Bottled water ... tap water and variations
Waters with different components can be mixed. Considering the way it is produced, there is little difference between purified water and municipal tap water, except in the distribution method and retail price.
Some companies also market enriched water, i.e. purified water that was added some minerals: this is the case, e.g., of Nestl's Pure Life, and Coca-Cola's BonAquA. Purified water is actually a manufactured product.
1. Artesian water / artesian well water is bottled water from a well that taps a confined aquifer (a water-bearing underground layer of rock or sand) in which the water level stands at some height above the top of the aquifer.
2. Drinking water is water that is sold for human consumption in sanitary containers and contains no added sweeteners or chemical additives (other than flavours, extracts or essences). Flavours, extracts or essences may be added to drinking water comprising less than one-percent-by-weight of the final product or the product will be considered a soft drink. Drinking water may be sodium-free or contain very low amounts of sodium.
3. Sparkling water is water that after treatment and possible replacement with carbon dioxide contains the same amount of carbon dioxide that it had at emergence from the source.
4. Well water is bottled water from a hole bored, drilled or otherwise constructed in the ground which taps the water of an aquifer. If these waters contain the minimum required mineral content according to US standards, they can be called mineral waters.
So many different categories of bottled water, changing from one country to another, are not easy for consumers to differentiate. In addition, bottled water brands do not ease the identification of the product, often showing misleading images on their bottles' labels, such as lakes and mountains when the water actually comes from municipal networks.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is working on an approximation of standards for natural mineral and drinking water. On its 1997 session, the Codex Alimentarius Commissionadopted a draft standard on natural mineral water, converting world-wide the European regional standards, especially: microbiological purity of the product and bottling at the source.
Many non European countries objected that this does not permit antimicrobial treatments of the water, nor its transportation in bulk containers. United States stated that this standard created a barrier to international trade by including unnecessary and inappropriately restrictive requirements.
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Bottled water and tap water any difference?