Picture a bottle of mineral water, and chances are, images of pristine mountains and natural springs come to mind. It's no surprise then, when recent studies revealed that consumers associate bottled water with healthy living. The truth? Bottled water isn't necessarily better than tap water. Find out why.

Chlorine in tap water: Safe or not?

Chlorination has been a critical treatment process to protect drinking water supply from waterborne infectious diseases for nearly a century -- chlorination resulted in the virtual elimination of waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery and hepatitis A.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) regional office for Europe, disinfection by chlorine is still the best guarantee of microbiologically safe water.

Ironically, with chlorine being a known carcinogen, its introduction into the water supply via chlorination is probably what fuels the concern over the safety of tap water.

When water supplies are chlorinated, the chlorine can react with soluble materials, such as natural organic matter, to produce undesirable chemicals, called disinfection by-products. Although these by-products may increase the risk of some forms of cancer, this increase appears to be small and is certainly outweighed by risk from water that is not disinfected.