A significant global study conducted in the United States reveals that 40 percent of people worldwide are increasingly distrustful of tap water due to concerns over its safety, a troubling insight that requires immediate attention from governments, according to Bluewater, a global leader in water purification and beverage solutions. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, involved 148,585 adults across 141 countries and was carried out by researchers at Northwestern University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“This shocking revelation underlines the need for governments and water authorities worldwide to urgently tackle the contamination of our drinking water by toxic chemicals, microplastics, and other pollution,” said Bluewater founder and CEO Bengt Rittri. The Swedish ecopreneur noted that the growing public distrust of tap water is fuelling the demand for bottled water, which poses a severe threat to the planet’s health, environment, and inhabitants.
The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health reports that over 600 billion single-use plastic bottles are produced every year, with most ending up in landfills and oceans, where they release toxic chemicals and break down into micro and nanoplastic particles. A groundbreaking 2023 report titled ‘Hidden Hazards: The Chemical Footprint of a Plastic Bottle’ warned that the widespread use of PET plastics “may prolong the climate crisis, threaten human health, and promote environmental racism.”
Mr Rittri emphasised that the new study underscores the difficulty consumers face in determining the safety and hazards of their water supply, as many contaminants cannot be detected by sight, smell, or taste. He expressed surprise that 39% of those surveyed in the United States believed they could face serious harm from drinking tap water in the near term.
“When we launched Bluewater in 2013, it was with a planet plan rather than a traditional business vision, with the aim to develop technologies and solutions that would end the need for single-use plastic bottles,” Mr Rittri said. He added that Bluewater remains committed to this mission, consistently developing solutions that enable consumers and businesses to turn tap water into purified water that is safer and healthier to drink.
In 2024, Bluewater introduced a range of new products, including an innovative kitchen station for homes and restaurants that removes up to 99.7 percent of contaminants like toxic PFAS chemicals and microplastics from tap water, while adding essential minerals for better health and taste.
Bluewater has also unveiled a new series of public dispensers in Europe, called Bluewater Flow, intended for use in public spaces such as gyms, offices, hospitals, and schools. Other public dispensing solutions have been highly successful at major sporting and other events aiming to enhance their sustainability efforts, including golf, sailing, and running events such as the British Open, The Ocean Race, America’s Cup, the Cape Town Marathon, governmental events like COP 27 and 28, and a variety of business conferences.
“We understand that the only way to tackle the plastic bottle menace is to restore public confidence in tap water, which will take substantial time, effort and money… or to increase awareness that solutions exist – like those provided by Bluewater that enable consumers to purify their tap water at point of use,” Mr Rittri said.
