There's a run on bottled water, sparked by two recent episodes in which residents in sections of the Wasatch Front were told to boil water before using it.

In October, for several days Riverton residents were told to boil their water after fecal coliform bacteria, a type of E. coli, was found. A dead raccoon in the water supply was apparently to blame.A few days ago, coliform was found in water from Emigration Tunnel, and residents using that water supply were asked to boil water as a precaution, although it was unlikely that drinking the water was harmful.

Now the question is, how safe is bottled water?

Judith Foulke, a spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration, referred to bottled water as probably the most heavily regulated food in America. It has to meet the standards for municipal water and then some.

"It's pretty safe," agreed Randy Jenson, a compliance officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food, which regulates bottled water.

Companies that produce bottled water are required to check for coliform weekly. And while that's what sparked the two recent events, coliform is only an "indicator organism, it doesn't mean the water has E. coli," said Jenson.

Compliance officers go to the plants that filter, bottle and distribute water and check it at least twice a year for sanitation and to see that the chemicals within the water are all within tolerance, said Larry Lewis, spokesman for the department. "They are only allowed a small percentage of certain things in the water."

Utah has about eight water bottling plants. And they are all checked out for chemicals, organics, pesticides and volatile organics, and a radiological study is even done, Jenson said.

At Mount Olympus Water, more tests are made in one hour than municipal water systems and their governing bodies make in several days, according to CEO William C. "Bill" Bailey. Like most of the local water bottling plants, Mount Olympus belongs to the International Bottled Water Association, which has its own standards and inspections. To be a member, plants have to be certified by the National Sanitation Foundation.

"Most IBWA bottler members subscribe to a code of ethics and code of standards and good manufacturing practices that pretty well guarantee a safe, clean product," Bailey said.

Over time, standards for both tap water and commercially bottled water have been tightened so they are "getting closer together," according to Jenson.