NRDC had conducted an exhaustive and elaborate study testing more than 1,000 bottles of 103 different brands of bottled water. Though most of the tested waters were found to be of pure quality, few brands were found to be contaminated. About one-third of the waters tested contained unacceptable levels of contamination — including synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic.

Another pertinent NRDC observation was bottled water regulations are not adequate to guarantee consumers of purity or safety. As bottled waters are covered by the FDA’s rules, they are subject to less rigorous testing and purity standards than city tap water. Bottled water is required to be tested less frequently than city tap water for bacteria and chemical contaminants.
Further there are no requirements for bottled water to be disinfected for parasites unlike the rules for big city tap water systems that use surface water sources. Thus bottled water is quite likely to pose a health threat to people with weak immune systems, such as aged people, infants, transplant or cancer patients and those with HIV/AIDS. The general public perception that tap water quality is less safe has led to the growth in bottled water sales. It is startling to know that about one-fourth of bottled water is actually bottled tap water, according to government and industry estimates. Quite often, the actual source of bottled water is not made clear and some bottled water labels are also ambiguous.
The NRDC report found that samples of two brands were contaminated with phthalates and in one case exceeding Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for tap water.
NRDC has made some strong recommendations for improving the safety of bottled water:
- The FDA should set strict limits for contaminants in bottled water.
- The FDA’s rules should uniformly apply to all bottled water distributed nationally or within a state.
- Bottled water standards must be made as rigid as those applicable to city tap water supplies.
- Make it mandatory for water bottlers to disclose water source, treatments and other key information on the labels.
- An extra penny-per-bottle fee may be levied on bottled water to fund testing, regulatory programs, and enforcement at both state and national levels.
Since NRDC report, no major regulatory changes seem to have been made and bottlers have also not altered their procedures in any meaningful way. In a nutshell, most of us continue to drink bottled tap water after paying fanciful prices as bottlers are not required to list the source on the label. The long-term solution to drinking water problems is to ensure that NRDC recommendations are rigidly imposed or safe, clean, good-tasting drinking water comes from our taps that we may dispense with bottled water altogether.

samehta is a Copywriter of http://www.capellaflavordrops.com – flavored bottled water</a>.She written many articles in various topics such as <a onClick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www.capellaflavordrops.com”>water flavoring</a>, <a onClick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www.capellaflavordrops.com”>flavored water</A>. For more information visit: www.capellaflavordrops.com. Contact her at <a onClick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”mailto:capella.articles@gmail.com”>capella.articles@gmail.com</a>

For starters, it is important to observe the available space of your office and decide where you want your cooler to be positioned. Consider that there are stand-alone models that, well, stand on the floor, and also smaller machines that can be placed on desks and tables.

The availability of wall-plugs nearby is of importance, if you want to avoid the use of much cable. Another thing to consider is bottle storage, unless you don’t mind carrying heavy bottles from another room or place often. With the existence of water dispensers that can be plugged directly to your building water supply, you are provided with an additional option to choose from.

Before making the above decisions, consider the average number of people that are going to use your office water cooler, unless that’s just you of course. An additional feature that makes life much easier is a cup holder which provides sufficient plastic cups supply for at least a day, depending on how many use the machine (and how often).

Now is the time to decide on a budget. What matters are the quality of water you want your water cooler to deliver, the size of its container, the materials the machine is made of and the level of provided customer service. More expensive means better here, but it is often enough to go with a simple model that serves the basic needs, especially if you are going to be using high quality mineral water. The latter makes the use the use of strong filters unnecessary and that can save you some money if the consumption is not too big.

If you like luxury and you can afford it, a great type of cooler is one that provides mechanism for air ice cube making. No more waiting for water to freeze and refilling the cube forms then putting them in the fridge in another room. High speed rate of ice cube making is something that is easily achieved by such water cooler.

On a final note, make sure to ask for warranty from the company or manufacturer that you are buying from. The minimum offered warranty should be 1 to 2 years, and from 3 to 5 years for a top system.

Well, that’s just about all there is about the basics of office water coolers. It is definitely a great addition to your office. With the recent acceptance of laws in some areas that make easy and free supply of water to people at their working place mandatory, it comes as a great solution.