Back to the Tap : a Global Battle against Bottled Water ... · The global bottled water market has...

The IMRE Journal Volume 3 (1) 2009 2009. TU Bergakademie Freiberg

http://www.wiwi.tu-freiberg.de/~urm/imre/journal/index.htm

‘Back to the Tap’: a Global Battle against Bottled Water Industry

Huiju Tsai

Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg Correspondence: [email protected] Revised: 16.06.2009 Online Publication Date: 30.10.2009

Abstract

The global bottled water industry has been enjoying great prosperity in the past

decade. In 2007, world consumption of bottled water totaled 188 billion liters, with an

average annual growth rate of 8.8% from 1997 to 2007. Total revenues of the global

bottled water market was $US 66.6 billion in 2007, representing a compound annual

growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2% for the period 2003-2007. However, while the industry

has been expanding at a high speed, a „Back to the Tap‟ movement against bottled

water developed in Northern America, Europe and other developed countries in recent

yeras. City governments, high-class restaurants, schools, and religious groups urge to

ditch bottled water and encourage people to drink the public water from the faucet.

Environmentalists condemn bottled water as wasteful and even immoral. Bottled water

has been seen as an „Eco-sin‟. This article aims to give an insight into this issue. The

stands of the protests, consumer views and bottling companies are analyzed and

commented. Measures to be taken are further discussed. Finally, the potential new

markets that might emerge under the „anti-bottled water‟ trend are explored.

Keywords: Bottled water industry, PET bottles, energy consumption,

water management

Introduction

The global bottled water market has been expanding rapidly in the past

decade (See Figure 1). In 2007, world consumption of bottled water

stood at a total of 188 billion liters, more than double (80 billion) in

1997. The consumption volume has grown fast from 1997 to 2007, with

an average annual growth rate of approximately 8.8%. Between 1998

and 2003, the average annual growth rate exceeded 10%. The total

revenues of the global bottled water market equaled $US 66.6 billion in

2007, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2% for

the period 2003-2007 (See Figure 2). The market has expanded in all

regions. The United States is the world‟s leading consumer of bottled

water. In 2007, Americans drank almost 33 billion liters (See Figure 3).

Figure 1: Global bottled water consumption and annual growth

rate, 1997-2007. Data sources: 1997-2003: Gleick et al., 2009,

and 2004-2007: Beverage Marketing Corporation, 2008, in

International Bottled Water Association (IBWA)

Figure 2: Global bottled water market value: $US billion, 2003-

2007. Source: Datamonitor, 2008

Mexico has the second highest consumption with 22

billion liters. China exceeded Brazil in 2004 and has

become the third biggest country for bottled water

consumption since then, consuming 18 billion liters in

2007. Italy and Germany, following Brazil, rank as the

fifth and sixth countries, respectively. In terms of per

capita consumption, the world average amount was

about 28.7 liters in 2007, jumping from 18 liters in

2000. The United Arab Emirates and Mexico, speeding

up to exceed Italy in 2007, are the world‟s top two

countries in terms of per capita consumption. In the

United Arab Emirates, consumers purchased an

average of 260 liters of bottled water per person in

2007 (Beverage Marketing Corporation, 2008, in:

IBWA). Generally speaking, Europe is the top region

for bottled water consumption, accounting for 50.1%

of the global market share in 2007 (Datamonitor,

2008).

Figure 3: Top 10 countries of bottled water consumption in 2007.

Data source: Beverage Marketing Corporation, 2008, in:

International Bottled Water Association (IBWA)

Figure 4: Global bottled water consumption by region, 1997-2004.

Data source: Gleick et al., 2009

North America, following Europe, represents the second

biggest market. However, Asia has the highest annual

growth rate (See Figure 4). Zenith International, a

leading drinks consultancy company, predicted that

global bottled water consumption would rise a further

32% to 272 billion liters in 2012 (Palmer, 2008).

While the global bottled water industry has been

growing fast, a movement known as „Back to the Tap‟

has risen in many countries to boycott bottled water

products. On 18th

August 2008, residents in London,

Ontario, Canada, were informed through local media

about a council vote to ban bottled water in municipal

facilities. London became one of the first cities in

Canada to stop selling bottled water in municipal

buildings (CBC News, 2008). Two days later, on

December 2nd

, 2008 Toronto City Council voted to ban

the sale of plastic water bottles on all municipal premises

by 2011.

