This one time in band camp....ok, it wasn't band camp, but it was camp. Anyway, it was in Hungary, and they told us not to drink the tap water, cause it was brown, which is not a natural colour for water to be. They had a big cooler with bottled water.
But normally, I'm of the opinion that tap water is just fine. I drink it all the time. The fact that these companies are able to convinve a large number of people to shell out $1.50 for WATER, is a testament to the power of marketing. I'm sure there is some yuppie code, as to which water is richer in Vitamin Z, so if you're cought with the wrong water bottle, you'll be ostraziced by your elitist friends.
I can't convince my family that buying bottled water is essentially throwing money away. We already have a Brita filter, which I would imagine fills the "pure, cold water" department. I can taste a difference, but its just not something I'm willing to spend money on.