The Bottled Water Conundrum
There are many things in this world that baffle me, such as the mass popularity of the X-Factor, the layout of IKEA and the Elephant and Castle subway system. But the enduring popularity of bottled water is probably one of the topics that heads my ‘list of oddities’.
These days, life is just a long bombardment of adverts. And in amongst them, are adverts selling one of the most essential necessities of life: water. It seems people will be more willing to shell out for water coming from a distant source, rather than resorting to the tap. Even more bizarre is the sheer number of bottled water brands vying for our attention (~3400 brands worldwide). Whilst it’s understandable to have hundreds of soft drinks companies plying their distinctively flavoured wares, the fact there are thousands of bottled water companies just seems rather odd to me. Aren’t they selling the same thing as one another?
The above video, the ‘Story of Water‘, aims to point what’s wrong with bottled water. Whilst pretty biased and preachy in places, it does make some key points.
We see the likes of Evian using their paradigm ‘Live Young’, whilst Volvic promises to fill you with ‘Volcanicity’. But does this really mean anything? Call me a Philistine, but I’ve never been able to taste the difference between the brands of water, let alone the difference between tap and bottled water. Granted, taste is a very subjective topic. However, blind tests comparing the two are often found to be inconclusive. (1st link, 2nd link, 3rd link) Sometimes it beats tap water, sometimes it doesn’t…
Are they not all the same underneath?
In terms of safety, there is not really much of a distinction between them either. Generally speaking tap water is usually quite safe (depending on locale). Whilst I cannot say with any degree of certainty for other developed countries, here in the UK, the water companies (when they’re not digging up our roads!), along with tough UK and EU regulations, ensure to provide tap water of very high quality.
Yet despite this, it seems an increasing number of households are hitting the ‘bottle’, so to speak. In fact, many people swear by it. In the UK alone, the industry is worth £1.4 billion and in total, around 2 billion litres is consumed each year (2010 figure). But that’s nothing compared to the US, who consume a staggering 33 billion litres on average each year (2010 figure)! So what is it exactly about bottled water that people clamour for?
For the most part, the success of the bottled water industry seems more to do with marketing and shaping people perceptions, rather than it actually being ‘better’. Perrier was sold on the basis it was ‘middle-class’ and a ‘chic’ product. And people bought into it. Yet, one small contamination incident was enough to completely right off the brand in many people’s minds. It just shows how powerful public perceptions can be at creating (and destroying) brands.
Perrier lived and (almost) died on the sword of public perception
Whilst the consumerism is worrying, the cost to the environment perhaps should be the biggest concern. As the video points out, the bottles have to be produced, the water has to be shipped over over the world and the bottles need to be disposed of (usually in a landfill). It all seems rather wasteful and unnecessary, when the infrastructure is already in place.
One study suggests that the average carbon footprint of tap water (1.5 litres) can be up to 285 times lower than that of bottled water. A comparison between tap water and bottled water in the UK, states that 1 litre of tap water can generate up to 600 times less carbon dioxide than a litre of the leading brands Evian and Volvic.
And then there’s the added cost of disposal. Whilst it is possible to reuse and recycle the bottles, a high proportion of the waste will inevitably end up in landfills and sadly the surrounding environment too. And the sheer scale at which bottled water is consumed means that mountains of discarded bottles are produced each year. It is understandable why some refer to this is an environmental time bomb.
Where will these bottles end up?
Succinctly, the drastic solution is not to buy and drink it at all. But there are times where bottled water is the only immediate source. And indeed, in some developing countries, bottled water is the safer option. Lobbying the government to do more is one method. Placing more public fountains and cutting down use of water coolers will go towards helping the issue. (One local authority in Canada has banned them entirely).
In my opinion, the main key to reducing consumption is not so much to demonise bottled water, but simply to boost the profile of tap water. You seldom see an advert for tap water, nor is there much government advice on the issue. Whilst some people will inevitably not listen, by getting all the facts out there, more people will hopefully decide against buying bottled water, and use the tap for their main source of drinking water.
For more information, an interesting discussion paper goes into further detail on this matter.
The layout of IKEA bothers you or was that waxing poetic? Lulz!
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