Book Review: Bottlemania

In Medieval times, you couldn't trust the water and most people, including kids, drank beer for breakfast, lunch and dinner. After reading Elizabeth Royte's new book Bottlemania: How Water Went On Sale and Why We Bought It, one is tempted to take up the practice. One learns all the water that we drink, from bottle to tap and, yes, toilet, is fraught with compromise. Yes, the bottled water boom is all about hype and marketing (as is the bottle backlash) that there is much, much more floating around in the stuff.

Drink tap water? it can have contaminants, hormones, fertilizers, pesticides, arsenic, sodium and radon, let alon...