Aquafina - Tap Water in a Plastic Bottle

For those of you who are bottled water freaks ("you're drinking out of the tap? I don't do that, who knows what's in it?") - this is directed at you.

Found this story on Northwest Progressives. From the Seattle Times:

The label on Aquafina water bottles will soon be changed to spell out that the drink comes from the same source as tap water, the brand's owner PepsiCo said today.

A group called Corporate Accountability International has been pressuring bottled water sellers to curb what it calls misleading marketing practices.

Aquafina is the single biggest bottled water brand, and its bottles are now labeled "P.W.S." The new labels will spell out "public water source."

"If this helps clarify the fact that the water originates from public sources, then it's a reasonable thing to do," PepsiCo spokeswoman Michelle Naughton said today.

The corporate accountability group is also pressing for similar concessions from The Coca-Cola Co., which owns the Dasani water brand, and Nestle Waters North America, seller of Nestle Pure Life purified drinking water, which gets some of its water from municipal sources.

Still averse to tap water?

The decisions by Nestle and PepsiCo come as criticism grows over environmental concerns about the industry's use of local water sources as well as consumption of resin and energy to package and ship the bottles.

While there are a lot of ways to respond to this story, the best way is already written by Jonathon over at Northwest Progressives (emphasis added):

Bottled water is basically tap water packaged in plastic. Drinking the water that comes out of your tap (especially here in the Northwest, which has an excellent system that is relatively clean and safe) is a healthier and more environmentally friendly practice. If you like your water chilled and further purified you can buy a BRITA or similar pitcher for your refrigerator.