Water is a necessity for living beings, including us humans. We are constantly in need of drinking water. However, even in the process of obtaining drinkable water, we humans harm the environment, which is certainly an unfortunate reality. In Korea, the two most popular modes of water consumption are bottled water and purified water. After researching the environmental costs that these two modes of consumption bring, I was surprised and saddened to learn how production of drinkable water can greatly harm the environment. 

Let us observe the environmental costs associated with producing bottled water. The production process of bottled water is heavily dependent on the use of fossil fuels, such as oil. This leads to massive emissions of carbon dioxide, ultimately contributing to global warming and other pollution (1). Specifically, during the process, 17 million barrels of oil are annually used to manufacture bottled water (2). Even worse, other environmental costs from bottled water also involve consequences after water consumption. 10% of the plastic bottles are said to end up in the ocean, unable to degrade, which threatens ocean life (2). 

In addition, the environmental costs involved in manufacturing purified water also have heavy consequences. Water purifiers often use chlorine, a chemical component, to purify the water. But it is found that excessive use of it yields toxic chemicals, which harm animals, the environment, and sometimes even humans. Other chemicals used for the purification process also lead to "toxic trash," contaminating the natural environment and harming animals as well (3). Furthermore, the production of such water purifiers and filters also involves fossil fuels. 

 To summarize, producing drinking water for humans also involves great environmental costs. While the manufacturing process of water purifiers have relatively lower costs than that of bottled water, both modes are clearly harmful to some extent. I think it is selfish of humans to mindlessly pollute the environment and unfortunate that the process of making drinkable water also threatens the earth. 

1. https://green.harvard.edu/tools-resources/green-tip/reasons-avoid-bottled-water

2. https://insinkerator.emerson.com/en-gb/blog/environmental-cost-of-bottled-water

3. http://climatestate.com/2017/02/28/making-water-filtration-less-harmful-to-the-environment/