Bottled water called into question

(NBC) - There are hundreds of water bottlers, all across the country.

Most promise their water is pure and clean. Some even vaguely suggest medicinal or healing powers. But most consumers know less about the the water in the bottle, than the water in their tap.

It's a sizzling hot summer day in July, so you grab a bottle of water.

"My kids love to drink bottled water, they love having it around," said one parent.

"I can take it to hockey and I can just drink it on the bench or whatever," noted another parent.

"I prefer it, it tastes better than tap water," commented a different parent.

But if you think bottled water is cleaner that tap water, some environmentalists say you may be in for a surprise.

"More than half of people who drink bottled water are drinking it because they think it's healthier, safer, purer than tap water but by law its not required to be any of those things," said Jane Houlihan with the Environmental Working Group.

The Environmental Working Group, an advocacy group, investigated 200 popular brands of water and found less than 2 percent disclose the water's source.

Americans' thirst for bottled water seems unquenchable: from 13 gallons per person in 1997 to more than 28-gallons per person in 2008. Bottled water is now an $11-billion industry.

But the FDA does not require bottled water suppliers to tell consumers where their water originates, or what's in it.

Instead, Congress heard of bottlers who promise unique health benefits.

"Some of them make wild claims like they can change the molecular make up of water to make it healthy, or they play music while they are bottling the water because it gives them greater purification," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan.

The FDA found that claim intriguing.

"I'm not a musician but I would still express skepticism about that one," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, FDA.

But guess what: Municipal water providers are required to tell customers what's in the water, including the trace amounts of contaminates found through daily tests and 25 percent of bottled water comes from tap water

The bottled water industry says consumers do have a choice.

"Consumers have many options in choosing which bottled water brand to drink," said Joseph Doss, International Bottled Water Association. "If a bottled water company doesn't have the information they need, they can choose another brand of bottled water."

Or, drink from your own tap.