If your water has an ‘ugh’ factor, a simple Brita filter (or the like) will improve the taste a lot. We have pretty good tap water here; but, there’s always a bit of a chlorine taste, and sometimes silt or algae in the reservoir — the filter takes care of all that for a tiny fraction of the cost of bottled water.
That said — I don’t like bans.
Don't lose perspective here -- it's a government agency banning its own dubious spending of your money. Not a free-market issue at all.
This "ban" is on city agencies buying bottled water out of their office funds. No restrictions on private citizens or businesses or how city employees see their own money.