bottled water contains orders of magnitude more microplastics than filtered tap. studies show hundreds to thousands of times higher concentrations, especially for nanoplastics the premium is for extra contamination. the convenience is the exposure. the branding convinced you tap is the problem when the bottle is the problem the bottle sheds particles into water continuously. heat accelerates it. UV accelerates it. time accelerates it. that bottle in your car, in the warehouse, on the shelf, degrading the entire time good water filter on tap: ~5-10 particles per liter depending on filter quality bottled water: 100-1000+ particles per liter bottled water stored in heat: worse the solution costs less than the problem. RO system or quality carbon filter pays for itself in months versus bottled water costs the arbitrage is right there. the information asymmetry is the product