Little Assurance On Bottled Water Purity

For the first time in 2006,6 Americans drank more bottled water than either milk or beer, and that has some lawmakers asking water bottlers to reveal more information about how much of the product comes from the tap and to reveal what, if any, contaminants swirl in the mix. Tap water from public water systems is highly regulated, with ongoing treatment and frequent testing of a wide range of contaminants. Annual water quality reports must be mailed or made available on the Internet to consumers. Not so with bottled water, which Americans increasingly turn to as their source of H20. A bill in the California legislature would require more revelations about the quality and origins of bottled water.