Go to any supermarket and you will see at least one aisle filled with a variety of bottled water selections. Indeed, over the last ten years the bottled water industry has grown at a tremendous rate. People are drinking bottled water and seem to favor it over tap water.

Nonetheless, is it safer or healthier to drink bottled water rather then tap water? According to the Natural Resource Defense Counsel, bottled water that is sold in the United States is not necessarily worth the money. Bottled water is not always cleaner than water from taps. And it is not always healthier for us to consume.

Certainly, not all tap water is the same. Some water from some public water systems is not that safe.

And certainly, not all bottled water is created equally. Some bottled water actually comes from tap water. Can you imagine paying for bottled water that comes from a company tap?

And yet other bottled water comes underground springs and acquifers. In those cases, the quality of the bottled water is predicated on the quality of the spring or aquifer. And certainly, they are not all equal. Some underground sources of water are pristine, while others are in various states of decay.

The Natural Resource Defense Counsel has reported that it tested 103 brands of bottled water which were purchased in several States from New York to California. Some tested rather well; however, others indicated that they were contaminated by the kinds of chemicals, bacterias and metals that can cause a legitimate health concern.

What is interesting is that bottled water is regulated by a different agency and apparently different standards than tap water. The EPA determines the quality of tap water and those requirements are uniform throughout the nation. On the other hand the Food and Drug Administration regulates bottled water as if it were a food product. And the level of regulation by the FDA is not the same as the level of regulation for tap water.

Nonetheless, the Federal Government reports that there are no known cases of illness caused by an individual consuming a bottled water product.

Clearly, if your water provided by your public water supplier is of marginal quality, so that it barely meets State and Federal requirements, then unfortunately bottled water really might be the best choice for you. Specifically if you can ensure that you are purchasing a safe bottled water alternative.

However, if like most of us the water that comes from your tap is safe and meets federal guidelines, then you really need to question why it is that you are purchasing bottled water.

It is taste? That is a good reason. If you think that a particular brand of bottled water, perhaps because of its mineral content, tastes better than the water from your tap, buying bottle water makes a lot of sense.

But you might not have a valid health based reason for purchasing bottled water. And if you are doing so for health reasons, than you really ought to take a second look.

I think that if you are going to purchase bottled water, that you might consider alternating the brands that you consume. This way, if there is a problem with one supply, at least you will not be severely affected because you will be mixing supplies by varying the brands of bottled water. If bottled water is your choice for a health reasons, switching to a variety of bottled waters seems to me to make the most sense.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.