BOTTLED water companies are under attack as consumers' concerns about the environment increase. Packaging and shipping water consumes energy and contributes to global warming, and empty bottles add to litter and solid waste.

Environment Minster Phil Woolas labelled the nation's love affair with bottled water "daft" and stated that the hundreds of millions spent on bottled water was "morally unacceptable".

Celebrity chefs Tom Aikens, Jamie Oliver and Antony Worrall Thompson have jumped on board and supported calls for tap water to be offered in restaurants.

McDonald's, Britain's biggest fast food chain with around 1,200 outlets, backed the campaign, saying it welcomed requests for tap water from its customers. Other leading chains Starbucks, Wagamama and Strada have followed suit.

The Big Water Taste Challenge

We decided to put the controversial issue to the test. Enlisting the help of students from Scarborough Sixth Form, we conducted the Big Water Taste Test.

We gave the students a glass of tap water, a glass of British bottled Pennine Spring natural mineral water, 39p for 500ml, and a glass of European bottled Volvic natural mineral water, 42p for 50cl, to try, and then asked if they could differentiate the tap water from the bottled.

The results showed that, from the eight Taste Testers who took part, only one actually determined which was tap. The students were also conducting a similar study as part of their B-tech National Diploma in Business.

Teacher Marie Cammish said: "The project will look into the feasibility of launching a new bottled water product, what type of water it should be, how it should be packaged and promoted. They will have had to decide whether it should be still, sparkly or flavoured and include all of the four Ps, product, price, promotion and place, into their study.

"They will also include any ethical or environmental issues into their report. "They have carried out research, and have asked other students to test different types of bottled water against tap."

She said the project was first given to them in September, and at the time seemed to be an emerging market.

She added: "However, recent negative publicity about bottled water may have changed that, and this will be another factor the students will look at. "It is a great project, as it shows how versatile the market can be, and obviously the bottled water vs tap water issue is very topical at the moment."

WATER FACTFILE

• Britons drink around three billion bottles of water a year – half a billion of which come from abroad – and they all have to be transported to the restaurants, pubs and shops where they are sold.




• Transporting bottled water in Britain is estimated to produce 33,200 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the annual energy use of 6,000 homes.




• The Pacific Institute calculates that the process of making the plastic bottles for the water bottles consumed in the US uses approximately 20 million barrels of oil per year.




• Each year in England and Wales, around three million tests are carried out to check that our drinking water meets strict quality standards. Depending on the type of test these can take place at treatment works, service reservoirs and people's taps. In 1998, 99.78% tests met the required standards.




• Putting a clean jug of water in the refrigerator for about two hours leaves the water cool and fresh tasting, any taste or smell of chlorine disappears.