Bottled Water and its Positive Effects on Health

Clean water is becoming a challenge for every country. Pakistan is going suffer most from unavailability of clean water. Underground water and Glaciers are the main source of clean water in Pakistan. But increasing temperature of world and Pakistan (Global warming) is depleting glaciers meanwhile direct drain of chemical industries effluent into main streams making ground water unhealthy.

The presence of contaminants in water can lead to adverse health effects, including gastrointestinal illness, Hepatitis A, B, C,reproductive problems, and neurological disorders. Infants, young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people whose immune systems are compromised because ofAIDS, chemotherapy, or transplant medications, may be especially susceptible to illness from some contaminants.

People with compromised immune systems may want to take special precautions with the water they drink. In healthy individuals, the parasite Cryptosporidium can cause illness; however, for those with weakened immune systems, it can cause severe illness and possibly death. Look for bottled water treatments that protect against Cryptosporidium, which include:

1. Reverse Osmosis
2. Distillation
3. Filtration with an absolute 1 micron filter

Fluoride and Bottled Water

Some bottled waters contain fluoride, and some do not. Fluoride can occur naturally in source waters used for bottling or be added. Most bottled waters contain fluoride at levels that are less than optimal for good oral health

Safety and Regulation

The FDA regulates bottled water under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and sets standards for bottled water that are based on ones developed by EPA. If these standards are met, water is considered safe for most healthy individuals. The bottled water industry must also follow FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs) for processing and bottling drinking water.

Worldwide Statistics for water

663 million people (1 in 10) lack access to clean water.

650 million people live without clean water.

Around 315,000 children under-five die every year from diarrheal diseases caused by dirty water. That’s 900 children per day.

Diarrhea is the second biggest killer of children under five years old worldwide.

Every minute a newborn baby dies from infection caused by a lack of clean water and an unclean environment.

The water crisis is the number 1 global risk based on impact to society as announced by the World Economic Forum in January 2015.

1.6 million People die every year from diarrheal diseases attributable to lack of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation and 90% of these are children under 5, mostly in developing countries.

160 million people are infected with schistosomiasis causing tens of thousands of deaths yearly, 500 million people are at risk of trachoma from which 146 million are threatened by blindness and 6 million are visually impaired.

Intestinal helminths are plaguing the developing world due to inadequate drinking water with 133 million suffering from high intensity intestinal helminths infections; there are around 1.5 million cases of clinicalhepatitis A every year.

Regulated Bottled water is the solution of this.