The consumption of bottled water has been increasing globally year on year, according to previous research, this trend can be partly explained by subjective factors like taste, lack of trust in water quality and marketing by bottled water qualities. In order to assess the impact that this trend is having on the environment, the researchers conducted a life cycle assessment to research the damage to ecosystems and resource availability as well as the indirect impact on human health derived from the production process. Since tap water quality may differ between cities and countries, the research team focused on the city of Barcelona.
The results showed that if the whole population of Barcelona shifted to bottled water, the production required would take a toll of 1.43 species lost per year and cost $83.9m per year due to the extraction of raw materials. This is approximately 1,400 more impact on ecosystems and 3,500 times higher costs compared to the scenario where the whole population shifts to tap water.
Cristina Villanueva, ISGlobal researcher and first author of the study, said: ‘Tap water quality has increased substantially in Barcelona since the incorporation of advanced treatments over the last years. ‘However, this considerable improvement has not been mirrored by an increase in tap water consumption, which suggests that water consumption could be motivated by subjective factors other than quality. ‘Our results show that considering both the environmental and the health effects, tap water is a better option than bottled water because bottled water generates a wider range of impacts.
Source: Environment Journal
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