Facts and Myths
Myths About Bottled Water
Myth: Mount Olympus is tap water.
Fact: Mount Olympus Spring Water comes from a single spring source in Neff's Canyon on the north shoulder of Mount Olympus; it is located inside the federally-protected Mount Olympus Wilderness Area. This spring is exclusively available to Mount Olympus Waters, Inc.
Myth: Empty water bottles are not being recycled.
Fact: Mount Olympus has been recycling its five gallon bottles since the company was founded in 1898. Some of our bottles are used 50 times or more, and the International Bottled Water Association studies show five gallon bottles average 35 cycles of use before they are recycled back into more five gallon bottles, auto bumpers and highway surfacing. Small package recycling is growing as curbside recycling grows with about a 24% recycling rate today. Mount Olympus Waters believes that if consumers are given better opportunities to recycle they will do so. Right now those opportunities are limited. We support comprehensive recycling initiatives to recover all recyclable containers, since these are valuable materials that should not be consigned forever to a landfill. Please remember that the bottled water industry is less than half the size of the soft drink industry, and every industry that uses packages should support recycling. Support and use curbside recycling.
Myth: Bottled Water is a luxury and we don't need it.
Fact: Bottled water has become a replacement for soft drinks. This is important in a country where nearly 40% of Americans are considered obese according to a study by the Center for Diseases Control in 2005. A CDC study indicates that one out of every three children born after the year 2000 will be diagnosed with diabetes. Bottled water sales have grown at the expense of sweetened soft drink sales. Water is a healthy beverage. We believe Americans need to drink more water and bottled water is in its most convenient form, further, bottled water is a necessity in times of natural and manmade disasters.
Myth: Tap water is just as good as bottled water.
Fact: Utah's tap water is very good and boil orders by the health department for community water systems are infrequent. However, many individuals do not want chlorine or other chemicals in their drinking water, Bottled water provides them with that option.
Myth: Bottled water is less regulated than tap water.
Fact: Bottled water is heavily regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Utah Department of Agriculture and the Utah and Salt Lake County Health Departments. We test Mount Olympus Spring Water many times each hour. We have control over our water source and because of our specialized treatment we do not need to add chlorine as a disinfectant. The bottle itself locks in the quality so the consumer gets quality assurance in every bottle, Conversely, most tap water comes from surface water which is more vulnerable to contamination from hazards such as E coli bacteria, Guardia, or Cryptosporidium. Ground water is treated by disinfectants like chlorine and then travels to the consumer in aging distribution systems. Of note: The EPA allows municipal systems to average their maximum contaminant levels for chlorine byproducts called Trihalomethanes, which are carcinogenic compounds. They can and do exceed the maximums but as long as they average below the maximum contamination level no action is taken, you will not find harmful levels of chlorine, chlorine byproducts, Cryptosporidium, Guardia, Volatile organic compounds or pharmaceuticals in our FDA regulated bottled spring water; Mount Olympus Spring Water provides quality that you can be sure of.
Myth: Faucet mount filters are as good as bottled water.
Fact: The good news is that a faucet mount filter will remove chlorine. However, that means that there is little or no residual disinfectant in your refillable sports bottle. The other bad news is that point-of-use faucet filters do not remove cryptosporidium, Guardia, or pharmaceuticals.
Myth: Water bottlers have done little to make their products more environmentally sound.
Fact: Mount Olympus Waters has reduced the plastic content of its PET bottles by about 25% since 2002. Additionally, we are now using about 1000 Post Consumer Recyclable (PCR) material in all our bottles. We have also reduced the use of corrugated paper products by a significant amount, additionally, we will soon be offering our products in the new Reverte. plastic from Wells Plastic Co. in the United Kingdom. Reverte. is both recyclable and oxo-biodegradable. Mount Olympus Waters is the only bottled Water Company in our area that will be able to offer this new and exciting environmental innovation.
Myth: The backlash against bottled water is purely an environmental debate.
Fact: The real issue is the aging infrastructure that delivers tap water in America. The American Society of Civil Engineers in their report for 2005 downgraded the municipal infrastructure in this country from a Grade D to a D-. The cost to upgrade the system is estimated to be $250 billion, and there are interests who believe that bottled water detracts from the public will to spend this kind of money on aging water delivery systems.
