- Gaping Holes in Government Bottled Water Regulation

The bottled water industry often makes the claim that it is far better regulated than tap water suppliers are. For example, the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) testified in 1991 that "When compared to the level of regulation and scrutiny applied to tap water . . .bottled water consumers come out way ahead." IBWA asserted that "If one considers the full range of FDA consumer protection standards, bottled water safeguards have been more complete and protective for a longer time than tap water standards." This continues to be the industry argument. In a 1998 fact sheet, for example, IBWA contends, "Quality is in every container of bottled water. It's consistent and it is inspected and monitored by governmental and private laboratories. Unfortunately, tap water can be inconsistent -- sometimes it might be okay while other times it is not." The IBWA further declares that "bottled water is strictly regulated on the federal level by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and on the state level by state officials. This ensures that all bottled water sold in the United States meets these stringent standards." .....Our in-depth review indicates that, with few exceptions, federal bottled water regulation is weaker than the tap water regulations facing city water supplies. The bottled water industry is disingenuous in pointing out that there are significant flaws in the tap water regulatory scheme, since many more flaws exist in bottled water rules. Although smaller tap water utilities sometimes face less stringent controls than do bigger cities, it still is clear that federal rules for city tap water generally are more stringent than those for bottled water. For many years, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), FDA was supposed to adopt and apply to bottled water all EPA tap water standards within 180 days after EPA issued those standards. FDA was authorized to refuse to apply the EPA tap water standards to bottled water in certain circumstances where it determined and published reasons explaining why they were inappropriate for bottled water. What happened, however, was that rather than affirmatively making such determinations, FDA just could not seem to be able to get around to issuing bottled water standards or making determinations at all.

more at: http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/chap4.asp