How Much Energy Does it Take to Produce Bottled Water?

If you are a big fan of bottled water, you will be shocked to know how much energy it takes to make and deliver it to your home. According to the January-March issue of the Journal of Environmental Research Letters, 32 million to 54 million barrels of oil were used to make 33 billion liters of bottled water in the United States alone. Around the world, nearly 200 billion liters of bottled water were sold.

According to a study by Pacific Institute, a nonpartisan research organization, energy is consumed in each of the 4 processes involved in bottling water - making the plastic bottles, treating the water, filing and capping the bottles and transporting them to stores nationwide. Of these, the first and the last processes are intensely energy consuming.

The process of manufacturing plastic for bottled water involves melting and melting polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) pellets. In 2007, about 1 million tons of PETE were used to service just the American demands for bottled water. Larger water containers, typically made from made from polycarbonate plastic requires even more energy to manufacture when compared to PETE.

The amount of energy used in transportation is another significant drain on natural resources. The report indicates that it is difficult to compute because manufacturers ship their bottles to different geographical locations. Nevertheless, they breakdown bottled water sources into two types - spring water from natural underground sources accounting for 56% of sales in the US and locally treated water accounting for 44% of sales. While locally produced water is bottled and sold in local regions, spring water bottles are transported all the way across the country. In the latter case, transportation energy can exceed the energy requirements of bottle manufacturing.

The average American drinks 30 gallons of bottled water each year. Bottled water accounts for about 0.33% of the total energy consumption in the US. While this number looks small, we must keep in mind the environmental impact of depleting non-renewable energy resources and trashing millions of bottles in landfills. Thirty-eight billion bottles end up in landfills each year and only 20-30% of plastic gets recycled.

These staggering statistics compel us to think before we open the next bottle of water. But fortunately there are ways to address the growing menace. Here are some ideas.

• Use filtered tap water instead of bottled water. In fact studies indicate that tap water is more strictly regulated than bottled water. But it carries a lot of chlorine to counter the contaminants in the water supply system. But filters fitted to your tap can provide the features that locally treated bottled water provides - it removes chlorine and other unwanted elements and sediments from tap water. As long as you replace the filters periodically, you should not have to compromise on the quality if water. Tap water uses up 2000 times lesser energy. It is also a much cheaper alternative to bottled water. Companies like Water Logic, Aquaverve, etc. offer eco-friendly filtration systems.

• If you have to use bottled water like when you are traveling, buy locally produced water since it cuts down on transportation energy consumption.

• Carry a refillable water bottle or flask with you at all times. Keep it filled with filtered water at home or at work.