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Page 2 ‘Back to the Tap’ and the Water Industry Huiju Tsai

Furthermore, by the end of 2008, according to the

Polaris Institute, 17 municipalities from five provinces

in Canada had banned bottled water, and another 45

municipalities were planning to restrict bottled water

(Canwest News Service, 2008). Thus, a backlash

movement against bottled water became a trend among

cities in the country.

In the United States, Chicago passed a 5-cent-per-bottle

tax on bottled water sold within city limits in

November, 2007. Chicago became the first city in the

country to enforce a tax on bottled water. The new law

was expected to raise $10.5 million for the city

annually. The revenue was planned to be used for the

maintenance of the city‟s water infrastructure (Clair,

2007). The state of Washington, following the bottled

water tax in Chicago, considered to impost a fine on

the sale of petroleum-based water bottles “by any retail

store, wholesale club or vending machine provider.”

State agencies would be also prohibited to buy such

products (Beverage Industry, 2008a). In addition, the

San Francisco Mayor barred officials from using

municipal funds to buy bottled water in the summer of

2007, while New York City launched a $1 million

campaign to encourage citizens to drink the city's clean

municipal water. In Salt Lake City the mayor asked to

stop serve bottled water at municipal events (Walsh,

2007). The backlash against bottled water also took

place in Europe. Early in 2005, the Paris municipality

distributed free designer carafes in a bid to obtain a

majority of the population back to drinking tap water

(BBC News, 2005a). In the United Kingdom in 2008,

the Cabinet sent an order to the head of every

government department to phase out bottled water in

government offices (Politics.Co.UK., 2008). Schools,

restaurants and religion groups also launched activities

against drinking bottled water. Washington University

banned the sale of bottled water on its campuses at the

end of last year, and other universities, like University

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Figure 5: Product life cycle of bottled water and controversies over bottled water industry.

Filling &

Packaging

2

3

6

1

5

4

Bottled water plant

Water bottle disposal

Consumers

Bulk water from source

Water treatment Plastic bottle

manufacturing

Retailers

Filling & Packaging

The controversies:

Depletion of fresh water resources

High energy consumption

Big carbon footprint

High product prices

The quality and safety issues

Plastic bottle disposal

1

2

3

4

5

6

Steps during product life cycle

Energy requirement & carbon footprint

Source of the packing containers

of Leeds in England, were planning to follow the

same approach (O‟Neil, 2008; The National Student,

2009). Del Posto, a top restaurant in Manhattan,

reported to stop selling bottled water and serve diners

its kitchen's purified tap water, sparkling and still

(Walsh, 2007). On the list of the „Top 10 Food Trends

of 2008‟ conducted by Time Magazine, „the war on

bottled water‟ was ranked as number four (Time,

2009). The movement of „anti-bottled water‟ has

become a tide.

While the bottled water market has been emerging and

prospering, the backlash against this product has been

also growing worldwide. This paper aims to give an

overview of this issue. The claims by protesters,

consumers and bottlers will be examined. Certain

suggestions about what could be done to solve the

„bottled water conflict‟ will be further discussed.

Moreover, some potential new markets that might

emerge under the „anti-bottled water‟ trend will be

explored.

Protests: arguments against bottled water

The arguments against bottled water are addressed

along the product life cycle illustrated in Figure 5. Six

key issues have been argued.

1. Depletion of fresh water resources

Bottling companies have been accused of depleting

precious fresh water resources (Howard, 2003; Lohan,

2007; Polaris Institute, 2009) since groundwater is

considered as a „non-renewable‟ resource (Foster and

Loucks, 2006). The depletion of groundwater could

have severe impacts not only on local ecosystems but

also on local communities and the economy (Foster

and Loucks, 2006; Polaris Institute, 2009). For the

manufacturing of bottled water, companies may pump

up to more than 500 gallons of water per minute from

every well, with operations in many cases going on 24

hours a day and 365 days a year (Howard, 2003). The

permits to draw water normally last for decades. The

huge amount of water extraction concentrated in

communities often disturbs local water balances, and

further impacts local residential, agricultural and

fishery water uses and ecosystems. Thus, water

pumping often draws public opposition and outrage in

local communities (Howard, 2003; Lohan, 2007;

Polaris Institute, 2009).

