Water: Bottled no better than tap

Think bottled water is better for your diet than tap water? Give it some more thought, in light of this just-released news: Bottled water is no better for your body than tap water.

Just as many contaminants are floating in your bottles than from your taps, a new study says. Translation: Bottled water is no purer than tap water. It's safe to say that most tested brands of water met federal standards, despite contamination -- two were suspect -- but don't worry, no one is saying water is now unhealthy. The issue is that we understand that water is water is water. Drink it from a bottle, or drink it from the tap. According to this study, there really is no difference.

Wondering what contaminants were found in the 10 brands that were tested? Here goes: Bacteria, caffeine, the pain reliever acetaminophen, fertilizer, solvents, plastic-making chemicals, and the radioactive element strontium. Thirty-eight chemicals were detected in all. Researcher wisdom says that some of this stuff probably came from tap water that some companies use for their bottled water, and others probably leached from plastic bottles.

What does this mean to Joe Consumer? Since it appears bottled water is no less polluted than tap water, you may want to forgo the bottled expense, which happens to be 1,900 times the cost of what flows from your sink.

To learn more about this study, and to find out how Wal-Mart, Giant Food, and Sam's Choice figure into the contamination equation, click here.