She's already appalled that less than 20% of the billions of bottles used by the bottled water industry are recycled. In 2006, 36 billion bottles were attributed to the water industry and only a fifth were recycled! Add to that the news that some types of hard plastic (those with a # 7 in the triangle at the bottom) can leach bisphenol A (BPA) a toxic chemical into the water itself. And that's not the only issue with bottles and bottling. In places where municipal sources of water are bottled (translation: tap water) there's so much stress on the supply that homes in the areas can sometimes experience water shortages.

But truth be told, it's the fact that there's no disclosure required on bottled water labels that's really got her goat. In most states, the source of the water needn't be specified, and none of the contaminants in the water need to be called out, even if there are things in the water that she'd rather not consume – drug residues, fertilizer residue, and even radioactive matter! All of those – and more – were recently found in one or more of 10 brands of water tested at the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory.

While Girlawhirl already makes it a point to carry a refillable bottle with her, there are times – like when she travels – that choosing bottled water is inevitable. She does her best to make sure that the bottle is recycled, even if it means taking it off the plane herself and depositing it in the proper bin at the airport. But at home, she had been purchasing large bottles of water for drinking and cooking – believing it to be purer than what comes from her tap.

Not so say the experts. All the contaminants found in tap water were, in fact, found in the 10 bottled waters that were tested. But here's the rub: municipal tap water must conform to standards that keep the levels of chemicals, disinfecting byproducts and other things like caffeine and drugs that make their way into the supply at very low levels. And an inexpensive charcoal filter can do a number on most of them, including lead and residual disinfecting chemicals. Levels of these nasties don't need to be reported by bottled water manufacturers, so Girlawhirl has no idea what she's spending her money on.

That's why she's stopped literally throwing her money down the drain and has purchased a charcoal based filtration system. The new Zero-Water system has a filter that was the first to be certified to meet the tighter lead filtration standards that were set last year.

For more information on bottled water versus tap, see the recent study sited above, at the Environmental Working Group website.

Editor's note: For households with children, where consumption of too much fluoridated water can actually harm developing teeth, a filtration system that removes fluoride is recommended.