Box 1: Summary of the contract between Nestlé Waters North

America and McCloud Community Service District in 2003(part of

Nestlé Water’s right). Source: Adapted from Carreon, 2003

One example of protest concerns is the opposition

against Nestlé Waters North America in McCloud, in

the United States. McCloud is a small town with less

than 1400 residents with an abundance of pristine spring

water coming from the Shasta's glaciers (Lohan, 2007).

In 2003, Nestlé signed a contract with the McCloud

Community Service District (MCSD) to build a 1

million-square-foot water bottling facility. In the

contract (See Box 1), Nestlé gained superior water rights

for 100 years to pump 1,250 gallons of spring water per

minute at a rate of 1,600 acre-feet a year. An additional

unknown amount of well water could also be taken for

production purposes. According to the contract, during

the 100-year period, „regardless of drought or other

shortage, Nestlé has the rights to take its maximum

water draw. If the water draw is slowed or stopped for

any reason, the District must make a restitution to Nestlé

for its losses‟ (McCloud Watershed Council, 2003).

How much did Nestlé have to pay for this right? The

company pays 0.000087 cents per gallon for the water

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Page 4 ‘Back to the Tap’ and the Water Industry

Huiju Tsai

A 50-year term, renewable for another 50 years The right to take 1,250 gallons per minute of spring water The right to take qualified water on an interim basis from

district's springs for bulk delivery to other bottling facilities located in Northern California The right to construct pipelines and a loading facility Use of an unknown quantity of well water for production

purposes Exclusive rights to one of the Springs One hundred years of exclusivity, during which time no other

beverage business of any type may exist in McCloud Use of an undisclosed, perhaps unlimited amount of ground

water The right to take 1600 of acre feet of spring water annually The right, from time to time, to request purchase water in

excess of the maximum take The right to transport bulk water from spring sources, other

than the Springs, for bottling at the bottling facility (see contract details) The right to choose exclusive use of either Upper or Lower

Elk Springs as an exclusive source for Spring Water The right to require the MCSD to dispose of process waste

water

The right to require the MCSD to design, construct and install one or more ground water production wells on the Bottling Facility site for Nestlé’s use as a supply for non-spring water purposes.

it takes from McCloud's springs. That is a rate of 22

times lower than what local residents pay for drinking

water. Since the company can sell a 16-ounce bottle of

the water at a price of around $1.29, or $10.32 per

gallon, Nestlé can make $5,380,451,712 from the 1,600

acre-feet per year, by only selling the spring water from

McCloud (Lohan, 2007). This deal angered the local

community and a lawsuit against Nestlé went on for

years. Finally, in August 2008, Nestlé withdrew from

the contract (Food & Water Watch, 2008).

The depletion of groundwater by bottling companies

has also been reported to have caused strong impacts

on local communities. In Kerala, India, Coca Cola

established Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd in

1998-99 in a 40-acre plot. From this plant, the

company took away 15 million liters of groundwater

every day free of cost (PUCL, 2002). This huge water

extraction resulted in the depletion of water sources.

Local farmers eventually had to dig deeper and deeper

to search for water, sometimes under dangerous

conditions.

Global Issues reported that some farmers were digging

as deep as 450 feet without finding water (Global

Issues, 2007). Furthermore, during the bottling process,

the use of chemicals and effluents for bottle washing,

released without treatment by the bottling company had

contaminated the groundwater, creating a water crisis

for the surrounding communities and farmers, and

consequently, the local poverty situation worsened

(PUCL, 2002). In 2000, violent protests by furious

villagers forced the company to finally shut down the

plant (Global Issues, 2007).

Moreover, not all water extracted is bottled for

consumption. The Pacific Institute (2007) estimates

that one liter of bottled water sold represents three

liters of water used. In addition to the water sold in

plastic bottles, twice that amount of water is needed in

the production process. Generally, water bottlers

typically do not pay or pay only very low rates for the

right to use this precious public resource (Cormier,

2008; Saxe, 2008).

2. High energy consumption

Energy is required through the whole product life cycle

of bottled water. Figure 5 illustrates the path of energy

requirement during the bottled water product life cycle.

Energy is required to capture and treat water at the

water sources, send it to the bottling plant, fill and

package it in the bottling plant, and transport the

product to retailers and consumers. Energy is also

needed to cool the bottled water and, after

consumption, recycle or dispose the used containers

(Pacific Institute, 2007).

