I love celebrity gossip and the invented drama over the simplest of things. Sometimes it makes me laugh at the fickle/excentric/idiotic/funny behavior of the celebrity; and sometimes it makes my laugh at the idiocy of the paparazzi.
Its no surprise that I take an interest when I run across something on the RSS feeds that deals both a celebrity and coffee. It would seem that the UK paparazzi is up in arms over a perceived diva transgression made by none other than Victoria Beckham.
While visiting her father-in-law Ted Beckham at a hospital where he was recovering from a heart attack, Victoria caused quite the stir when she asked if a cup of coffee she was offered was made with tap water or bottled water.
When informed that the coffee was indeed made with tap water, she politely refused the offer with a “No, thank you.” Does this make her a diva or just someone who is concerned about water quality?
Or maybe she feels like many that coffee taste better when its made with filtered water and a gold filter. I know I do. A lot of people do. Coffee does taste better in general with filtered water. Does fuels this perception? Is it due to the purity of the water or the relative lack of discernible taste smell that bottled water generally has over tap water?
Maybe Victoria like all the other people who spend billions of dollars each year on bottled water thinks its better than tap water? If that’s the case I personally know a lot of divas.
But, it made me start to wonder about tap water versus bottled water. Is it safer? Is it better? I’ve always meant to do some reading on this topic but never really got around to it, but thanks to Victoria Beckham, I did. What I found was not what I expected.
According to the National Research Defense Council’s report — “Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?” the first thing that surprised me was the difference in control and testing requirements used for tap versus bottled water.
Key Differences Between EPA Tap Water and FDA Bottled Water Rules
Bottled Water
| Disinfection Required? | No |
| Confirmed E. Coli & Fecal Coliform Banned? | No |
| Testing Frequency for Bacteria? | 1/week |
| Must Filter to Remove Pathogens, or Have Strictly Protected Source? (a) | No |
| Must Test for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Viruses? | 1/year |
| Testing Frequency for Most Synthetic Organic Chemicals? | No |
| Operator Must be Trained & Certified? | No |
| Must Test for and Meet Standards for Asbestos & Phthalate? | No |
| Must Use Certified Labs to Do Testing? | No |
| Must Report Violations to State, Feds? | No |
| Consumer Right to Know About Contamination? | No |
Carbonated or Seltzer Water
| Disinfection Required? | No | |
| Confirmed E. Coli & Fecal Coliform Banned? | No | |
| Testing Frequency for Bacteria? | None | |
| Must Filter to Remove Pathogens, or Have Strictly Protected Source? | No | |
| Must Test for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Viruses? | No | |
| Testing Frequency for Most Synthetic Organic Chemicals? | None | |
| Operator Must be Trained & Certified? | No | |
| Must Test for and Meet Standards for Asbestos & Phthalate? | No | |
| Must Use Certified Labs to Do Testing? | No | |
| Must Report Violations to State, Feds? | No | |
| Consumer Right to Know About Contamination? | No |
Big City Tap Water (using Surface water) (b)
| Disinfection Required? | Yes |
| Confirmed E. Coli & Fecal Coliform Banned? | Yes |
| Testing Frequency for Bacteria? | Hundreds/month |
| Must Filter to Remove Pathogens, or Have Strictly Protected Source? | Yes |
| Must Test for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Viruses? | Yes |
| Testing Frequency for Most Synthetic Organic Chemicals? | 1/quarter (limited waivers available if clean source) |
| Operator Must be Trained & Certified? (c) | Yes |
| Must Test for and Meet Standards for Asbestos & Phthalate? | Yes (though limited waivers available if clean source) |
| Must Use Certified Labs to Do Testing? | Yes |
| Must Report Violations to State, Feds? | Yes |
| Consumer Right to Know About Contamination? | Yes |
Small Town Tap Water (using a well) (d)
| Disinfection Required? | No (though new rule in 2002 will require if needed) |
| Confirmed E. Coli & Fecal Coliform Banned? | Yes |
| Testing Frequency for Bacteria? | 20/month |
| Must Filter to Remove Pathogens, or Have Strictly Protected Source? | No (unless subject to surface contamination) |
| Must Test for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Viruses? | No |
| Testing Frequency for Most Synthetic Organic Chemicals? | 1/quarter (waivers available if clean source) |
| Operator Must be Trained & Certified? | Yes |
| Must Test for and Meet Standards for Asbestos & Phthalate? | Yes (though waivers available if clean source) |
| Must Use Certified Labs to Do Testing? | Yes |
| Must Report Violations to State, Feds? | Yes |
| Consumer Right to Know About Contamination? | Yes |
| a. FDA requires state or local approval of bottled water sources, but there is no federal definition or control of what may be a bottled water source; the FDA “approved source” requirement thus has been called a “regulatory mirage.”
b. Big city refers to city system serving 100,000 people or more. A big city using only wells would have to comply with all requirements noted for a surface water-supplied city, except that if its wells were not under the influence of surface water, it currently would not have to disinfect, filter, or test for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, or viruses. A new rule for such groundwater-supplied systems must be issued in 2002, which may require some cities using wells to disinfect or filter and do additional microbial monitoring. c. The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 require states, subject to EPA guidelines, to train and certify operators of all public water systems. EPA’s rules to implement this provision are required to be issued by February 1999. d. Small town refers to a town of 20,000 people. Such a small town using surface water would have to comply with all the same requirements noted for a large city using surface water, except the monitoring frequency for coliform would be 20/month, and there currently are no Cryptosporidium, Giardia, or virus monitoring requirements for small towns. Source: NRDC |
Just looking at this data its clear that tap water goes through much more stringent testing and oversight than any bottled water. What then fuels public perception of bottled water being better? Certainly marketing plays a big role. I mean who wouldn’t want to drink water that comes from a mountain spring in Switzerland over water from Lake Michigan?
The principle problem seems to stem from the fact that most tap water smells different or has a slightly different taste than bottled water. Add in the hype that has been beaten into our heads about bottled water being “pure” and its no wonder we look at these abnormal tastes and smells as an indication of a deficiency in water quality.
Looking over this post its funny how a UK gossip rag’s ranting over Victoria Beckham’s coffee snobbery sparked my exploration of bottled water versus tap water safety, this is sure to be a great discussion over coffee with friends. But what water will I use?
October 16th, 2007 at 6:56 AM
Posh complained about the machine not being connected to a filter, rather than bottled water which quite frankly tastes rotten. European vending company Autobar does this de rigeur and therefore when she asked if it was “Autobar Coffee” this was what she was getting at.
An educated lady with discerning taste!
October 17th, 2007 at 3:32 PM
I’ll be the first to admit that it’s way easier to accuse her of being a diva.
Indeed, though, you know that it could have been Aquafina, which is both bottled and tap!
I confess: I drink bottled water, myself.
-The Diva
November 13th, 2007 at 9:20 PM
Glad I don’t drink water- tap or bottled