There was a time when we scoffed at the idea of bottled water. After all, why buy water when you can get it from the tap, seemingly for free? Times have changed, however. Today's health-conscious consumers, even kids, are toting bottles of water. Whether it's for health reasons, drinking those requisite eight glasses a day, or to avoid chemicals and pollutants from the public water supply, water has come into its own as the beverage of choice.

And it's not only just plain ol' spring water, either. The past few years have given us myriad waters to choose from-glacial, artesian, oxygen-enriched, purified and even functional water that's been fortified with vitamins, minerals or herbs. Bottled is certainly popular-it's a $5 billion dollar business in the U.S., alone.

In fact, its popularity is growing so rapidly that it's poised, in this decade, to become the second largest beverage segment after soft drinks says Jonathan Hall, publisher of "The Hall Water Report." But is bottled water really better?

WATER BUGS

Americans are definitely turning off the tap, partly in response to the quality-inconsistency of municipal water supplies. In 1993, a water-borne outbreak of Cryptosporidium in Milwaukee, Wisc., caused an estimated 400,000 residents to become ill with flulike symptoms, leading to several deaths among those who were immune-impaired. Cryptosporidium, a waterborne parasite that thrives in animals and is transferred through animal waste, has been found in rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs and in other types of surface water.

That's not all. An August 29, 2001 report put out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "Developing Strategy for Waterborne Microbial Disease," says that the "consequences of microbial [bacterial and parasitic] contamination are severe."

WHAT'S IN YOUR WATER?

Adequate chlorination kills much of the harmful bacteria in water, but this chemical process can produce trihalomethanes (THMs), which are cancer-causing compounds formed when chlorine interacts with organic matter. Meanwhile, toxic waste, agricultural pesticides and heavy metals continue to cloud our water supply. Even if your municipal water supply is safe, home water delivery systems are suspect: Water pipes can contain harmful amounts of lead, copper, radon and other contaminants that can leach into your water supply.

One such contaminant called Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE), is a chemical compound that is created through the chemical reaction of methanol and isobutylene and has been mainly used as a fuel additive oxygenate that raises the oxygen content of gasoline.

Unfortunately, the EPA has found that "a growing number of studies have detected MTBE in ground water throughout the country, and above 40 parts per billion (ppb) may cause cancer or other unknown adverse health effects."

A CLEAR CHOICE

Is bottled better than what's on tap in our faucets? According to an August 2000 study by the water-industry Internet portal, Bottled Water Web, Consumer Focus, "Sixty-one percent of Americans believe bottled water to be healthier than tap water, and out of that 61 percent, 53 percent believe that tap water has some contamination or chemicals that are not present in bottled water."

Aside from consumer perception, the truth is that bottled water is strictly regulated at the federal level by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as at the state level. Tap water is also regulated as a utility by the EPA, while bottled water is regulated by the FDA as a pure food product and must satisfy all applicable food-packaging regulations.

The bottled-water industry is self-regulated. In fact, members of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) -which oversees the production of about 85 percent of the bottled water sold in the U.S.-must meet strict IBWA standards more stringent than the FDA's own regulations.

Therefore, most bottled-water companies use one or more the following practices and technologies:

1) Source protection and monitoring

2) Reverse osmosis

3) Distillation

4) Ozone treatment, known as ozonation

5) Disinfection, such as chlorination

Although tap water quality and taste may be acceptable, its questionable variables make bottled and home-purified water look better. In fact, while 75 percent of all bottled water comes from protected sources such as springs, tap water comes primarily from rivers and lakes, sources of unpredictable purity.

THE BOTTOM LINE?

Hydration. No matter what type of water you choose, or what source you get it from, be certain to drink at least eight glasses of water each day.

A recent study that was commissioned by the Nutrition Information Center at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in New York City, found that only 20 percent of respondents meet the important "eight a day" recommendation. Barbara Levine, Ph.D., R.D., director of the Center, says, "The net result is that most Americans are probably only getting about a third of the valuable hydration benefits they need.

In fact, babies, toddlers and pregnant women are at a special risk for dehydration. Parents should monitor the fluid intake of infants and toddlers since they're unable to express thirst.

Even older children will often not stop to take a drink and need to be reminded to take "water breaks" on a regular basis. Pregnant women need to accommodate the fluid needs of their developing babies; nursing mothers need to replace lost fluids, too.

The vast majority of Americans are not drinking enough water to begin with and, to make matters worse, many of them don't realize that beverages containing alcohol and caffeine rob the body of water."

Levine adds, "The consumption of water and other hydrating beverages is crucial for proper retention and use of the body's water in complex and intricate biochemical processes." In other words, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Water Webs

AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, www.awra.org/index.html

AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION, www.awwa.org

THE BOTTLED WATER WEB, www.bottledwaterweb.com

THE INTERNATIONAL BOTTLED WATER ASSOCIATION (IBWA), www.bottledwater.org

SPIRIT OF THE I-AND FOUNDA[ION, http://greatspirit.earth.com/bio-com.html

WATER TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE, www.waternet.com