Is ANY bottled water better than tap?

Our investigation may surprise you — and save you a small fortune

and strokes. British Dietetic Association spokesperson Rin Cobb says: ‘ Everyone has their own tastes and preferences, but UK tap water is safe to drink and a good way to meet your daily fluid needs.

‘The minerals found in bottled water are not nutrients we are lacking in diets, so it’s not essential to get them from drinking bottled water.’

But drinking any water is better than drinking none. So which one should you go for?

Evian Natural Mineral Water

Price: 1 litre, 65p Contains in mg per litre: Calcium 80, magnesium 26, sodium 7. Ph: 7.2 EVIAN boasts that every droplet starts as rain or snow, and filters for at least 15 years through layers of glacial rock in the Alps. Evian is sourced by the food giant Danone from natural springs on the south shore of Lake Geneva. Taste: Rounded balance of minerals and saltiness, with more of an aftertaste than many.

Highland Spring Still Spring water

Price: 1 litre, 92p Contains: Calcium 41, magnesium 10, sodium 6 Ph: 7.8 NATURAL water filtered by the basalt rocks of Perthshire from land certified as organic by the Soil Association. Collected f rom boreholes 65m deep. Taste: inoffensive, but with no discernible taste or mineral quality.

Volvic Natural Mineral Water

Price: 1.5 litres, 60p (40p per litre) Contains: Calcium 12, magnesium 8, sodium 12 Ph: 7 LIKE Evian, volvic is owned by the French giant Danone. The water is filtered through hundreds of metres of volcanic rock in the Massif Central in eastern France, where it picks up mineral traces.

Taste: A slight but distinct mineral taste, and a smoother feel in the mouth than many waters.

Hildon English Still Natural Mineral Water

Price: 750ml, £1.19 (£1.59 per litre) Contains: Calcium 97, magnesium 2, sodium 8 Ph: 7.3 FILTERED through the chalky downs of Hampshire’s Test valley — giving it a high calcium content — Hildon is sourced from an aquifer in the village of Broughton. A favourite of restaurant owners, it won the 2015 Restaurant Magazine Chef’s Choice Award.

Taste: A ‘hard’ feel in the mouth, thanks to the calcium with a neutral, non metallic, taste.

Buxton Still Natural Mineral Water

Price: 1.5 litres, 60p (40p per litre) Contains: Calcium 55, magnesium 19, sodium 24 Ph: 7.4 BUXTON water is rainfall which has filtered through the limestone of the Peak District for thousands of years. Sourced at Buxton by nestle, i t has more sodium than most waters.

Taste: Almost no discernible taste, and ever so slightly metallic.

Acqua Panna Natural Mineral Water

Price: 750ml, £1.02 (£1.36 per litre) Contains: Calcium 32, Magnesium 6, sodium 6 Ph: 8 THIS water flows through the Apennines Mountains i n Tuscany f or 15 years before it is bottled at the spring on the slopes of Mount Gazzaro. its producers describe it as ‘perfectly balanced, light and luminous with a tonic note’. Taste: More alkaline than most other bottled waters, this is light and sweet with only a subtle hint of minerals.

Duchy Originals, Royal Deeside Natural Mineral Water Still

Price: 750ml, 95p (£1.26 per litre) Contains: Calcium 3, Magnesium 2, Sodium 7 Ph: 6.2 FILTERED for 50 years through the granite rocks under the heather-clad hills of the Cairngorms national Park, it is bottled at Pannanich Wells, Aberdeenshire. Some of the proceeds go to The Prince’s Charitable Foundation.

Taste: very soft and not a lot of taste.

VOSS Artesian Spring Water from Norway

Price: 800ml, £2.29 (£2.86 per litre) Contains: Calcium 5, magnesium 1, sodium 6 Ph: 6 SOURCED from a spring in southern norway, this comes in a stylish glass bottle. voss claims its manufacturing process is ‘ carbon neutral’ — although shipping its heavy bottles around t he world can’t be great f or the environment.

Taste: A slight metallic taste — and barely discernible from tap water. nice bottle, though.

Belu Still Natural Mineral Water

Price: 1.5 litre, 60p (40p per litre). Contains: Calcium 98, magnesium 3, sodium 9 Ph: 7.4 BELU is bottled at three springs — in Cambridgeshire, Shropshire and Montgomeryshire. All the profits go to the charity WaterAid — and so far Belu has raised more than £1 million. The makers claim it is 100 per cent carbon neutral.

Taste: The Cambridge variety doesn’t have much flavour, but its calcium gives it a ‘hard’ feel in the mouth.

Fiji Artesian Water

Price: 1 litre, £1.49 Contains: Calcium 18, magnesium 15, sodium 18 Ph: 7.7 FILTERED through volcanic rock, the water is extracted from an aquifer in t he Pacific Fiji islands. Each plastic bottle travels an incredible 10,000 miles by boat and lorry to reach our supermarkets, making i t one of the least environmentally friendly of all bottled waters.

Taste: A subtle, slightly sweet, smooth mineral taste. Pleasant enough, but not worth shipping half-way around the world.

How does tap water rate?

Price: 0.1p per litre. TEST after test reveals that most people can’t taste the difference between tap water and the bottled stuff if they aren’t told which is which.

Tap water often has a distinctive tang of chlorine (without it, your water would be full of bugs).

Simply chill it in the fridge or use a filter jug to lose the chlorine taste.

The mineral content varies from region to region, but usually includes most of the things found in bottled water. if your water is hard, it has more calcium and magnesium in it.

And how much tap water do we actually need?

DOCTORS says the average adult needs around 2.5 litres of fluids in their food and drink every day.

This is slightly more for men and slightly less for women. The figure is higher if you exercise a lot, or if the weather is hot. We get around half a litre of fluid from food — more if you eat a lot of soup or water-rich salad.

The reminder — around eight cups of liquid — comes from drinks. Dietitians say the fluid can come from any drink, although strong alcoholic drinks can dehydrate you.