Calculating the total energy consumption needed

during the whole product life cycle is a complex task

(Gleick and Cooley, 2009). It can vary by location and

type of water source, location of consumers, types of

materials and packaging, methods of transportation,

and other factors. Gleick and Cooley (2009) conducted

a study to calculate the quantity of energy required for

bottled water consumption. Table 1 lists the energy

requirement during production. Based on three

different scenarios, the total energy needed to produce

one liter of bottled water ranged from 5.6 MJ(th) to 10.2

MJ(th).

According to this study, the stage requiring most

energy during the whole product life cycle of bottled

water consists in the manufacturing of PET bottles. The

total energy needed for that stage is approximately 100

MJ(th) per kilogram or 100,000 MJ(th) per ton of PET.

Based on average weight-to-volume data, around 4.0

Table 1: Total energy requirements for producing bottled water.

Source: Gleick and Cooley, 2009

MJ of energy is needed to manufacture one typical 38-

gram-weight PET bottle. Since global PET

consumption for bottled water is estimated to be about

three million tons, approximately 300 billion MJ(th) of

energy is required to meet the global PET demand of

Energy intensity

(MJ(th) l−1)

Manufacture plastic bottle

4.0

Treatment at bottling plant

0.0001–0.02

Fill, label, and seal bottle

0.01

Transportation: range from three scenarios

1.4–5.8

Cooling

0.2–0.4

Total

5.6–10.2

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the bottled water industry. This is the energy equivalent

of approximately 50 million barrels of oil per year

(Gleick and Cooley, 2009).

The energy used for the transportation of bottled water

can be also high, depending on two factors: the

distance from the bottling plant to the market and the

mode of transportation (Gleick and Cooley, 2009).

After being filled, the bottles may be transported by

boat, train, and truck. In the same study, three different

scenarios for products shipped to Los Angeles,

California, are assumed for the purpose of evaluation:

(1) processed municipal water that is distributed locally

by truck; (2) spring water produced in the South Pacific

(such as Fiji SpringWater), transported by ship to Los

Angeles, and distributed locally by truck, and (3)

spring water packaged in France (such as Evian),

shipped to the eastern United States, transported by

freight railcars to Los Angeles, and distributed locally

by truck. Based on the energy requirements of the three

modes of transportation (See Table 2), the calculation

results in a wide range of total energy requirements for

the three scenarios: 1.4, 4.0 and 5.8 MJ per liter,

respectively (Gleick and Cooley, 2009). To import

bottled water from France requires four times more

energy than to draw water from a local source in Los

Angeles.

Nearly a quarter of all bottled water is transported

across national borders to consumers (Owen, 2006).

For instance, in 2004, a bottled water company in

Helsinki, Finland, shipped 1.4 million bottles of

Finnish tap water to Saudi Arabia. The distance from

the water source is 2,700 miles (4,300 kilometers).

Two large French bottled water brands, Evian and

Volvic, are reported to export between 50 and 60

percent of their water to destinations across the globe

(Owen, 2006). Moreover, bottled water is not just sold

to water-scarce countries, like Saudi Arabia. In the

United States, Americans import water shipped for

about 9,000 kilometers from Fiji and other faraway

places (Arnold and Larsen, 2006). In the United

Kingdom, 500,000 bottles are imported annually,

mostly from France (Smith, 2008). All these

movements require substantial energy consumption.

Cargo ship/ocean

(MJ t−1 km−1)

Air cargo

(MJ t−1 km−

1)

Rail

(MJ t−1 km−

1)

Heavy truck

(MJ t−1 km−1)

Medium truck

(MJ t−1 km−1)

0.37

15.9

0.23

3.5

6.8

Table 2: Transportation energy costs.

Source: Gleick and Cooley, 2009

3. Big carbon footprint

The bottled water industry has been blamed for its big

carbon footprint. Poulter (2008) compared the carbon

footprints of tap water and bottled water in the United

Kingdom. The supply of bottled water in the United

Kingdom is estimated to cause emissions of 0.172 kg

CO2eq per liter, i.e. 500 times higher than the provision

of tap water (around 0.0003 kg CO2eq per liter) in the

same country (Poulter, 2008). Fiji Water published the

carbon footprint data of its bottled water products on its

company website (FijiGreen.com). Data show that

Fiji‟s products emitted between 230 to 801 grams of

CO2eq per bottle (See Table 3). In terms of an average

carbon footprint per liter, the smaller is the product

size, the higher is the CO2 emission. Small bottles

require a larger amount of packaging material. Clearly,

more material also means more weight for

transportation. The production of one 330 ml bottle can

imply 30% larger emissions of CO2 in comparison to

one 1.5 l bottle1.

