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April 2022
Cost Saving: Is It Cheaper to Buy Bottled Water or a Filter
No matter how you slice it, high-quality, filtered tap water will always cost less than expensive bottled water. Switching from bottled water to a water filtration system could save you hundreds of dollars a year or more.
We’ll take a look at why so many people still drink expensive bottled water, and how you could save a ton of cash by using a water filter vs. bottled water.
Why Is Bottled Water So Expensive?
The price of bottled water can add up quickly, whether you’re buying it in bulk or bottle by bottle. If you’re a regular bottled water drinker, you might be curious why these bottles are so expensive. After all, we can find drinkable water straight out of the faucet.
Bottled water is expensive for a number of reasons: the plastic water bottles, the manufacturing costs, and the time and money it takes to transport heavy containers filled with bottled water to your local store.
These extra costs are significant, with a bottle of water being more than 2,000 times as expensive as a bottle of tap water. Bottled water’s material costs, transportation costs, and filtration costs all come together to make a product that we need — and that’s all around us — wildly expensive.
What Is the Cost of Bottled Water in a Year?
Let’s drill down into the actual cost of bottled water. The price you pay for drinking bottled water in a year will depend, of course, on the type and quantity you consume.
The average person drinks 182.5 gallons of water per year. Let’s break down the annual bottled water costs for three of the most popular brands of bottled water: Dasani, Aquafina, and Smartwater.
To get the cost per gallon of each of these well-known brands, we’ll look at rates from the popular stores CVS and Walgreens for a 20-ounce bottle. We’ll then convert that cost to a price per gallon, and figure out how much it would cost the average person to drink only bottled water for an entire year.
Dasani Bottled Water Costs
Dasani water is produced by one of the largest beverage companies in the world, Coca-Cola. They typically get their water from the same municipal suppliers you get your tap water from, but filter it through a reverse osmosis system before adding back in different salts and minerals.
The average price for a single 20 ounce bottle of Dasani is $1.88. Now it’s time for some math:
- Average Price Per Ounce: $.094
- Average Price Per Gallon: $12.03
- Yearly Cost (182.5 gallons): $2,195.48
Yes, you’re reading that right: A year’s worth of Dasani bottled water could cost you over $2,000!
Aquafina Bottled Water Costs
Another big beverage company, PepsiCo, produces Aquafina. Also reverse-osmosis filtered from municipal water supplies, Aquafina offers consumers filtered water with nothing added back in.
The average price for a single 20 ounce bottle of Aquafina water at Kmart, Target, and Walgreens is $1.82. Let’s do our math:
- Average Price Per Ounce: $0.091
- Average Price Per Gallon: $11.65
- Yearly Cost (182.5 gallons): $2,126.12
As you can see, Aquafina is slightly cheaper than Dasani, but you’re still paying well in excess of $2,000 for a year’s worth of bottles.
Smartwater Bottled Water Costs
Like Dasani, Smartwater is produced by Coca-Cola, but the process is very different. Smartwater comes from spring water that goes through vapor distillation. After the distillation process, electrolytes are added.
One of Smartwater’s most popular bottle sizes is a little different, coming in at 23.7 ounces. The average price for a single 23.7 ounce bottle of Smartwater between CVS, Kmart, and Walgreens is $2.02. Math time:
- Average Price Per Ounce: $0.085
- Average Price Per Gallon: $10.88
- Yearly Cost (182.5 gallons): $1,985.60
Smartwater might be slightly cheaper than Dasani and Aquafina, but you’re still spending nearly $2,000 of your hard-earned money every year on a product that you can get for much, much cheaper.
Why Is Bottled Water So Popular?
Even with all of the high costs associated with it, bottled water remains one of today’s most popular drinks. People in the United States — and all over the world — spend billions of dollars every year, consuming millions of gallons of bottled water.
In 2022, the global bottled water market is worth $228 billion. If you think that's an enormous amount of money being spent on water (and it is), consider that market experts expect the bottled water market to grow to a whopping $322 billion by 2028.
