For the office, maybe, but not if you live in an old home:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/news/lead.shtml

"Despite our best efforts to control corrosion, lead levels in some homes or buildings can be high. To find out whether you need to take action in your own home, have your drinking water tested to determine if it contains excessive concentrations of lead."

What amount of lead is not "excessive"!?

As to work, a recent episode of Food Detectives on the Food Channel showed that office water coolers are often contaminated. The show's theory is that people touch drinking vessels to the spout, thus contaminating it.

So I'm all in favor of replacing bottled water, but only with a clean and healthy alternative.

Another quirk in all of these discussions is this: bottled water may be less green than tap water, but it's surely more green than soda? Let's start by getting rid of all the office soda machines.

Finally, it's possible that coffee and tea machines are cleaner than the water cooler, in part because they're heated (which is not green).

Installation of a reverse osmosis filtration device is the smartest option. You can get one for $149 and shipping is free. The filter will remove lead, chlorine, and other contaminates. The water tastes great. We use it for cooking, drinking, etc. Filters last quite a long time, up to around 7 years for the RO membrane, and a couple of years on the carbon pre-filters. I installed ours in about 30 minutes. A plumber will install it for you for around $75 if you are not a DIY'er.

Get food grade polycarbonate reusable containers to carry some water to work or elsewhere...

Here is the unit we bought:

http://www.livsure.com/water/ce2_reverse_osmosis.htm

There are others, this one comes with a water tester. Change the filter when it registers a frown face. It depends on quality of water supply, number of gallons you use per day, etc. as to how long between filter changes. The manufacturers always recommend ridiculously frequent changes, but your tester will tell you when to do it.. they last WAY longer than the recommended change rate..

We say create your own inexpensive bottling plant in your house or office using Living Water Ultra or Living Water II.

With Living Water Ultra (or zero water as we like to call it)- there is no plumbing hookup needed on the faucet or under the sink. Just place the unit on your counter or on the optional stand, pour in your water and let the Living Water Ultra do the job!

The unit comes with a TDS meter which is used by national laboratories to evaluate the presence of contaminants.

Look for Living Water Ultra
under the water treatment section of our website.

Alex - Sounds like you need to replace the pipes in your house if they are that bad. You should compare that cost and the environmental impact on the bottled water.

Here is my opinion and personal story. I read a book called "Your Bodies Many Cries For Water" which was written by a well respected doctor. He said there are so many diseases associated with not drinking enough water each and every day. I became so convinced that I was chronically dehydrated and started to drink a lot more water like he recommended.

I became very concerned and scared about the water quality with bottled waters. The reports about toxic chemicals leaching into the bottled waters frightened me. I spoke with my family and friends. Everyone I spoke with expressed that they were scared.

I decided to use the water from our sink for our daily water needs. But then I heard reports that toxic drugs and toxic medications and toxic chemicals were found in like all over the U.S. drinking water supplies. So I did some research and found a really interesting Solid Carbon Block water filter. It was independently tested by (NSF) a non-profit organization which found it to be a superior water filter solution. I was amazed to find out that this water filter was inexpensive compared to all those bottled waters I used to buy.

I found a video on YouTube that gave a users review about it. The title was "Bye Bye Bottled Water" and was produced by MyNewLifeCoach. I called my family, friends, and everyone I know from work and spoke with everyone about this video. I am so inspired that I have a whole house filter and a portable water filter on order. Here is the YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKUhANhGEsg

I think the whole bottled water debate is being fought from the wrong perspective.

Bottled water is a choice we make as consumers over other beverage alternatives. If we do not want sugars, high calories, preservatives then we purchase bottled water. For some reason this whole debate continually leaves out the cola companies. What is the carbon footprint of a cola companies? Maybe we should get rid of the whole plastic bottle industry in total.

We have a right to choose our beverages but we also have a responsibility to make sure the empties are placed in recycle bins.

WaterToYou.com is a great site for consumers who choose water (however they wish to drink it)over other obesity creating beverages.