This is probably the most debated topic posted on here every week...Here's my take on it...
If they're pet or hdpe use them....but most of them are polycarbonate NOT PET or PETE.
Polycarbonate uses BPA (bisphenol-A) in it's production. BPA may mimic the natural female sex hormone estradiol. In animal research it has been linked to female reproductive disorders, breast and prostate cancer, and attention and developmental problems.
Basically polycarbonate bottles have the potentiality to leach stuff into your water or beer...
I just found a home water purification company online that switched to shipping actual better bottles with their filter systems, because of the difficulty of finding ones that weren't polycarbonate.
I'm betting in the near future more and more water distributors will be going the same route because of all the press about estradiol in water bottles, and we'll be able to find more and more Pet water jugs at the big box stores then there are now...
And since it looks like the Better Bottle people are one of the few producers of the product, more companies are jumping online to fill the need. Which of course means the prices will go down.
Evidently some people are already finding Pet bottles in the water section of Homedepot and other big box stores now...so some places are making the switch already.
And at the same time, on here and other places, people say they use the other types all the time...so really it's gonna come down to your choice...