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New laboratory tests reveal the Tweed’s tap water stands shoulder-to-shoulder with leading bottled water brands in Australia.
The comprehensive analysis compared tap water sourced from the Tweed River near Murwillumbah against the 4 most popular bottled water brands in the country for pH, fluoride, mineral content, total dissolved solids and conductivity - a measure of saltiness.
The test results from the NATA-accredited Tweed Laboratory Centre show the quality and safety of Tweed tap water equals the tested bottled water – and has the added benefit of being significantly cheaper and better for dental health.
Tweed Shire Council Water and Wastewater Operations Manager Brie Jowett said the results verified the local community could confidently rely on their tap water as the rational choice for hydration.
“I’m not surprised by these results,” Mrs Jowett said.
“The rich volcanic origins of our soil are reflected in our tap water – its mineral content in particular is higher than most of the leading bottled water brands tested.
“You’d be hard-pressed to buy water off-the-shelf with a better mineral content for calcium and magnesium in particular, which are important for our health.”
The test results show Tweed tap water is also lower in sodium than the 4 bottled water samples tested and lower in chloride than 3 of the bottled water samples.
Tweed tap water was the only tested sample that contained the recommended level of fluoride for dental health, perfectly within health guidelines, and was the most alkaline water tested, with a pH of 7.9.
All the lab results for Tweed tap water were well within the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
A 600 mL bottle of water on the store shelf has a price tag of about $3.25. One thousand litres of Tweed tap water costs less – about $3.30.
Filling a 600 mL bottle with Tweed tap water 1,667 times would match the cost of one 600 mL bottle of bottled water.
Mrs Jowett said the importance of these findings goes beyond cost benefits and personal preferences.
“If you choose Tweed tap water over bottled water, you will save money, reduce the amount of plastic pollution in waterways and help lower the amount of pollution that’s created by the bottling process and transporting bottled water to your local shop,” she said.
“We’ve all heard about the concept of buying local.
“It’s time we extended that concept to water – buying local when it comes to water means choosing tap water, not bottled water.”
Find out more about the Tweed's tap water quality at tweed.nsw.gov.au/drinking-water-quality.
Tweed Laboratory Centre test results:
| |
Tweed tap water |
Bottled water brand 1 |
Bottled water brand 2 |
Bottled water brand 3 |
Bottled water brand 4 |
| pH |
7.9 |
6.4 |
7.2 |
6.3 |
6.5 |
| Conductivity |
180 |
217 |
370 |
198 |
85 |
| Conversion to total dissolved solids |
115.2 |
138.88 |
236.8 |
126.72 |
54.4 |
| Calcium |
15.5 |
3.5 |
20 |
8 |
3 |
| Magnesium |
4.08 |
1.6 |
18 |
4 |
3.2 |
| Total calcium & magnesium |
19.58 |
5.1 |
38 |
12 |
6.2 |
| Sodium |
14.4 |
36 |
25 |
23 |
8.7 |
| Fluoride |
0.96 |
0.13 |
0.07 |
0.08 |
0.09 |
| Chloride |
20.33 |
42 |
48 |
36 |
8 |
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