Bottled water

required reading for those of you who purchase a lot of water in plastic bottles: Aug 1 editorial by Tom Standage, in NYT "Bad to the Last Drop"
-Click here for editorial-

Intersting points are that: tap water, especially NYC's, is more stringently tested than most bottled water. A comparison test of Cleveland's tap water vs bottled waters, found some bottle waters had significantly higher levels of bacteria. Standage notes bottled water is more expensive than gasoline, taste usually not superior to tap and the empty containers are filling up landfills.

Another article in today's Times raises concerns about mercury levels found in birds near watershed areas of NYC water supply.
-Click here to read article-

Coop sells Pur water filters that claim to remove mercury (they are cautious not to say all mercury) from water