Article: BOTTLED WATER SALES ARE UP EVEN IN `SAFE' AREAS.(News)

Melinda Patino hasn't drunk tap water in 20 years. The lifelong resident of Midland, a city of nearly 100,000 in West Texas, says she and her husband rely on seven five-gallon bottles of water delivered to their home every two weeks.

``We use it for everything - cooking, drinking and watering our plants,'' she says.

The Patinos spend $820 on bottled water annually; that same amount of municipal water costs about $2.20. An estimated 80,000 residents of Midland, renowned as an oil town, buy bottled water or use a home filtration system, according to Ken Jones, the city's utilities director.

Patino, 30, says she picks bottled water for taste and ...

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