Tap water 'beats a lot of bottles'

A glass of tap water can taste as good as, and often better than, some of the most expensive bottled varieties, according to a consumer magazine test.

A glass of tap water can taste as good as, and often better than, some of the most expensive bottled varieties, according to a consumer magazine test.

A taste-test by researchers at Health Which? magazine rated a glassful from the Thames Water company better than some bottled versions.

A panel of experts tested 25 natural mineral waters, 13 spring waters, two types of bottled drinking water and a sample from Thames Water.

On a five-point scale, both filtered and unfiltered Thames Water was given a top score by the panel.

Asda's bottled spring water at 12p a litre also scored top marks, as did Tesco's Value variety and the still spring water from Marks & Spencer. But the scores varied, with M&S's sparkling spring water scoring poorly - tasters described it as "metallic and bitter".

And the most expensive variety of mineral water - S. Pellegrino sparkling - was rated among the worst waters. Despite costing £1.09 for one litre, the taste panel said it was "salty, bicarbonate and sweet".

The Thames tap water was described as "earthy and chalky" with "very low flavour and odour" - characteristics that gave it a high score.