1. Experiments in Bottled Water Quality: Price vs. Purity` Lanita Aslinger Undergraduate, Department of Biology Tennessee Technological University, 38505

2. Introduction Problem Statement: Prices of bottled waters vary, thus misleading the consumer into believing the purity of water has an ultimate effect on price.

3. How popular is it? “Americans drink 4 billion gallons of bottled water a year.” (The Western Journal of Medicine,2000) “Over the past few years the displays of bottled water in supermarkets and other retail outlets have grown to occupy anywhere from a single shelf up to one complete aisle...” (Thurman, et al., 2002) “Sales of non-carbonated bottled and canned beverages in convenience stores have been increasing at a rate faster than those of traditional ‘core’ beverages, beer and soda pop.” (Fucini, 1993)

4. HOW HEALTHY IS IT? “Bottled water claims to purity are bogus” (World Wildlife Fund, 2001) “1997 tests showed that several widely used brands [of bottled water] contained significant amounts of bacteria, arsenic, and volatile organic chemicals.” (Macht, 1999)

5. Hypothesis Statement Name brand bottled waters of varying classifications (i.e.Spring, Purified, Distilled) are not of better quality than discount store brands of the same classification.

6. Project Summary The objective of this research was to determine the nutritional value of different bottled waters with an emphasis on their price differences. A variety of tests were conducted on the bottled waters.

7. Methods and Materials  One gallon of each: Crystal Spring Water Crystal Purified Water Crystal Distilled Water Great Value Spring Water Great Value Purified Water Great Value Distilled Water  Each individual water was tested for contents of Calcium and Chlorine as well as pH, Alkalinity, and Total Dissolved Solute.  The following data chart was used.

8. Product Name Price SourceCalciumpHAlkalinityChlorineTotal Dissolved Solute Crystal Spring Water $0.88 Spring; Blue Ridge, GA 106.52000 Crystal Purified Water $0.84Municipal Water Supply; Mableton, GA 506.61000 Crystal Distilled Water $0.88Municipal Water Supply; Mableton, GA 106.61000 Great Value Spring Water $0.58Naturalle Springs; Greenville, TN 1207.410000 Great Value Purified Water $0.58Municipal Water Supply; Greenville, TN 56.4000 Great Value Distilled Water $0.58Municipal Water Supply; Greenville, TN 06.51000

9. Results Differences were evident between the name brand bottled waters and their competitor of corresponding type.

10. Conclusion Great Value Spring Water proven as best overall drinking water. Proven that the less expensive brand of water is in fact a better source of drinking water.