I wasn’t even aware there was a competition among liquids, but apparently it’s pretty fierce. This year for the first time bottled water beat out milk, according to Beverage Digest, and was roughly equal to beer for the year 2006.

According to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “If the trend continues, Americans could be drinking more bottled water than tap water within a few years.”

“Tap water is in trouble,” quipped John Sicher, publisher of industry newsletter Beverage Digest.

Beverage Digest’s figures showed average per capita consumption of bottled water grew from 11 to 21 gallons between 1996 and 2006. Consumption of milk dropped from 22.7 to 19.5 gallons over the 10-year span, while beer consumption was steady at 21.8. Soft drink consumption dropped from 52 to 50.9 gallons, according to the figures.

No word on whether the water in beer is added to the water figures.