Environment & Environment Daily - Bottlers use 2,000 times the energy of tap suppliers

By Colin Sullivan

SAN FRANCISCO - Tap water, or bottled? A think tank based in Oakland, Calif., thinks you should go with tap.

A study published in the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters this month says the bottled-water supply chain in the United States consumes as much as 2,000 times more energy than traditional tap-water production. Researchers at the Pacific Institute conducted the study.

Consumption of bottled water in the United States used anywhere from 32 million to 54 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2007, the institute's Peter Gleick and Heather Cooley wrote. Long-distance transportation and plastic manufacturing were the primary contributors to that figure.

The study examined the energy intensity at all levels of the manufacturing and delivery stages of bottled water. Much of the energy consumption stems from actual production of the plastic bottles, most of which are made from virgin (not recycled) material, they noted.

Tap water, on the other hand, is often distributed locally and does not require bottling.

The researchers studied bottled water made and consumed in Southern California as well as boutique brands made in France and Fiji. In the latter cases, long-distance transportation was found to be comparable to the energy intensity required to make the plastic bottles.

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