According to Fiji Water, its overall carbon footprint

was 85,396 tons CO2eq for the entire 2006 – 2007

Bottle size

Carbon Footprint

(grams CO2eq)

Carbon Footprint

(grams CO2eq/L)

330 ml

230

697

500 ml

302

604

1 L

573

573

1.5 L

801

534

Table 3: Carbon footprint of Fiji bottled water.

Source: Modified from Fiji Green.com

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production period (See Figure 6). The manufacture of

packaging materials and ocean freight lead to more

than 50% of Fiji‟s CO2 emissions. This is compatible

with the high energy consumption of PET bottle

manufacturing and bottled water transportation, as

indicated by Gleick and Cooley (2009).

The Pacific Institute (2008) estimated that every ton of

PET production implies the emission of around 3 tons

of CO2. Based on this data, bottling water lead to CO2

emissions of more than 2.5 million tons in the United

States in 2006 (Pacific Institute, 2008). In the United

Kingdom, the bottled water industry was responsible

for 200,000 tons of CO2eq emissions each year. In

order to absorb an equivalent amount of CO2

emissions, 57,140 trees would be needed to be planted

annually (Smith, 2008).

4. Highly expensive prices

Bottled water is a highly expensive product compared

to municipal water supply. Figure 7 shows the bottled

water prices in different countries compared to the

price of tap water in California, United States in 2003

Figure 6: Carbon footprint of Fiji Water, July 2006- June 2007.

Source: Modified from FijiGreen.com

Figure 7: Prices of bottled water: a comparison with the price of

tap water in California, the United States, in 2003.

Source: modified from Gleick, 2004

In California, the price of bottled water can be 1990

times higher than that of municipal tap water. The

bottled water price is also generally high in other

countries. Even in Nepal, the average price of bottled

water was $US 206 per cubic meter, which was 412

times higher than the California‟s municipal water price.

In the United Kingdom, the average cost of tap water in

England and Wales is about 0.1 pence per liter, while in

the same regions bottled water costs 95 pence per liter,

i.e. 950 times more than tap water (Smith, 2008).

According to Gleick (2004), the bottled water price

exceeded $US 1,500 per cubic meter in Switzerland in

1998. „It costs even more than gasoline‟ (Owen, 2006).

5. The quality and safety of bottled water

The quality and safety of bottled water has been

discussed in a controversial manner. The attention is

drawn mainly on three aspects. Firstly, bottled water has

been criticized because of generally loose regulations on

safety and quality standards and inspections. In

comparison with public tap water, the quality and safety

of bottled water are not regulated through strict

standards and regular inspections in many places,

including the United States and Europe (Franklin,

2006). Generally speaking, bottled water is considered

as a food product in most countries. Hence, it is often

regulated by Food Administrations and not by Health

Administrations. Municipal tap water is commonly

regulated by Health Administrations or Environmental

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Sales and administrative Consumption

Distribution

Ocean freight

Trucking to port

Bottling

Raw packaging materials and equipment transport

Raw packaging materials manufacturing

Base year carbon footprint (tonnes CO2eq)

Figure 8: Contaminants found in bottled water in the United

States (* 22% violated enforceable limits. 17% violated

guidelines. Some waters exceeded both state limits and state

guidelines. The total that violated one or the other was 33%.

Percentages indicate % of waters for which at least one test found

containment. Number of waters tested: 103.) Source: NRDC, 1999.

Administrations (Posnick and Kim, 2002; European

Commission, 1980 and 1998; IBWA; Gleick, 2004).

Usually, standards for tap water are more stringent than

for bottled water and inspections of tap water are more

frequent than for bottled water, particularly in many

industrial countries.

Secondly, contamination and product recalls of bottled

water are reported worldwide which includes even

some big brands. In 2004, Coca-Cola recalled all

bottles of its Dasani water in the UK, because of

potential carcinogens bromate contamination (BBC

News, 2004). In 2005, a potentially harmful chemical,

naphthalene, was found in Volvic bottled water (BBC

News, 2005b).

