What's in that bottled water?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=82 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#33CCFF" FACE="Comic Sans MS" ><B>Seven  Creeks  Roadside  Spring Water</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Seven Creeks Roadside Spring Water"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id427.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Health "><B><IMG SRC="0720e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A><B>  </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"><B>    </B><A HREF="id441.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Office Water Coolers"><B><IMG SRC="0710e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A><B>  </B><A HREF="id443.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Garlic How to use it"><B><IMG SRC="0730e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=398 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <I>What's in that bottled water?</I></div> <div> Information from a company that makes water purifiers</div> <bR> <div> Is Spring Water Better? The Bromate Issue. </div> <div>      The FDA recently identified the compound bromate as a potential carcinogen when present at levels frequently found in ozonated spring waters (almost all spring waters are ozonated prior to bottling). The limit established by the FDA is very low (< 10ppb) and went into effect in 2002. </div> <div>      Bromide, a harmless cousin to bromate, occurs naturally in many natural waters. Unfortunately, ozonation, a nearly universal disinfection process used by bottled water companies, chemically CONVERTS harmless bromide to carcinogenic bromate. Ironically, some spring water companies have been unwittingly CREATING a potential carcinogen in their bottled waters. </div> <div>      Ozone is a gas, and, like chlorine, it kills bacteria and other microorganisms. Ozone is popular as a bottled water disinfectant because, unlike chlorine, it dissipates from the water in a short period, leaving no aftertaste. The ozonation process bubbles ozone through water just prior to bottling. It is an extremely effective method of disinfection. </div> <div>      Neither bromate nor bromide is detectable in Micropack's products. If bromide exists in the source water, which is possible, it is removed by our state-of-the-art dual pass Reverse Osmosis, leaving nothing to be converted. It is important to note that bottled waters labeled simply by the FDA defined description "drinking water" may not go through sufficient purification to eliminate bromide from the source water. The FDA, by definition, limits the filtration of "spring water," preventing companies from filtering out bromate. </div> <div>      This FDA rule is a real issue for the bottled water industry which is populated by many regional, one-plant spring water bottlers. Some may lack the financial resources or technical expertise to adapt to this rule. Certainly the spring water companies have not publicized this issue, even as they grapple with a tight timeline to solve this sticky problem.</div> <div>      As experts in purified water Micropack's sales and technical staff is frequently challenged to explain the differences between purified water and spring water and the benefits of buying a purified water product. Here is a perfect example. </div> <div>      As consumer and trade awareness of issues like these grow, purified Water like Micropack's will increasingly become the product of choice. It's just safer!</div> <div> Source:<A HREF="http://www.micropackbottledwater.com/bromateissue.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.micropackbottledwater.com/bro">http://www.micropackbottledwater.com/bromateissue.html</A></div> <bR> <div> Australian Study</div> <bR> <div>      The study, <I>Bromate Formation in Australian Bottled Drinking Water</I>, was undertaken by the Australian Water Quality Centre and the University of South Australia and presented at the recent WaterTECH conference in Sydney. The authors stress that this is a preliminary study and only one sample was tested for each brand. No brand names have been published. </div> <div>      The scientists tested 30 leading brands of bottled water on sale in Australia for by-products, including bromate, from three common disinfection processes: chlorination, ozonation and UV sterilisation. Of the 30 brands analysed, 19 had been treated with ozone; 12 of these brands contained high levels of bromate. One contained no less than 0.383 mg/L, almost 20 times the limit recommended for tap water by the NHMRC. </div> <div> So why didn’t the other seven brands treated with ozone contain bromate? Some had been put through a post-ozonation filter, while the others probably didn’t contain enough bromide to form much bromate or hadn't been dosed with as much ozone. </div> <div>      The study concluded that formation of bromate should be of concern to the local bottled water industry, and ANZFA’s guidelines should cover bromate. “Bottled water regulations,” it concluded, “should be amended so that at the very least the guidelines are consistent with those governing tap water.” </div> <div> Authors: </div> <div> Rodney Magazinovic, Dennis Mulcahy, David Davey, <I>School of Chemical Technology, University of South Australia</I> </div> <div> Brenton Nicholson, <I>Australian Water Quality Centre, Bolivar, South Australia</I> </div> <div> <I>4 May 2000</I> </div> <div> Source:<A HREF="http://www.choice.com.au/articles/goArticle.asp?id=101315&p=4" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.choice.com.au/articles/goArti">http://www.choice.com.au/articles/goArticle.asp?id=101315&p=4</A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>