Crystal blue persuasion.

It's everywhere. In health clubs. At work. At home. In backpacks. At conferences and athletic events. Once considered a yuppie refreshment, bottled water has become a liquid asset for todays active consumer - and a gushing $2.7 billion-a-year national industry. One out of six people in America is drinking more than eight gallons annually of bottled water - five times more than a decade ago. According to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), 60 percent of those who drink bottled water do so for taste. But the perception that it's purer, healthier and safer also boosts sales, especially in parched California, which drinks up 36 percent of the market share.

Should you stick with tap water for a fraction of a penny a gallon or spend an average of 94 cents a gallon for the bottled water delivered to your home or office, or sold in supermarkets? That depends on your tastebuds as well as the substances in your city's water. In many regions - most recently in Milwaukee and Washington, DC - aging water pipes are rusting and cracking, enabling lead and other harmful chemicals and bacteria to leak into public water. Buying bottled water makes the most sense when there is a local contaminant warning. "Consumers may be getting their drinking water from systems that have not been inspected in 10 or more years or that may have significant undetected deficiencies," warned a recent Congressional General Accounting Office report. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is responsible for the safety of public drinking water systems, found that one-third of these 200,000 systems exceeded allowable levels of contamination last year. "There's an increasing awareness of decaying infrastructures," says Doug Oberhamer, vice president of the Colorado-based Deep Rock Water, which is delivered to homes and businesses and sold in supermarkets. And as awareness increases, so do bottled water sales.

Tap water is also disinfected with chlorine, which can affect taste and has carcinogenic byproducts. Lisa Prats, IBWA's vice president, says that most of the nation's 430 bottling facilities use ozone - which leaves no chemical residual after-taste, color or smell - as a disinfectant. "Bottled water is virtually contaminant - and lead-free," claims Prats. But of the 700 domestic brands of bottled water, approximately 25 percent is derived from municipal water supplies. And a 1992 Consumer Reports study indicated that bottled beverages made with municipal water may contain the same chemicals as the tap water from which they came.

Besides such quality issues, an increasing number of bottlers label their products with confusing terms: Spring, well, artesian, and mineral water are all considered "natural" waters, derived from undergound formations; "purified" water includes distilled, deionized and filtered water; and "municipal" water comes from regular public water sources. Variations in how states define different types of water add to the confusion. State regulators recently yanked eight bottled brands, including Naya, from North Carolina store shelves for allegedly deceptive labeling. The bottlers had drilled holes to underground wells, mechanically sucked out the water and then labeled their product "spring water." Although this is legal in other states, in North Carolina only water collected from natural orifices in the Earth's surface can be so labeled.

As a result, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently proposed more stringent rules for the industry, as urged by IBWA since 1979. "These regulations will help correct the perception that companies just put tap water in a bottle, eliminate nebulous label phrases, and unify the current patchwork of state regulations by mid-1994," says Jane Lazgin, spokesperson for the Connecticut-based Perrier Group of America, which comprises 12 bottled water companies and controls 26 percent of the U.S. bottled water business. The proposed regulations exclude "carbonated," "seltzer," "flavored," "soda" and "tonic" waters - all considered soft drinks.

Before the FDA crackdown, a few companies, now out of business, did bottle tap water from municipal sources and sold it as "pure." Several years ago, environmental author Joel Makower compared one of those brands with tap water that originated in the Potomac River outside Washington, DC. "Despite the notoriety of the barely swimmable Potomac," the two waters turned out to have relatively the same chemicals and byproducts, says Makower. "Nutritionally speaking, the pricey bottled product had a higher calcium content, but Potomac water was richer in magnesium and potassium and contained less sodium."

In March 1993, Special Report magazine used an EPA-approved lab to sniff around for 93 contaminants. They found that todays bottled waters are generally pure. But, they advised, bottled waters are far from uniform - and not as pristine as people think. However, with the proposed FDA guidelines, strict regulations would have to be met for all U.S. bottled water facilities, processes, packages, labels and even the caps, thus insuring better uniformity.

"More than 90 percent of the bottled water consumed in the U.S. is the non-sparkling variety, which [except for pure, distilled water] may contain minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, that keep it from tasting flat," IBWAs Prats says. Although bottlers do perform taste tests, "the flavor distinctions between brands of bottled water are so subtle you may not be able to detect any difference." Under the new FDA guidelines, bottlers must indicate on the label when they add minerals or when the water comes from municipal supplies.

How do you choose a bottled water? The only means of avoiding chlorination byproducts is to skip brands that use municipal water. And check for the IBWA special seal of approval or contact IBWA for a member list. All IBWA member bottlers voluntarily submit to an annual, unannounced plant inspection from Michigan-based National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), an independent inspection agency that tests for 200 chemical and biological contaminants.

Additionally, some companies pay $2,500 annually to obtain a more stringent NSF certification, signifying an even higher testing level than IBWA. "We wanted to gain consumer confidence and show our credibility," says Jack Baker, president of the Connecticut-based Crystal Rock Water Company, which recently contracted to supply bottled water coolers to a local school which had found high levels of lead in its water fountains. Crystal Rock is one of just 48 bottlers who have received the NSF Certification Mark. Notes NSF's CEO George Kupfer, Certified companies aren't just telling you their water is safe, they have proof They're not forced to do it by any government agency. It's a marketing advantage." Many qualified third-party laboratories also test products against NSF standards.

So, bottled water may be healthier than tap water. But is it greener?

"No," says Makower. "Because it takes non-renewable petroleum resources to create the bottles and packaging, the energy and lifecycle costs are not insignificant. You hear bottled water is pure, better for you, but we forget about trucking the bottles to the store, bringing them home, disposing of the plastic containers." And, when shipped long distances, the energy costs go up even more, he adds.

Deep Rock's Oberhamer disagrees. "Buying bottles conserves water because it's 100 percent consumed. No one would think of pouring it down the drain, running it until it gets cold, or until heavy metals, such as lead, are flushed from the plumbing system." Deep Rock also fuels their delivery trucks with propane to help alleviate the energy and air quality problems Makower describes. And although most water bottles are now made out of PET or HDPE recyclable containers, Makower recommends five-gallon refillable and recyclable glass containers, delivered to your home and office, from local sources.

Some bottlers are going that extra mile to help preserve the environment. Arizona-based Sedona Springs, which recently expanded from five-gallon home/office delivery into half-gallon squirt bottles distributed to supermarkets, has a bottle return program. "Even our plastic return case and labels are made from recycled, recyclable materials," says owner Todd Newman. And last November, the Blue World Beverage Company in Connecticut launched Crystal Blue, the first "aquatic environment bottled water product," according to president and CEO Jeff Maker. "By committing 50 percent of our sales to nonprofits dedicated to preserving water - our most precious resource - we can enable environmental groups to have more of an impact." Blue World is currently selling their half- and one-liter PET spring water containers through the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, and through traditional food service outlets.

In short, while bottled water may be just another beverage product "fighting for a share of the stomach," says Oberhamer, because it has no sugar, caffeine or calories, people are starting to choose it over soft drinks. And with the new regulations, customers can be more confident that the bottled water they're buying is a premium, quality product.