In the United States, the Natural Resources Defense

Council tested more than 1,000 bottles of water sold

under 103 brand names in 1999, and found that only

less than half of them were free of contaminants of

concern. The Council found that 33% of the

investigated brands violated state or industry standards

in at least one sample, e.g. containing contaminants

such as the faecal coliform bacteria, E. coli and arsenic

(See Figure 8).

In a survey, the Environmental Working Group

(EWG), which is a US environmental NGO, examined

10 popular brands of bottled water purchased in 9

States and in the District of Columbia in 2008, and

found a wide variety of chemical pollutants in every

bottled water brand. Toxic by-products of chlorination

were also detected in two big local brands, Walmart‟s

Sam‟s Choice and Giant Supermarket's Acadia brands.

In total, 38 pollutants were found with an average of 8

pollutants in each brand (Naidenko, et al., 2008).

6. The disposal of plastic bottles

Bottled water is mostly sold in plastic containers

ranging from small 8 ounce or half liter containers to

multigallon bottles (Gleick and Cooley, 2009).

Globally, the bottled water industry is estimated to use

about 2.7 million tons of plastics each year (Arnold and

Larsen, 2006), for the vast majority of water bottles in

the shape of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (Gleick

and Cooley, 2009).

The disposal of single-serving PET bottles used for

bottled water can cause a heavy burden on the

environment. Although the PET bottles recycling rate

is unknown at a global level, it is estimated to be very

low. Data for the United States, the leading country of

bottled water consumption in the world, might roughly

reflect the global PET bottles recycling rate.

According to Franklin (2006), in 2004 about one in six

plastics water bottles sold in the US was recycled

(17%). Hence, the remaining 83% of used bottles

(about 1,739 million kilograms) ended in landfills or

incineration plants. Landfilled bottles may take 400 to

1,000 years to degrade (Arnold and Larsen, 2006;

Owen, 2006).

Franklin (2006) estimates that only approximately 4%

of PET bottles sold in the United States are recycled to

make new plastic bottles. As a corollary, new water

bottles are manufactured almost entirely from virgin

petroleum resin. According to the Ecology Center

(1996), manufacturing PET resin can generate toxic

emissions (including nickel, ethylbenzene, ethylene

oxide and benzene) to air and water 100 times higher

than those of manufacturing the same size of glass

bottles. Producing new PET bottles also requires of

energy and resources (Franklin, 2006).

As a matter of fact, the substantial amount of plastics

waste from bottled water consumption is often the key

reason for governments to boycott this product. The

plastics water bottle ban in Toronto City was estimated

to imply a 70 % of Toronto's waste by 2010 (Canwest

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News Service, 2008). The imposed 5 cent-per-bottle

tax on bottled water in Chicago also aimed to cut the

amount of plastics bottle waste in the city (Clair, 2007).

Bottled water is also criticized as immoral. The

commercialization of water has been questioned by

some Christian groups. Phil Woolas, the Environment

Minister in the United Kingdom, is quoted as saying

that bottled water „borders on morally being

unacceptable to spend hundreds of millions of pounds

on bottled water when we have pure drinking water,

when at the same time one of the crises that is facing

the world is the supply of water‟ (Smith, 2008).

People in countries with safe and cheap tap water

spend huge amounts of money on bottled water, while

people in countries where water is scarce have to

struggle everyday to reach available water sources.

Bottling water takes water resources away from the

poor in developing countries. "The moral call for us is

not to privatize water. Water should be free for all

(Cho, 2007)."

Bottling companies: their claims

In order to respond to the environmental and media

backlash, bottlers claim that bottled water should not

be banned. The bottling companies stress that people

use bottled water as a substitute for other unhealthy

drinks; competing products of bottled water are other

soft drinks, not tap water (Beverage Industry, 2008a;

Deutsch, 2007; Owen, 2006).

„About 70 percent of the beverages that people drink

comes in packages. All our research shows that if

bottled water weren‟t available, people would buy

Gatorade, or fruit juice, or other sugared or diet

beverages. Some 16 percent say they would drink tap

water -- but you can‟t go into a deli and ask for a bottle

of tap water,‟ Statement by Kim E. Jeffery, an CEO of

Nestlé Waters (Deutsch, 2007).

