Like the age-old questions of boxers or briefs, Republican or Democrat and shaken or stirred, bottled water or tap seems to come up a lot these days.But students would probably have a hard time distinguishing between the two as a study released last week by the Environmental Working Group suggested bottled water is no purer than tap water.The study, which tested 10 major brands of bottled water in the U.S., found traces of 38 pollutants commonly found in tap water, including disinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue and pain medication. Though the 10 brands met federal health standards for drinking water, two of the brands violated limits in California under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Choice and Giant’s Acadia bottled water brands contained illegal amounts of disinfection byproducts such as trihalomethanes. These byproducts are linked to cancer and reproductive problems when they react with pollution in the water, according to the study.The Environmental Working Group, an environmental activist organization in Washington, D.C. and California, is filing suit under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act to make Wal-Mart print a warning on its bottles, stating, “WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer.”Hays Owen, senior vice president and chief administrative officer for the Baton Rouge Water Company, said there are misconceptions about bottled water. “The public is not educated enough about the rigorous processes and treatment the tap water systems go through,” Owen said. Owen said water that comes out of the tap in Baton Rouge fell as rain water nearly 2,000 years ago in Vicksburg, Miss. The water has gone through a natural filtration process and is now part of the Southern Hills aquifer system, he said. The Baton Rouge Water Company has 65 ground wells that pump water from the system. From there, the water is treated with chlorine and sent to homes across the city. The Baton Rouge Water Company tests and uses hundreds of samples throughout the system. According to the 2007 Annual Water Quality Report, no violations of federal water standards occurred. “The minimum price we charge our residences for water is $8.15 a month,” Owen said. “For that, you get 2,244 gallons of water a month. Tap water is the greatest value there is.”Baton Rouge ranked No. 2 in 2007 in best water quality in the metropolitan areas in the U.S. by Men’s Health magazine. Denver was No. 1. “Baton Rouge tap water is excellent,” said Ralph Portier, environmental sciences professor. Portier said because most bottled water companies use aquifers for a portion of their water supply, people are often just buying the convenience of a bottle.—-Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]