Where is that bottled water from anyway?

Over 20 years ago, an elderly widow in Spain recounted to me that a study had been done of a popular brand of bottled water only for it to be revealed that the company was simply using tap water. After growing up in Hawaii, however, where the tap water is filtered naturally through lava rock over a period of about a hundred years, I couldn't stand the faintest whiff of chlorine, so I bought liter bottles at the grocery store and kept it under the bed, sipping it whenever I woke up.

Now, I've discovered that much of the bottled water in this country is actually tap water that's gone through some more filtering to clean up the taste. Hmm, wouldn't it be easier just to buy a filter and use it at home? Cheaper, too. Even more economical when considering that our taxes supposedly went to making that tap water safe to drink in the first place. Sounds like we've been duped into paying again for something we already own. Maybe the next great idea would be to take regular air out of a room with a home air purifier, bottle it, slap a sticker of the Rockies on it, and sell it.

For a site with FAQ's on bottled water, go to:
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/qbw.asp#where