In 1990, the industry experienced a real revolution. This is due to the fact that giants such as PepsiCo (Aquafina water), Nestle (Pure Life water) and Coca-Cola (Dasani water) have introduced their bottled water to the market. After these producers introduced their mineral water, tap water went down in history.

Analysts at Beverage Marketing Corporation estimate that 460 billion liters of bottled water are sold worldwide each year. The largest consumer of this product is China, whose inhabitants buy 80 billion liters of water a year. Second place is occupied by the United States – 45 billion liters. Some of the other countries have a hot climate, which explains the consumption – for example, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, India and Thailand.

Prosperous European countries such as Germany, Italy and France sell 12.11 and 9 billion liters of bottled water, respectively. In addition, despite the high quality of tap water, there is no denying that bottled water is also in high demand. How do they do it?

Have you ever wondered why bottled water is more expensive than tap water? The price difference is about 2000 times! In some countries, water is more expensive than milk, beer and even gasoline. I know what you were thinking, but these are far from developing countries complaining about the shortage of drinking water – these are countries that can boast of the best utilities.

According to the Food and Water Observatory, a liter of bottled water in the United States is on average three times more expensive than a liter of milk and almost four times more expensive than a liter of gasoline. What caused this? What makes people spend money on bottled water?

The main advantage of bottled water manufacturers around the world is that it is more environmentally friendly than the rest. Almost every ad promotes just that – the purity and benefits of bottled water. But is it true? And what do billions of people around the world actually drink?

Researchers from the Environmental Working Group, who have been working on the issue of bottled water quality for a long time, inform that most of the producers of this product do not hide that their product is the most ordinary tap water, which has undergone additional purification.

18% of brands still insist on the exceptional properties of their products, but categorically do not want to indicate the location of the mineral springs from which they receive their „life-giving water“. What does this tell you?

Laboratory tests show that in most cases, bottled water is no different from tap water, and the „extra cleaning“ that companies so often point out doesn’t work at all. And in fact, why do it, since their tap water already meets the highest standards on the market?

It is an interesting fact that in the United States and the European Union, the quality of tap water can theoretically be higher than the quality of bottled water. This seemingly absurd circumstance is due to the fact that the state can control tap water much more strictly than it does with companies that produce bottled water.

There are many examples where the water offered by manufacturers can be harmful to health and even life-threatening. In April 2019. The American consumer magazine Consumer Reports announced that the water produced by six popular brands: Starkey (owned by Whole Foods), Penafiel (Keurig Dr. Pepper), Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water, Volvic (Danone), Crystal Creamery and EartH2, is detected concentration of arsenic, which is dangerous for the human body.

But even if the manufacturer treats his obligations as strictly as possible, purified water poured into plastic bottles cannot be clean by default. During storage, even if it is not a very long period, the water is inevitably contaminated by the microparticles of the plastic.

It is also well known that even when heated slightly, plastic begins to emit harmful chemicals that immediately enter the water.

In advertisements, brands that produce water emphasize that it is tastier than tap water. Is that correct? Vamont University decided to check this out. In the study, they gave bottled water and tap water to the volunteers, but did not label it. As it turned out, most could not distinguish them.

In an interview with Business Insider, Pacific Institute President Peter Glake said: „It is wrong to think that bottled water is cleaner, healthier or safer than tap water. Bottled water is no more well regulated, not better inspected and not better controlled than tap water. And when there are problems with tap water, the solution is to invest in renovating and repairing our water supply systems, not bottled water. „

We must not forget that the ecological production of bottled water is not efficient at all. Plastic bottles are one of the biggest polluters on the planet. In 2016, 2 million tons of plastic were used for the production of plastic water bottles in the United States – in turn, at least 64 million barrels of oil were used for plastic.

We can say with confidence that the universal belief that bottled water is better and more useful than ordinary tap water is a result of the interests of the producers of these products at the highest level and, of course, the effect of good advertising.

The Business Insider publication estimated the funds invested by Nestle Waters NA, Nestle USA and Coca-Cola in lobbying their interests in the US Congress and it turned out that at least $ 28 million had been spent for these purposes. And do you know what the main purpose of advertising is? This is not promoting bottled water. Producers seek to reduce budgetary costs for public water supply.

Well-known brands also invest heavily in anti-tap water advertising, showing a number of downsides. The investment is clearly worth it – millions of people around the world are afraid of tap water, including people from countries such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland and France.

The main secret of drinking water producers, which they would not voluntarily reveal for anything in the world, is the profitability of their business. Many respected experts are convinced that the profits of players in this market can compete with the profits of drug cartels.