Tap water is perfectly safe to drink and no state, including New Mexico, should spend a penny on the plastic-bottled stuff, says a Boston-based group known for battles against tobacco and Nestlé's baby formula in the last three decades.

Members of Corporate Accountability International hosted a water-tasting event Tuesday at the state Capitol to prove that tap water tastes as good as bottled.

A half-dozen people who participated in the blindfold test sampled water from three bottled brands as well as tap water from the Eldorado and Albuquerque water systems. Five of the six tasters chose Eldorado water as the best tasting.

"It has more flavor," said state Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, on hand to promote the anti-bottled-water campaign.

Only one, Bob Spaulding of Santa Fe, thought Purelife water, bottled by Nestlé, tasted the best. But he says he rarely buys it. He drinks from the tap and refills water bottles.

Water sold in plastic bottles adds to waste and is an unnecessary expense for cash-strapped states, argues CAI and supporters. Local organizers, along with Ortiz y Pino and several businesses, are asking Gov. Bill Richardson to issue an executive order phasing out the use of state funds for bottled water.

"If we buy bottled water, we give the message that we don't trust our water from public systems. And then how can we expect support for expanding our public-water infrastructure?" Ortiz y Pino asked Tuesday.

New Mexico state offices spent $78,000 last year alone on Crystal Springs bottled water, according to the state's online database of contracts. Minnesota, by comparison, spent $475,000 on bottled water in 2009.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation paid $25,388 for bottled water and the state Human Services Department spent $22,316, according to the state database. The other $30,000 was used by several other state agencies to buy bottled water, including the state Environment Department and the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.

Not everyone agrees bottled water is a problem.

Jodi Porter, public information officer for the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department in Santa Fe, said there has been a five-gallon Crystal Springs water dispenser near her office since she started working there and she's glad. She won't drink city tap water.

Porter said she drinks bottled water because she lived for four years at a military base where the water, routinely tested by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, turned out to be contaminated with lead, benzene, dry-cleaning chemicals and other contaminants. At home she now uses reverse osmosis and Brita filters on tap water before drinking it.

"For me, if the state no longer provided bottled water, I would have to bring my Brita filters with me," Porter said.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation buys water for office coolers and for crews in the field who are sometimes far away from any potable water, according to department spokesman Mark Slimp. DOT, which has already reduced its budget by $50 million in the face of the state's budget crisis, is looking at cutting out bottled water as contracts expire, he said.

Groups like CAI are waging a battle to get people to stop drinking bottled water and start drinking from the tap. They say 40 percent of the bottled water is simply filtered tap water and customers are paying a premium for it. In addition, too few people recycle the individual-size plastic water bottles.

Sriram Madhusoodanan, the New Mexico organizer for Corporate Accountability International, said in 2008 the Council of Mayors passed a resolution to stop buying bottled water. Both the Santa Fe and Albuquerque city councils approved resolutions opposing the purchase of bottled water with city funds.

"Spending taxpayer money on bottled water sends the absolute wrong message about the safety of tap water," Madhusoodanan said, noting at the same time that funds to repair and upgrade aging water systems have declined.

Jeff Vinyard, owner of Crystal Springs Bottle Water in Albuquerque, said he agrees with CAI about the problems with aging public-water systems. But he thinks going after bottled-water companies, especially those that are independently owned like his, is misguided. CAI's campaign seems largely aimed at big-water bottling corporations such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. "Their efforts are hurting small businesses when their target is the Nestlés of the world," Vinyard said.

New Mexico has spent millions of dollars upgrading public-water systems and more federal funds are on the way for further water infrastructure. "Things are moving in the right direction," Vinyard said. "It is disingenuous for groups like CAI to grandstand using bottled water as the platform against, in our case, a business that provides jobs, pays taxes and supports groups."

Vinyard's 25-year-old business treats Albuquerque municipal water and sells it to customers, including state government.

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.