Many bottled water products are geological: mineral water, artesian water, spring water, ground water, sparkling water.

The Popularity of Bottled Water

Bottled water sales are exploding again! During 2013 Americans consumed over 10 billion gallons of bottled water. This is a new volume record after a brief slump during the recent recession. That is about 33 gallons or 250 single-serving bottles of water for every person in the country.

The total value of bottled water sold in the United States during 2013 was approximately $12.4 billion. That was a record high dollar volume of sales. Read more

Here is a list of ten must-see documentaries that help expose some of the critical issues facing water in the 21st century.

1. FLOW: FOR THE LOVE OF WATER

FLOW is an award-winning documentary investigation by Irena Salina into the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply. Salina focuses on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. She uses interviews with scientists and activists to reveal the rapidly building water crisis at both the global and human scale. Rather than just focusing on the problem, FLOW also provides examples of people and institutions that are working toward practical solutions to the water crisis. Read more

Bottled water is the fastest growing segment of the beverage industry with annual sales exceeding $11 billion. Bottled water companies have used slick marketing to convince the public that their water is cleaner and healthier to drink. Unfortunately, bottled water is not only hazardous to our health, but it is also equally disastrous to the environment.

The EPA regulates municipal water to ensure that water borne illness will not occur and contaminates stay down. Chlorine and disinfectant byproducts (DBP`s) are added to waterways to disinfect the water and kill off pathogenic bacteria. This has successfully reduced water borne infection. Read more

Summer is officially upon us. For most of us, the word conjures up images of sandy beaches, flip-flop tans, and sweltering hot days spent splashing around in the water. For thrill seekers, sometimes the best part of summer is the feeling of plummeting down a waterslide into a chlorinated wonderland. Whether you’re a daredevil or you just like to chill, hopefully this list of 25 of the world’s wildest waterparks will help you beat the summer heat.

Chimelong Water Park (China)

This Chinese water park covers nearly 1 million square feet and counting. It includes some of the tallest and fastest water rides in the world, but the main attraction is “The Behemoth Bowl.” Read more

Wastewater averaging… ah, a favorite topic of any cocktail party! What is that… you’ve never heard of wastewater averaging? Well, sit right back and let me tell how you can hack your wastewater averaging period and save money the rest of the year.

WHAT IS WASTEWATER AVERAGING?

Wastewater averaging is the practice of estimating the amount of wastewater discharged from your home into the city’s sanitary sewer system. It is essentially a cap on the volume of wastewater you will be billed for each month for the next year. This practice goes by a variety of names including average winter consumption, wastewater winter averaging, winter averaging, winter quarterly average, or winter period average.

Check with your local utility company to see how they handle your wastewater charges. Some utilities don’t want to mess with all these calculations, so they charge a flat, monthly wastewater fee. Read more