Saying no to the bottle: Tap water just fine, say Islanders

Prince Edward Islanders are leading the country when it comes to ditching bottled water in favour of drinking from the tap.

A report released late last week by Statistics Canada found in 2015 84 per cent of Island households use the tap as their primary source of drinking water, and just nine per cent used bottled water. Tap water use is up from 72 per cent of households in 2007.

P.E.I. is in a virtual tie for top use of tap water with B.C., where 85 per cent use the tap and 10 per cent use bottled.

Nationally just 69 per cent of homes use the tap as their main source of drinking water, with 19 per cent using bottled water as their primary source.

Another 10 per cent indicated they drink both tap and bottled water. The remaining two per cent either drank another type of water, or indicated they don't know.

Newfoundlanders and Manitobans are the biggest users of bottled water, with 26 per cent of households relying on that for their primary source of drinking water.

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