Don’t be too quick to trust the pictures on the label. Bottled water comes from a variety of sources. Fancy packaging won’t exactly tell you the whole story. When you dig a little deeper, the real source of your bottled water might surprise you.

Types of Bottled Water

Because bottled water is regulated by the FDA, there are certain rules that the bottled water brands have to follow. The words on the water bottle’s label have to match its origin. As such, only water that’s actually sourced from an underground spring can be called “spring water.” And only water that has the required 250 ppm count of minerals can be labeled “mineral water.” Sounds simple enough, right? But it gets more complicated when you compare bottles that say “purified water.” Oftentimes this water has nothing to do with the mountains or clear streams on their package. These “purified” brands are usually just selling tap water that’s been filtered.

Bottled Water vs. Tap Water

It’s great to filter chlorine and fluoride and other contaminants out of your drinking water, but this system has a major flaw. There’s no reason to pay 2,000 times the cost of tap water just to have it filtered and put in a plastic bottle. Forget the pretty pictures—most bottled water is just super-expensive tap water.

Despite the high cost, people throw more money at bottled water today than ever before. Companies even expect to ship more gallons of bottled water in 2016 than carbonated beverages. It’ll be the first time in history that water surpasses soda. It appears that the recent water safety issues—like the crisis in Flint—are causing people to think about their drinking water in a whole new way.

The Best Water Filtration

Contaminated tap water isn’t something to be taken lightly, but relying on bottled water isn’t a viable solution. Safe drinking water doesn’t have to come with a high price tag and so much waste. The energy it takes to manufacture the plastic and then distribute the bottles to stores homes is too much for just water. We already have the delivery system we need right at our tap! The only thing that’s missing is a good water filter and a reusable, eco-friendly water bottle. You get better quality water when you filter it at your own tap.

The best filtration systems today will even remove lead and chlorine from your tap water. It’s the safer, more energy-efficient option for staying hydrated. And it can save you a ton of money because you’ll finally stop using the disposable plastic bottles.