Water Wars and Bottled Water

It used to be that we would get all our water from the tap, but since the 80’s, bottled water seems to have become a natural part of every day living. It’s easy to see why, as when you’re rushing around it’s more convenient to reach for a bottle of water. However, as more and more people become aware of the negative impacts, the bottled water industry is suffering from a backlash. Questions have been raised, such as why we should pay more money for something that we can get from a tap when 1.3bn people don’t have access to safe and clean water. This has prompted several American Universities, and Leeds Student Union in the UK, to ban bottled water.

Bottled water used to be the ‘in’ thing, partly a reaction to the perceived danger in our water supplies from chemicals and pesticides, but also clever marketing and advertising telling us that bottled water is much cleaner and tastes better. Some have even gone as far, such as the H2O bling brand, as to claim ‘that you can tell a lot about a person by the bottled water they carry around.’ Reports such as those released by the United Nations Food and Agricultural organisation in 1997, concluded that bottled water is no better for you than tap water. In fact one quarter of all bottled water is just municipal tap water, packaged and resold onto us. One such example is Coca Cola’s brand Dasani, which it was revealed in March 2004, came from the mains in Sidcup in Kent.

The bottled water industry has tried to protect its green credentials with the British Bottled Water Producers claiming that 'Few other industries, except perhaps organic farming,' Jo Jacobius of the BBWP insists, 'play such a major role in protecting the countryside, doing much to minimise environmental damage.' Obviously they would defend their position, but even if this is to be believed, there are still issues surrounding its production, transportation and waste.

It takes 7L of water and 250ml of oil to make a 1L bottle of water. This is mind boggling when you consider that there are reports that we are about to reach peak oil and a lack of water resources which has prompted the Vice president of the world bank, Ismail Seragaldin, to claim that ‘the wars of the next century will be about water.’ By 2050 we look set to see 40% of the world’s population (around 4bn) living in countries of chronic water shortages. This has motivated many corporations to desperately buy up water developments, turning it from a public good, into a commodity, in which they profit whilst creating environmental havoc and depleting groundwater supplies.

There are other, ‘ethical’, bottled water options, such as ‘Frank’ in the UK, set up by a UWE graduate. The project is based in Bristol, taking water from the local water table in Somerset and using its profits to fund water projects in India. Whilst offering a better alternative, there are still questions surrounding ethical consumerism, when perhaps the only real solution is to reduce consumption. Leeds Student Union’s solution to this problem was to ban sales of bottled water on campus. The recently formed Natural Hydration Council (NHC), who represent the bottled water industry, responded: "It seems a shame for a university union, whose principles are founded on the right to choose, to take away student choice by removing bottled water from the union. It also seems to be an ill-informed decision."

It is important to be well hydrated and there are some great examples of bottled water brands that are trying to have a lower impact on local water tables and other environmental impacts. However, in countries that have access to clean, safe water directly from the tap, the only real solution is to minimise or even stop our bottled water consumption.