Across America teens aren’t drinking enough water.

If you take a look around Colonia High School, you are less likely to see students or teachers with a bottle of water. But more likely to see a juice, soda or Dunkin Donuts cup in the morning. Most people opt for any other drink beside water because “It tastes better.” But who can blame them, the water fountains across schools in America are disgusting. Often covered in some sick looking flilth, with little or no water pressure spouting out warm-hot water isn’t something many students want.  

A middle school student in Oregon shocked (not really) schools around the U.S. with his science project. He tested four drinking fountains at his school and toilet water. As the bacteria grew in the petri dish, it showed that the toilet water was significantly cleaner than the fountains. Which is a very valid reason for lack of hydration around school. 

Another popular drink of choice by many people are sports drinks. Gatorade and Powerade are popular because of not only the taste but because they replace electrolytes. 

According to Gatorade, electrolytes help regulate the body’s “fluid balance” while the carbs provide energy. Because of the additional ingredients they claim it hydrates better. But it’s been scientifically proven that without hours of athletic activity its equal to soda.  

More importantly if you take a look at the benches of the school athletes you will probably see more sports drinks than regular water. When asked “Why do you prefer Gatorade or juice over water?” they said it tastes better and they feel as though the sugar and electrolytes gives them the energy to stay focused and energized throughout the entire game.

Its recommended you hydrate before, during and after physical activity. The standard is 500 ml two hours before activity. 150ml to 250ml every 15 to 20 minutes during activity. 450 ml to 675 ml for every 0.5 kg of weight loss a person experiences after an activity. Which also might cause a lot of bathroom time but at least you won’t feel dehydrated.

Along with drinking water to feel hydrated there are many other benefits of drinking water. Those benefits include: increasing your energy (no midday crash), flushing out toxins, clearing your skin, boosting the immune system, preventing or relieving headaches, preventing cramps and injuries, puts you in a better mood and is a lot cheaper than soda or any other sugary drink you may chose to get the same effects listed.  

Although there is a long list of benefits, there is a list of worries when it comes to drinking. The type could be an issue, and the container it comes in can be an issue.

There are different types of water, including: tap, spring, filtered, purified, distilled, raw, mineral, artisan, alkaline and more. According to health coach Wendy Myers, the worst type of water is tied between tap water and reverse osmosis water. Tap water contains hundreds of chemicals and metals that can be harmful to your health. Water filtered by reverse osmosis can make you want to drink more instead of quenching your thirst. Your best bet for healthy drinking water (I know sounds crazy) is spring water. It’s been naturally filtered by the earth, and has a variety of minerals the body needs. Spring water is in Evian, arrowhead mountain spring water, and volvic.

 Although spring water is the healthiest, it’s definitely not the water with the easiest access. Distilled is the healthiest water with the easiest access. That’s the water in most bottles. With the exception of a few brands who are sneaky and bottle tap water.

Despite the negatives that might come with water its still important to hydrate and drink it every day to reap the positives.