You may be asking yourself why bottles of water remain so popular, given their high price tag. Much of bottled water’s popularity comes down to perception, with many people assuming their city’s water supply is not up to their drinking water standards.
This widespread perception of tap water has caused Americans to drink more and more bottled water over the years. Since 2016, bottled water has been the number-one beverage category in the United States. Other reasons people drink bottled water include:
- Taste
- Quality
- Convenience
- Health benefits
But as we’ll soon see, you can receive all of these excellent benefits at a fraction of the cost — and without the outsized environmental impact — by using a water filter vs. bottled water.
What Is the Cost of Filtered Water in a Year?
Ok, we get it: Whatever brand you buy, bottled water is expensive! Fortunately, there’s a much more cost-effective alternative: filtered tap water.
Filtering your tap water at home can be a great low-cost way to give you and your family access to clean, great-tasting drinking water. You probably already have access to inexpensive water through the faucets in your home, and filtering it with a high-quality filter can give you the same great taste, quality, and convenience you enjoy with bottled water.
On average, tap water will cost you $0.004 per gallon, just a fraction of a cent. Compare that to Aquafina, Dasani, and Smartwater, which all cost more than $10 per gallon!
Best of all, filtering your water at home is an incredible bargain. While filters may require a small investment to start, over time, filters only add a few cents or less to each gallon of clean, drinking water you consume.
Why You Shouldn’t Drink Unfiltered Tap Water
Although home water offers families incredible value, drinking unfiltered tap water may put your health at risk. Unfiltered tap water can contain harmful chemicals, microplastics and plastic waste, magnesium, calcium, pesticides, hormones, and other contaminants that interfere with your water’s taste, smell, and quality.
While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set drinking water standards, every year, millions are still exposed to drinking water that doesn't meet these standards. One study shows that in 2015, 21 million Americans relied on community water systems that violated health-based quality standards.
In general, water quality is taken seriously by municipal water treatment facilities, but this doesn’t mean that you’re always going to get clean water out of your faucet. Contamination in your city or town’s water source is always a risk, no matter the type of water.
Without continually testing and monitoring your tap water, it’s impossible to say whether or not your tap water is contaminant-free. Filters take the guesswork out of safe drinking water, and filter systems will remove impurities before you pour your first glass.
Here Are the Best Home Filtration Systems Money Can Buy
Water is essential for all life, and is especially important for our health. But bottled water is expensive, a hassle, and ends up in landfills.
Home water is the obvious solution to this problem, but we know that we need to have filters to remove the contaminants that are found in the water flowing from our taps. There are two excellent options for home filtration:
Under Counter Filters
Under counter filter systems are easy to install: They go under your sink, out of view (unlike water pitcher filter systems), and are great for people who rent their homes or apartments.
If you compare the cost of these under counter filters to the annual cost of bottled water, which can easily exceed $2,000, it’s a no-brainer. HomeWater has the perfect under counter filter system for every home.
Whole Home Filters
If you own your home, then you might consider investing in a whole home filter. Whole home filter systems require professional installation, and they eliminate the health risks of contaminated water for every water source in your home.
With a HomeWater whole home filtration system, you’ll not only enjoy clean, great-tasting drinking water, you’ll also bathe, wash your face, wash your hands, and brush your teeth with water you can trust.
Whichever home filter system you choose, you’ll be able to enjoy myriad health benefits while also saving hundreds — if not thousands! — of dollars a year by switching away from expensive bottled water.
Home Water Filter vs. Bottled Water: Which Should You Choose?
You now know bottled water’s terrible secret: It’s an extravagantly overpriced way to get the clean, healthy water that you need.
But you also now know that there’s a much better solution for all of your hydration needs: a home filtration system. And you also know that HomeWater has all of the top-of-the-line filtration products you need — along with the expertise and experience you can trust — to start enjoying great tasting, healthy, contaminant-free water without breaking the bank.
The choice is yours! Learn more about HomeWater’s premium water filter systems.
Brought to you by homewater.com
All images licensed from Adobe Stock.
