Get The Facts

Student Video Contest
Food & Water Watch challenged college students from around the U.S. to declare their love for tap water –– and get it on film.  After two months and over one hundred and forty entries, the I “Heart” Tap Water national video contest has a final winner just in time for Earth Day. Congratulations to all contestants and our 24 finalists for their hard work and dedication!

Did you know...

• Bottled water is not safer than tap water? In fact, the federal government requires far more rigorous and frequent safety testing and monitoring of municipal drinking water.
• Bottled water is thousands of times more expensive than tap water? Compare $0.002 per gallon for most tap water to a range of $0.89 to $8.26 per gallon for bottled waters.
• Bottled water creates mountains of needless garbage and contributes to other environmental problems?

American consumers drink more bottled water every year, in part because they think it is somehow safer or better than tap water. They collectively spend hundreds or thousands of dollars more per gallon for water in a plastic bottle than they would for the H₂0 flowing from their taps.

Learn about the various problems with bottled water and why you should switch to tap water. Read our new report, Take Back the Tap: Why Choosing Tap Water over Bottled Water is Better for Your Health, Your Pocketbook, and the Environment.

Take the Pledge

Break the bottled water habit. Join our campaign to take back the tap by pledging to reduce or eliminate your use of bottled water.

Make a Difference

What America really needs is increased funding for public drinking water and water treatment.

America has some of the safest tap water in the world but many cities operate water systems that were built before World War I. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that there is a shortfall of more than $22 billion per year between the funds available for repair and upgrade of pipes and treatment plants and what is needed to keep water safe for human and environmental health.

• Support tap water; tell Congress to increase funding to keep America’s water clean and safe.