BILLINGS - Is it time to put down the bottled water and get back to the tap? With gas prices nearing $4 a gallon and grocery prices on the rise, some argue, "Why pay for something you can get for close to free?"

There is a movement among some conservation groups to encourage consumers to get back to the tap, but, local grocer, Chuck Cremer, said he does not see bottled water's selling power slowing down.

"Today, bottled water is approaching selling more than pop and colas off of our shelves," said Cremer, Vice President Of Operations at Albertsons. Chemists at the City of Billings Public Utilities Department tested four common bottled waters against city water.

"They were all very similar, quite similar to the tap water," said Mike Rubich, superintendent of the Billings Water Plant. The Food and Drug Administration oversees the safety of bottled water, and the Environmental Protection Agency mainly regulates city water systems.

A big emphasis in EPA regulations today is to make sure city water quality does not deteriorate once it leaves the plant and travels through the miles of pipeline to get to your home.

"Certainly traveling through pipelines there is some impact on that, at the same point of sitting in a plastic bottle," said Rubich. Wether you buy your water off the shelf, or take it from the tap, it appears the biggest difference is price. For city water, you pay a little more than two-tenths of a cent per gallon. While take a gallon of 20-ounce bottled waters, at about $.99 a piece, and you are paying about $6 per gallon; that's 3,000% more. A figure that could be a little hard to swallow for some.

Rubich said the leftover taste of chlorine, used to clean the water, is what most city water drinkers object to. He recommended letting your water sit for a while in the fridge and that will go away.