Another precaution to consider when buying bottled water is the filtering process the company selling it uses.
Due to internal injuries I sustained a number of years ago, most everything I put into my body must be in its purest state, water included.
This means I have to distill my own or buy bottled water if I intend to drink any because tap water (even processed through filters) makes me sick to my stomach and causes pain in one of my kidneys.
Back to what I was saying though...there are companies here in the U.S. that use low-to-no standards when bottling water and what you sometimes pay for can make you sicker than what comes out of the tap.
I regularly saw co-workers get bladder infections from drinking out of water coolers operated by a supposedly reputable bottled water company in Tucson and I have had to go through several "brands" here in Texas to find one that has good quality water.
(the Tucson company mentioned above was later exposed in their local nightly news cast for using low standards and bottling water that had more bacteria in it than the city taps and I know the neighborhood the owners lived in was a neighborhood of millionaires, in a resort-like setting, golf course included...its not like they couldn't afford to maintain their water quality, they just didn't care to let go of any of their profits...I used to spend my Sunday afternoons working for one of their neighbors, making a hundred dollars in a couple of hours by hand washing a Rolls Royce and a Mercedes lol...the Merc actually won 1st place in a Tour de Elegance after I detailed it
)
Anyway, the best bet all around (even in a country where the ice in the glaciers could carry pollutants) is to boil and filter the water yourself.
Distilled water is water in it purest form and the best you can drink.
Next to that, fruits and vegetables and their juices are excellent sources that have taste too.
[ 10-11-2002, 04:27 PM: Message edited by: Moni ]