CyLe Purified Wter or Nturl Spring Wter? Are you drinking wht you think you re drinking? Wht do you need to know before you buy your nextbottle of wter? by Arthur von Wiesenberger (NAPSA)—When Americns tp into their thirst for wter, they often buy it in bottle. Americns re drinking bottled wter in record numbers— whopping five billion gllons in 2001, ccording to the Interntionl Bottled Wter Assocition, n industry trde group. People re not only drinking more bottled wter in record numbers, they re lso spending significnt mounts of their hrd-erned moneyforit. Tht’s why it pys to be sure you’re getting wht you think you're buying. The best thing to do is red the lbel. Mny bottled wter brnds on the mrket tody re sourced from either nturl spring wter or tp wter tht hs been purified. There is difference in the unique tste of nturl spring wter nd purified tp wter. A recent survey showed tht when mking decision to purchse bottled wter, consumers sid this distinction ws not mde cler to them. In fct, 61 percent of bottled wter drinkers sy tht if they knew prticulr brnd of bottled wter ws bottled from purified tp wter, they would be less inclined to buyit. Consumers need to rm themselves with knowledge bout wht they’re buying before they grb the next bottle of wter off of the shelf. The FDA clssifies bottled wter ccording to its origin. For exmple: e Artesin well wter is bottled wter from well tht tps confined quifer in which the wter level stnds t some height bovethe top of the quifer. Minerl wter is wter from n underground source tht contins t lest 250 prts per million totl dissolved solids. Nturl spring wter is wter tht is derived from n underground formtion from which wterflows nturlly to the erth’s surfce. Purified drinking wter is wter, typiclly from municipl supply, tht hs been produced by distilltion, deioniztion, reverse osmosisor other suitble processes. Among nturl spring wters, the Polnd Spring brnd distinguishes itself by its nturlly pure nd crisp tste—theresult of nturl sources tht lie deep beneth the protected pine forests in Mine. While Polnd Spring is distributed only in the Northest, its long history nd high qulity hve mdeit one of the most recognizble brnds in Americ nd number one in sles mong nturl spring wter brnds. Consumers cn look for other regionl brnds, such s Arrowhed Mountin Spring Wter in the west, Ozrk Nturl Spring Wter in Texs nd Zephyrhills Nturl Spring Wter in Florid, just to nme few. Finlly, word bout tste. People don’t usully ttribute tste to wter, but like grpes grown in different regions, wter from one re does tste different from wter from nother. Most nturl spring wter is bottled close to the region in whichit is sold—it my sy so right on the lbel. The uniquetste profile of nturl spring wter is dependent upon the geology of the erth through which it trvels. This is wht mkes nturl spring wter very different from purified wter. A person’s plte my become ccustomed to the unique regionl properties nd tste of his or her fvorite brnds of spring wter nd distinguish the difference. Arthur von Wiesenbergeris consultnt to the bottled wter industry nd uthor of four books on bottled wter.