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA)

also argues that bottled water provides a convenient,

healthy alternative to calorie-laden portable drinks or

those containing caffeine and artificial additives. The

Association claims that consumers choose bottled

water because they want to avoid such so-called

unhealthy drinks. People would turn to other drinks if

governments ban bottled water (Beverage Industry,

2008a; Owen, 2006).

"People are making a substitution when they go to the

fridge, so instead of getting a cola drink, they're getting

a bottle of water" Statement by Patrick Racz, CEO of

Icelandic Water (Walsh, 2007).

Referring to prices of bottled water, Jeffery mentioned

that there is a whole range of prices. For instance, in

supermarkets, prices are lower than in other points of

sale. The CEO of Nestlé Waters added that bottled

water is cheaper than other convenience drinks

(Deutsch, 2007). Regarding to quality and safety of

bottled water, he argued that some incidents were

„problems with contamination that was introduced at

the store, not at the point of manufacture (Deutsch,

2007)‟. He claimed that the bottled water industry

„adheres to a formal set of good manufacturing

practices (Deutsch, 2007)‟.

Bottlers further argued that the industry was targeted

unfairly. Moreover, the industry provides a large

amount of job opportunities, which has a positive

contribution to the society (Smith, 2008).

Consumers: why bottled water?

If bottled water is so expensive and environmentally

costly, one question arises then: why do people drink

bottled water? The answer to this question differs from

country to country. Generally speaking, there are

several reasons:

(1) Dissatisfaction with tap water organoleptics

Some people do not like the taste of tap water, as it is

sometimes heavily chlorinated or contains minerals

with unpleasant tastes. Bottled water often removes

taste during processes. Doria (2006) conducted a study

on the reasons why people turn to bottled water in the

United States, Canada and France, and found that

dissatisfaction with tap water organoleptics (especially

taste) comes out to be particularly relevant (See Table

4). However, blind tests in many studies show that very

few people can really distinguish the differences

between public tap water and bottled water (Gleick,

2006; Doria, 2006).

(2) Perception of „snob appeal‟

Drinking bottled water seems to be associated with

social status (Howard, 2003; University of Arkansas,

2007)

The IMRE Journal


US (1993)

(%)

Canada (1999)

(%)

France (1989)

(%)

France (1995)

(%)

France (2000)

(%) Organoleptics

7

71

54

43

47

Health and risk

2

47 25 13 19 23

Prefers mineral or spring water

-

-

28

19

16

Substitute for other beverages

47 - - - -

Hardness

-

-

-

14

23

Other reasons (unspecified)

11

3

6

4

5

Don’t know

-

1

-

-

-

Table 4: Reasons for drinking bottled water in USA, Canada, and

France. Source: Doria, 2006.

A survey conducted by the University of Arkansas

(2007) shows that income levels seem to be relevant to

explain bottled water consumption. The finding

suggests that Americans buy more bottled water when

having a higher income, especially above $50,000

annually. In addition, it was found that young people

(below an age of 40) consume more bottled water than

people in other age groups. Hence, young and high-

income people are more likely to purchase bottled

water because of a perception of high quality.

(3) Convenience

In many countries, especially in western countries, it is

generally agreed that convenience is one of the

fundamental reasons why people consume bottled

water. In those countries, bottled water is sold at

supermarkets, convenience stores, sporting events, and

hotels and more public locations (Gleick, 2006).

Bottled water is portable, reliable, and widely

accessible. Using bottled water can save time and

energy for consumers to refill, wash and carry a bottle

all the time.

(4) Perception of health, safety and purity

Some studies suggest that people buy bottled water

because they perceive it to be purer, safer and healthier

than tap water (Doria, 2006; Reuters, 2007; University

of Arkansas, 2007) Doria (2006) suggests that some

consumers consider bottled water to be healthier and

decide to switch to bottled water, in order to improve

their health (Doria, 2006). It is found that the growth of

the bottled water market appears to be closely relevant

to sales of “healthy food”: 70% of organic food buyers

„always‟ drink bottled water, while 18% of non-organic

food buyers do so (Hammitt 1990, in Doria, 2006).

Moreover, consumers‟ perceptions of healthiness might

be influenced by organoleptics (Doria, 2006).

