The water...
aside from the energy/ environmental issues.
It is often just purified local water anyway.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0224_060224_bottled_water_2.html
We had the hilarious situation here with Coca Cola, where they were bottling water in Kent from the Thames Water company and adding minerals to it. http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/203811/Cokes-bottled-water-Dasani-revealed-tap/
It has had issues with contamination and over legal levels of toxic chemicals
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3550063.stm (which should make you think that its okay for them to have 'some' levels of these chemicals). Of course tap water has this too.
It isn't sterile (does have allowable levels of bacteria). You have to boil it before giving it to a baby and some waters have too much mineral content to make it safe for babies anyway.
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/baby/weaning/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/03/000322090356.htm
talks about the levels of bacteria found in bottled water
A point commonly missed is that if you have ice in your bottled water drink, that's made from tap water, albeit filtered most likely (like their 'tap' water I guess).
And then the plastic bottle...
Pat Franklin, the executive director of the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), says nine out of 10 plastic water bottles end up as either garbage or litter—at a rate of 30 million per day. According to the Climate Action Network, when some plastic bottles are incinerated along with other trash, as is the practice in many municipalities, toxic chlorine (and potentially dioxin) is released into the air while heavy metals deposit in the ash. If plastics are buried in landfills, not only do they take up valuable space, but potentially toxic additives such as phthalates may leak into the groundwater. “It’s ironic that many people drink bottled water because they are afraid of tap water, but then the bottles they discard can result in more polluted water,” says Franklin.
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?1125
There's been a whole set of debates about phthalates and bisphenolA, and they are starting to think about phasing them out of children's bottles (already have in some countries) as they are concerned about the possible hormone disruptive nature of them, and of course getting into humans via leaching from the plastic into the drink.
And if it isn't in landfill, or incinerated, then it often ends up in the sea.
Plastic garbage, which decomposes very slowly, is often mistaken for food by marine animals. High concentrations of plastic material, particularly plastic bags, have been found blocking the breathing passages and stomachs of many marine species, including whales, dolphins, seals, puffins, and turtles.
This garbage can also come back to shore, where it pollutes beaches and other coastal habitats.
http://www.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/pollution/
also http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2004/06/63699
http://www.cdnn.info/news/article/a071104.html about the effects on the oceans
Recycling the bottles is pretty much a joke. It's just not worth it financially, and more often than not ends up just getting sent off to some other country to pollute their landscape. or chucked into landfill.
I agree London water does taste terrible. And I know a lot of people who filter or boil it. It also tastes horrendous when you leave it sitting in an open glass for some reason. High Wycombe water now... that's superb.. even if it scales up everything it touches. They both make great tea though!
You can get excellent bottles to carry water in. And some even look good (Sigg... I'm not looking at you.. get yourselves a decent designer!).
