I-Team: Bottled Water Sources

SOUTHFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Bottled water is a Multi-Billion dollar business.  But do you know where the water inside that bottle is coming from or what type of water it is? 

The 22News I-team is working for you with what you need to know about bottled water.

Whatever the bottle might say, don't be misled by it's artwork, read the label and sometimes that isn't even enough.  

Here it is called Berkshire Mountain Spring Water. In Rhode Island it's called Great Rock. It's the same water. just look at the source on the label... Southfield, Massachusetts.

According to a survey by the Washington based Environmental Working Group, only one of the ten best selling bottled waters reveal their source and treatment.  Nestle's Pure Life does.  Its' source is deep protected wells in Hollis, Maine.  

Felix Graham-Jones is responsible for quality control for Berkshire Mountain Spring Water.

"What goes into our bottles is a pure natural spring water", says Graham-Jones.

Berkshire Mountain Spring Water is in Southfield about 40 miles west of Springfield.  Most of what it produces goes into larger water coolers, but it does produce some individual bottles.  Their spring is about a half mile hike from its plant.  

"We do nothing to the water other than filter it and expose it to ozone, there's no chemical alterations", says Graham-Jones.

Many bottled water companies put their own water analysis report online, but without a chemistry degree it's hard to figure it out.  So the 22News I-team went to a testing laboratory in East Longmeadow to find out if there is much difference in the finished product.

"I just looked at a few of these reports that you showed me it doesn't look like these examples have much of a signficant different between the different types of water", says Michael Erickson, Con-Test Analytical Laboratory Director.

We looked at four types of bottled water.  Spring water is water derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the Earth's surface.  Like Berkshire Mountain Springs, Evian or Poland Spring.

Another common type of bottled water is distilled.  Water that has been boiled and then recondensed from the steam that the boiling produces.  Like Smart Water.

Artesian is Water from a well that taps a confined aquifer.  Fiji is an example and this is an artesian well that the Berkshire Mountain Springs uses as the tap and toilet water and they could, but don't bottle it.  

And the top selling bottled water is Purified water.  Water from any source that has been treated to remove chemicals and pathogens. 

Desani, Nestle Pure Life and Aquafina are all examples. Aquafina says on its label that it originates from public water sources known as tap water or municipal water.  

"A lot of these are  municipal water sources with different filtration techniques or different clean up techniques", says Erickson.