Holland BPW customers are great stewards of their resources. They understand the value of public utilities such as water, electricity, and fiber internet. Having a community-owned utility company means that we are responsible to our customers for keeping rates affordable for all our utilities.
Drinking tap water is a great way to save money. Compared to drinking bottled water, drinking tap water saves hundreds of dollars per year. Bottled water is also often the same water, just conveniently bottled and slightly more treated.
What’s in Bottled Water?
Bottled water can come from many places, including aquifers, springs, lakes, rivers and other water sources. In the last 25 years, bottled water companies in the US have shifted from bottling natural spring water to bottling “purified water,” which typically means municipal water that has gone through additional treatment such as reverse osmosis (Consumer Reports, 2020).
One such company that bottles municipal water is Dr. Pepper Keurig. In fact, Dr. Pepper Keurig uses Holland BPW’s tap water for bottling water and sodas. Other food manufacturers in our area also use our water in processing beverages, desserts and frozen meals.
Let’s Do the Math
The biggest difference between bottled water and Holland BPW’s tap water is price. A gallon of bottled water at Meijer currently costs $1.40, while a gallon of BPW tap water is two-hundredths of a cent. According to the CDC, the average water intake for an adult is 44oz per day, or 125.5 gallons per year.
If you, as an average adult, only drank bottled water for an entire year, you would spend $175.65 assuming prices stay the same.
But if you only drank tap water for a year, you would spend 33 cents.
In this specific case, bottled water costs 500 times more than tap water. And that is only if you’re purchasing generic brand bottled water. Some higher-end bottled water brands can cost 1,000 times more than tap water.
Quality Water
Our customers depend on Holland BPW to keep rates affordable and drinking water clean and healthy. To do this, we perform tens of thousands of tests per year on our water. Operators at our Water Treatment Plant collect water samples from our plant, from the distribution system at service stations and water towers and from businesses throughout our service area. Each year our operators and a third-party lab perform over 60,000 tests to ensure the highest quality water.
We are also proud to say that Holland BPW has some of the lowest water rates in the lower peninsula. Our Lake Michigan treated water is clean and within or below the threshold amounts for any contaminants as required by the EPA and EGLE, as well as additional contaminants not required by the state or federal entities.
All of this hard work means that your tap provides you with a high-quality, clean, affordable source of drinking water.
So instead of getting another case of water the next time you’re at the grocery store, consider buying a reusable water bottle. Filling up at the tap is just as good for you and your wallet.