Bottled water contains more bacteria than tap water

The Telegraph reports that a team of scientists found that 70 per cent of popular bottled water brands available in shops had high levels of bacteria. The researchers from Ccrest Laboratories in Canada found that tap water had less bacteria than bottled water. "Heterotrophic bacteria counts in some of the bottles were found to be ... one hundred times more than the permitted limit." The bacteria in bottled water is unlikely to cause illness in healthy individuals but could present a problem to vulnerable groups.