All of us are told about the health qualities of drinking water and maintaining our body's hydration. The bottled water industry has sprung up as a convenient way to help us take a healthy product, water anywhere we go these days. Let's face it, people are drinking water to maintain and enhance their health. But what you will learn from the latest research will be unsettling to most bottled water drinkers.

In research published in October 2008, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) unearths a list of pollutants that where found in bottled water produced by various brands such as Wal-Mart's Sam's Choice and Giant Supermarket's Acadia bottled water. Here is a list of details from the EWG study:

• Walmart's Sam's Choice bottled water purchased at several locations in the San Francisco bay area was polluted with disinfection byproducts called trihalomethanes at levels that exceed the state's legal limit for bottled water (CDPR 2008). These byproducts are linked to cancer and reproductive problems and form` when disinfectants react with residual pollution in the water.
• Also in Walmart's Sam's Choice brand, lab tests found a cancer-causing chemical called bromodichloromethane at levels that exceed safety standards for cancer-causing chemicals under California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65, OEHHA 2008).
• These same chemicals also polluted Giant's Acadia brand at levels in excess of California's safety standards, but this brand is sold only in Mid-Atlantic states where California's health-based limits do not apply. Nevertheless, disinfection byproducts in both Acadia and Sam's Choice bottled water exceeded the industry trade association's voluntary safety standards (IBWA 2008a), for samples purchased in Washington DC and 5 states (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and California).

Laboratory tests conducted for EWG at one of the country's leading water quality laboratories found that 10 popular brands of bottled water, purchased from grocery stores and other retailers in 9 states and the District of Columbia, contained 38 chemical pollutants altogether, with an average of 8 contaminants in each brand.

According to data from the Beverage Marketing Corporation, an industry group, Americans are on pace to consume 31 gallons of bottled water per person in 2008. On average, bottled water is 1,900 times the cost of tap water. The bottom line is that bottled water is not safer than tap water. If you decide to purchase bottled water, read the label carefully to determine what you are buying. Bottled water companies are not required by law to disclose any contaminants found in the product.

What should a consumer do? EWG is recommending that you switch to using tap water in place of bottled water. You will save money, reduce plastic usage, reduce cancer risks and be healthier.