30 years ago in Australia, the thought of buying bottled water was unthinkable and laughable. Today, thanks to an increased level of awareness of the crud that's in our drinking water and the clever marketing gurus who have acted on the subsequent fear, bottled water takes up increasing amounts of shelf space in our supermarket.

It's estimated that twenty percent of American consumers refuse to drink tap water at all and bottled water bars have sprung up in many countries.

Let's face it - for the most part, water is water. H2O, no matter what type of fancy bottle you put it in or engage movie stars and models to extol it's virtues. A report from the United Nations came to the conclusion that bottled water has no nutritional benefits over tap water in most countries.

For the most part, this bottled water is just filtered or distilled tap water. It's said that nearly 40% of all bottled water doesn't come from crystal clear mountain springs, but from the same water supply that you and I have at home.

Then there's the bottles - millions of plastic bottles being discarded each year. Sure, some of them are recycled, but recycling takes energy too.

What about the cost? Why are people paying a couple of bucks for a product that costs a few cents to make? Once again, it's back to marketing.

The cheaper, more earth friendly alternative to bottled water is to install a filtration system in your home and refill bottles. Most good in-line filtration systems will remove all the nasties from your water supply. They only cost a couple of hundred dollars to have installed, then under a hundred dollars a year after that for filter replacements.

If you're a regular consumer of bottled water, you'll save money in the first year and dramatically reduce the amount of plastics you use!

What are your thoughts on bottled water? Add them to this article!