(Toledo News Now) - With more and more people buying large amounts of bottled water in case of a water crisis, WTOL 11 spoke to a water company about the safety of bottled water.
Toledo Water Conditioning sells everything from home water systems to bottled water. According to the company, bottled water is safe to drink.
The company says it's not so much where the water comes from, but more about how companies treat the water if you're looking for the best product.
"Bottled water is often municipal water that has been going through filtration and other carbon treatment to remove a lot of the nasty chemicals in the water. Some bottled water is simply well water or spring water, which comes from a hole in the ground and is not necessarily treated as well," says John Keener, President of Toledo Water Conditioning.
Keener says the most important thing to look for when buying bottled water is reverse osmosis.
"Bottled waters are usually pretty well processed. Especially look for waters that are made through reverse osmosis. Almost all bottled waters are ozonated, so they take out any worried of microcystin or bacteria or viruses. So in that phase most bottled waters are pretty safe," says Keener.
Reverse osmosis is a treatment the company stands by.
"The process that we use is well recognized by the EPA and world health organization and just countless university studies that reverse osmosis is one of the best ways to remove microcystin," says Keener.
He says a quick check of the label can usually tell you everything.
On the other hand, it's still important to note that bottled water is not closely regulated.
"The process of bottling is regulated a lot, the process of what goes in the bottle is not as regulated," says Keener.
So now that you know your water is safe, what's the best way to store it?
Keener says when you buy bottled water in bulk, you need to store it in a cool dark place like a basement, somewhere where the temperature is consistent and not too hot.
The company says you don't want the water in a spot where the sun can hit it constantly because that will give the water energy and not help with it's longevity.
There can also be reactions between the water and plastic of the bottle.
"If there is even one microbe in their, you provide sunlight to it, it could multiply. So you don't want to store it out in the open. Keep it cool and dark," says Keener.
A University of Toledo also researcher recommends not storing bottled water for months on end, because bottles are not meant as a long term storage device for water.
