Is bottled drinking water the biggest con going or are there really magical and medicinal benefits to water in a bottle. God only knows they charge enough for it. Take my Mum for example. She's 82 years old and as strong as an ox, yet the only water she's ever drank is that straight from the tap. You should have seen my wife's face when Mum tuned down a glass of her Bling H2O. Now you might want to be seated before you read the next sentence. Bling H2O is available in 750 ml bottles which will set you back a whopping $40 US bucks, and the 350 ml versions a mere snip at just $24.

My wife, who's a bit of a snob bless her, says you can tell a lot about a person by the bottled water they carry. Well at forty bucks a time I think the only thing it portrays is what an idiot the person is for wasting good money on such bottled bunkum! I mean, c'mon $40 to quench your thirst! My mother asked my wife if there was any mind altering substances in the fluid as no sober person could be so daft as to pay for such a rip off, surely. Good on ya Mam.

In fact, such is the debate about drinking bottled water over tap water, that it's actually been proven in the UK that tap water in certain areas of the county is actually better quality than any of the bottled brands for sale. But whether you agree or disagree with the sale of water in pretty bottles, one thing is certain, and that is bottled drinking water has become very big business in recent years.

Of course, there are certain options that bottle water does have over tap water in that it comes as carbonated, mineral, or enhanced etc, whereas our tap water is always still and purified. Research also shows that European brands of bottled water are generally cleaner and purer than U.S. brands, but my argument here is who really knows? Certainly not we the consumer! As far as we're concerned it's all hearsay, but despite that, many of us, like my wife, fall for it hook line and sinker every single time.

So if some bottled water companies really do make false claims on their labels about the source of their water (and I believe some of them may do), how on earth are we to know? I guess the internet is a good resource for research but if one is going to be looking into the authenticity of the product, then what the heck's the point in the first place? Why not just enjoy a chilled glass of your favorite tap water and save all the hassle?

Until I get hard evidence that folks are popping their socks prematurely or getting real sick as a result of drinking water from the home faucet, I'm going to spend my hard earned buck on better things. If my wife and her cronies want to blow their dough on such rubbish, then let them, but it won't be coming out of my pocket! Enough said!