Water Quality
- Although our planet is 71% water, humans depend on a mere 0.65% of the water for survival—much of which is polluted.
- About a quarter of the nations industrial plants and water treatment facili-ties are in serious violation of pollution standards at any one time.
- An estimated 7 million Americans are made sick annually by contaminated tap water, in some rare cases resulting in death.
- Recent studies have shown that a wide variety of pharmaceuticals—including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones—have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Ameri-cans.
- Every 10 minutes 2 million plastic bottles are consumed in the US.
- Every year millions of tons of plastic go into manufacturing water bottles for the global market, using processes that release toxins such as nickel, ethyl-benzene, ethylene oxide and benzene.
- In the US alone, 1.5 million barrels of oil are consumed in making the bottles.
- The Earth Policy Institute reports that of the 2.7 million tons of plastic used to bottle water each year, only 14% of it is recycled, which means 86% ends up in landfills.
- Most plastic water bottles are oil based—oil based plastic bottles will NEVER biodegrade.
|
