US Water System Needs Upgrade, But Still Far Superior to Rest of World

Tuesday, 15 June 2010 | by Pat's Picks

How do you persuade someone to buy a product when there is an identical one available for a fraction of the cost? That’s the provocative question scientist Peter H. Gleick asks in this morning’s Washington Post. He says by advertising flaws and exacerbating fear about drinking tap water, bottled water producers have eroded the US consumer’s trust in our “remarkable drinking water system.” Gleik’s piece is a side bar to a great graphic (click image above for bigger view) comparing water options on points like health, cost and consumption.

Gleick says that in the last 25 years, the American public’s consumption of tap water has decreased by about 25 gallons a year, mostly due to increasingly aggressive ad campaigns that have put tap water in their cross hairs. He believes we should pay a little more for tap water and reinvest that money into preserving and improving an excellent public water system.