Water is a very precious commodity and in some parts of the world, even armed conflict has taken place over its supply. Today, in Scotland, the hotly contested issue of bottled water vs tap water is causing deep divisions.

Drink water out of the tap - that's the message that environmentalists and the government want to get across.

Ministers at Westminster and Holyrood have announced that bottled still water will no longer be served at government functions or meetings.

And the Environment Secretary, Phil Woolas MP, has claimed that drinking bottled water is "morally unacceptable" in the face of the environmental impact.

But speaking to the Politics Show, the SNP's Environment Minister, Mike Russell MSP, sought to distance himself from these comments.

He said: "I think that's just jumping on a bandwagon, I don't think there's anything morally unacceptable.

"If we impose on people constantly in the sake of a greener Scotland we actually turn people off, I want to persuade people."

Green agenda

So what's the reason for this move?

Well it's all part of the green agenda.

And half of that sold is through supermarkets, with multipacks of plastic bottles being the most popular choice.At the moment, we spend £2bn in the UK every year on bottled water.

But the green lobby claims that it is the packaging of natural mineral water that makes it an environmental no-no.

"If we're drinking millions of gallons of water in plastic bottles, that's an awful lot of plastic which is just going into a landfill - and that's very wasteful," said Dan Barlow, Acting Director, World Wildlife Federation.

Going green?

The industry itself however says they are adapting all the time and the product is a lot greener than it used to be.

"The bottled water industry is doing a lot to reduce its environmental impact. For example, we've redesigned the bottles, 30% less plastic than 15 years ago - in fact recycling rates have been growing by up to 40% each year.

"And we are also finding ways of using recycled plastic in the original bottles," claims Richard Laming, Bottled Water Information Centre.