Tap Water Challenge

Students Take Tap Water Challenge

By Alice Easton
Princetonian Staff Writer

Cola wars, step aside.

The new beverage battle is between bottled water and old-fashioned tap water.

Passersby were able to put their palates to the test in Frist yesterday, as student volunteers and members of Corporate Accountability International (CAI) performed the Tap Water Challenge. People think bottled water is healthier and safer than tap, but in fact, bottled water is much less regulated," said Dan Favre of CAI, as he prepared cups of water for blindfolded students and complained that the bottled water industry has too much marketing muscle and political influence.

"Twenty-five percent of bottled water is just tap water; it comes from the same sources. It's just repackaged," Favre said. "Overwhelmingly, people can't tell the difference, often because there is no difference, except for the price."

CAI contacted environmental groups at Princeton for volunteers to help with their "thinking outside the bottle" campaign, which focuses on the water industry and its "[aim] to turn bottled water into a profit-driven commodity, like oil," CAI press officer Bryan Hirsch said.