This summer, the city council in Ann Arbor, Mich., took a stand against bottled water, passing a resolution urging the promotion of the city's tap water. At its annual art fair in July, the city sold 500 reusable water bottles for $4 apiece. The containers sold out within hours.

"We are trying to cut down on plastic water bottles," said Mayor John Hieftje. "We want to tell people there's no need to buy bottled water."

What's happening in Ann Arbor shows just how much perceptions of bottled water have changed.

Long regarded as a healthy and chic alternative to sugar-filled sodas, bottled water has come under attack by environmentalists and others who portray it as a source of pollution and a symbol of corporate greed.

But whether the backlash will affect bottled-water sales remains uncertain.

NO SALES DIP YET

So far, Americans have not forsaken their love for bottled water. And some experts believe the campaign against it will fail.

"It will probably have minimal to no impact on sales," said John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest, an industry newsletter. "Americans love bottled water. It's healthy and convenient."

Gary Hemphill, managing director of Beverage Marketing Corp., a New York research and consulting firm, said, "It's hard for one to see that it would have a long-term impact."

Sales of bottled water were up 11 percent in the year ending Sept. 8, the latest figures from ACNielsen North America show.

The growth is lower than in previous 12-month periods, when sales rose as much as 18 percent. But demand has surged so much in recent years that some moderation is to be expected, Hemphill said.

Americans drank 28.3 gallons of bottled water per capita last year, compared with 18.8 gallons in 2001, Beverage Marketing found.

POPULARITY AT A PRICE

Environmentalists warn that bottled water's popularity comes at a great cost. It takes lots of energy to produce and transport the bottles, many of which end up in landfills.

Most of the bottles contain an oil-derived plastic called polyethylene terephthalate, or PET.

The Container Recycling Institute estimates that 18 million barrels of crude oil were used to replace the 2 million tons of PET bottles that were wasted instead of recycled in 2005.

Opponents claim that using these resources to line the pockets of large corporations isn't necessary. Most cities offer tap water that's just as good and safe as bottled water and costs far less.

This summer, anti-bottled water efforts sprang up in San Francisco, New York and other cities. A Beverly Hills, Calif., restaurant announced it would only serve tap water, sparking similar efforts by others.

"Water is a fundamental human right," said Deborah Lapidus, a national organizer for Corporate Accountability International, a Boston-based watchdog group. "Companies are trying to get us to think that the only place to get clean, safe water is from a bottle."

To allay consumers' concerns, the three companies that dominate the bottled water industry — Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo and Nestlé — are trying to step up their environmental efforts. Coca-Cola, which sells the Dasani and Glacéau brands, aims to recycle or reuse 100 percent of its PET bottles. It hopes to reach the 30 percent level by 2010, up from 10 percent today.

To get there, it has teamed up with its largest bottler to build a nationwide network of recycling centers. The company and its rivals are also working to reduce the amount of plastic in their bottles.

Nestlé, which sells the Ice Mountain brand, spent two years engineering its bottle. The new version uses 30 percent less plastic.

These and other efforts come as Corporate Accountability ratchets up its campaign. It is asking people to pledge their allegiance to tap water and conducting blind taste tests in several cities to show that tap water tastes just as good.

That has put the International Bottled Water Association, the industry's trade group, on the defensive.

"Consumers are very intelligent. They have obviously heard the critics," said Joseph Doss, the group's CEO and president. "I'm confident they will continue to purchase bottled water."