Several Questions from a new Brewer

I recently started brewing, and there a few things I was hoping someone here could help me out with:

1. Can I use bottled water or does it have to be boiled first for sanitation? Also, after sanitizing, can I dry my stuff with paper towels?

2. How do I filter out all the gunk from the beer before bottling?

3. Is it really so bad to use a stainless steel pot for the wort?

Thanks all!

I use bottled water all the time.  I am under the impression that the water is bottled under sterile conditions.  I have not had any problems so far.

To clear your beer, you can "cold crash" it.  In other words put the beer in your refridgerator for a couple of days before bottleing.

Stainless steel is recommended.  Aluminum can be used, according to John Palmer, if you boil water in it for 30 minutes before using it the first time.

As far as the (gunk) you speak of ,I'm assuming you are doing all grain and you are talking about after fermentation. If so the gunk should be at the bottom of your fermenter and made up of hops, yeast, and proteins that have settled out during the fermentation process. when you bottle there will be some beer that gets left behind with all the rest of the settlings. this is what I call acceptable lose. Now if you are referring to suspended gunk in your beer that dose not seam to settle out after fermentation (2 to 3 weeks) the cold crash method works well. I cold crash mine , but not in the fridge, I put it in the coldest part of the house( the basement) for a week. for an ale this works well. the temp gets to around 45 witch causes the yeast to drop out and leaves me clear beer. time is also a way to clear beer, the more time it sets after fermentation the more it will clear.     
 

Thanks for the responses!

I only did one batch, it was partial mash. The gunk was on the bottom, I guess in the bottling I should have been more careful to avoid the bottom.