The truth about bottled water revealed in the movie TAPPED

TAPPED a movie about the bottled water industry.
Courtesy of Atlas Films.

When many people think of health, they immediately think of organic food and lots of water. Advertising images have created an association between health and bottled water. However, the movie TAPPED will make any health conscious consumer recoil from the next plastic bottle of toxins that they see.
TAPPED, from producers of Who Killed the Electric Car and I.O.U.S.A., takes a full cycle look at America’s addiction to something that, as it turns out, is less healthy, rather, downright dangerous to drink.

The movie starts out with the story of Nestle who owns many popular brands like Deer Park and Poland Springs. It illustrates how multinational corporations have found loopholes in local legislation that allows them to extract water from local sources, bottle it and send out water to others where there is perfectly good water coming out of the tap. It shows a glimpse of the struggle these local towns face as multinational corporations like Nestle, Coke and Pepsi are trying to find a way to legally claim water, which is a scarce resource.

TAPPED illustrates the history of how we got to where we are and the undeniable fact that bottled water is more of a behavioral issue than a necessity. Much of bottled water is indeed just filtered tap water.
After the history, the movie then starts to deconstruct the bottle and talks about the plastic that water is poured into. Bottles are created from PET, which use a petroleum-derived chemical called peraxylene that causes cancer. TAPPED shows the faces of Corpus Cristi, TX that must suffer everyday with a chemical production plant in their town and the undeniable fact that the people who live in Corpus Cristi have a higher rate of being sick or having birth defects.

One of the most startling points of the film is that there’s really no regulation. There’s one person at the FDA who doesn't require reporting on a regular basis. When she does look at health and safety reports they are always submitted by the companies themselves. Water that is bottled in the state and sold in state isn’t even regulated by the FDA at all. A self-governing system isn't ever as safe as municipal water, which is tested multiple times per day.

The most shocking part of the movie and one in which we will hear much more about as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking more of an interest in, is bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is found in most of the 5-gallon jugs, hard water bottles and baby bottles. One 10-year study testing BPA at a dose 25,000 lower than the previous testing showed that it damaged the reproductive systems of mice. Scientists have found that it is related to many diseases, such as, diabetes, breast and prostate cancer, and even issues in children like ADHD.

TAPPED examines the recycling issue where only 20 percent of beverage containers in the United States are actually recycled. The movie shows the terrifying mounds of plastic that we as a nation consume. But what happens to the rest of it? Well, it winds up in the environment. Washing up on shores in Hawaii and spinning around in the natural currents of the oceans in what scientists call the Garbage Gyre.

The most stark part of the movie is when even the most educated viewer realizes that what is pushed as a “healthy beverage” in the end will ultimately contribute to our demise as a species.

But there is a sliver lining to this movie. This is an easy problem to fix: don’t buy bottled water.

If no one buys it, the companies stop bottling it.

For those looking to make the switch, if taste is an issue, purchase a filter. If you need water when you're away from home, purchase a BPA free water bottle and fill it up every morning to take with you. With bottled water being 1,900 times more than the cost of tap water, it just makes sense to make the switch immediately for your health and wallet.

If you enjoyed TAPPED, check out the movie Food, Inc.