled water should carefully read its label to understand what they are buying, whether it is a better taste, or a certain method of treatment. Drinking adequate amounts of water helps to maintain body temperature, metabolize body fat, aids in digestion, lubricates and cushions organs, transports nutrients, and flushes toxins from the body. Water is your body's most important nutrient. It makes up approximately 70-75% of your total body weight and is involved in every bodily function.

A new report warns that plastic bottled water is producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy, even in areas where perfectly good drinking water is available on tap. The global consumption of bottled water has doubled between 1999 and 2004, reaching 41 billion gallons (154 billion liters) annually. Bottled water is often no healthier than tap water, and can be 10,000 times more costly. A gallon of bottled water in US costs as much as $10.00 which is more than a gallon of gasoline! Most of this cost is associated with transportation and packaging expenses. The U.S. is the world's biggest drinker of bottled water, consuming 7 billion gallons every year. Bottled water is highly destructive to the environment with an average of 38 billion plastic water bottles end up in the landfills in the USA alone.

Because of water's different sources and the different ways in which water is treated, the taste and quality of drinking water varies from place to place. Over 90 percent of water systems meet EPA's standards for tap water quality. The best source of specificinformation about your drinking water is your water supplier.

View Your Annual Water Quality Report

Water suppliers that serve the same people year-round are required to send their customers an annual water quality report (sometimes called a consumer confidence report). Contact your water supplier to get a copy or see if your report is posted on-line. For additional information, visit EPA's web site's on local drinking water (provides links to state and local sources of water quality information) and drinking water and health (provides information on drinking water contaminants and their health effects).

Stefani water purifiers are ideal for any home and are a great alternative to buying bottled water or water coolers that can be costly and difficult to maintain. With the Stefani water purifier, there is no need to replace water containers or use any external source of power to purify the water. Equipped with Silver Coated Dechlorinating and Sterilizing filters, the Stefani water purifiers efficiently reduce and remove chlorine, fungus, bacteria and other harmful microorganisms and chemicals making water totally safe for consumption.