At a House subcommittee hearing held Wednesday, July 8, 2009, Representatives discussed concerns over the quality of bottled water, based on questions raised from two new reports released from the Government Accountability Office and from the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research organization.

Representative Bart Stupak, (D-MI) chairman of the oversight committee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said, “The majority of consumers purchase bottled water because of perceived health and safety benefits, but they actually know very little about the quality of the water they are buying.”

Tap water is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency while bottled water is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Tap water is tested daily by a certified laboratory and results must be officially reported for compliance purposes. Standards for tap water are far more stringent than those for bottled water. In addition, water distribution agencies like DC WASA must issue annual consumer confidence reports, such as DC WASA’s 2008 Annual Drinking Water Report, now available online:
http://www.dcwasa.com/news/publications/2008_water_quality_report.pdf