(5) Effective marketing campaigns of bottled water

Another important factor that for the success of bottled

water worldwide is the effective marketing

campaigning by bottlers. Their marketing strategies

influence the perception of consumers and they can be

generally categorized into two parts: branding and

marketing. Firstly, branding is used to differentiate

markets. While there is no technological superiority

between water companies, the brand becomes the only

aspect to differentiate one bottled of water from

another.

Figure 9: Marketing claims of Aquafina, Canada.

Source: company website (Retrieved February 18th

, 2009)

Figure 10: Marketing claims of Spiritual Water.

Source: company website (Retrieved February 18th

, 2009)

The IMRE Journal


Secondly, bottlers use marketing claims and

advertisements to build up the images of their brands.

Very often the claims stress on the health benefits and

purity of their brands (See Figure 9).

However, in order to draw people‟s attention and make

a clear differentiation with other water brands, the

marketing claims and advertisements tend to become

more and more exaggerated (Datamonitor, 2007).

Figure 10 shows the marketing claims of the Spiritual

Water brand stating how it helps to purify the mind

and body. Every bottle of this brand contains a Biblical

text and images to inspire consumers. This may draw

the attention of health-conscious Christians

(Datamonitor, 2007) and does not longer relate to the

statement that „after all, water is water‟, as Karolefski

(2002) notes in his report.

(6) Public water risks

In many developing countries, where tap water is

either unavailable or unsafe to drink, bottled water is a

better option to safe drinking water. China, ranking the

third bottled water consumer country in the world,

constitutes a typical example. People in this country

are increasingly turning to bottled water because of

severe water pollution. Water from more than half the

mainstream rivers and lakes, and more than one-third

of ground water sources, is too polluted to drink

(Gleick, 2006; Owen, 2006; Lee, 2008). 700 million

people, out of total China's 1.3 billion, drink water that

is below the WHO minimum standards. Citizens with

higher incomes turn to bottled water, while

impoverished people can only boil tap or well water

for daily drinking. However, boiling can only remove

the microbes, but not chemical contaminants (Johnson,

2006).

Even in regions with generally good quality of tap

water, scandals about tainted public water can

influence the trust and confidence of people in the

quality of municipal tap water (Doria, 2006; Poulter,

2008). Moreover, citizens tend to remember accidents

for a long time (Doria, 2006). Doria (2006) provides

the example of the Sydney Cryptosporidium and

Giardia accident in 1998. The bottled water market

saw a 40% increase and remained high for five years

after the event.

(7) Basic drinking water source

Country

Bottled water users (%) Urban Rural

Dominican Republic 67 34 Lao People’s Democratic Republic

52 6

Thailand 45 18 Guatemala 31 10 Guyana 28 14 Turkey 26 3 Yemen 25 1 Haiti* 15 8 Albania 12 1 Ghana** 12 1 Philippines* 10 1 Serbia 7 4 Cambodia 7 1 Indonesia 6 1

Table 5: Countries in which more than 5 per cent of the urban

population uses bottled water as their main drinking water source

Source: UNICEF and WHO, 2008.

* All or part of the water is sold from refilling stations that fill

bottles with tap water.

** Data for Ghana only describe use of ‘sachet water’ (300

millilitre plastic bags of water).

In some developing regions, dwellers rely on bottled

water as a significant source of their daily drinking

water (See Table 5). Tap water is packaged in bottles

and plastic sachets and sold by private enterprises

(UNICEF and WHO, 2008). In general, urban areas

have a much higher percentage of bottled water use than

rural areas.

In most developed countries, the high-quality public tap

water provides citizens with a fundamental supply and

convenience when they come to the need for hydration,

while in many developing regions people have to

struggle for their own daily drinking water sources.

The reasons why citizens in these regions drink bottled

water can be thus different. Generally speaking, the

reasons for dwellers in developed areas relate to factors

(1) to (5) and partly (6) mentioned above. The reasons

for people in developing countries relate to factors (3) to

(7), depending on economic conditions.

In sum, among all these reasons, there is one central

common idea for people in all areas to drink bottled

water, i.e. the desire for „safe‟ drinking water. Even if

tap water is good but people do not perceive it to be

good, they do not feel safe and turn to other sources.

The dissatisfaction with tap water organoleptics can be

The IMRE Journal


also interpreted as human‟s natural resistance to

something not safe (irrespective of whether the „odd‟

organoleptics with tap water are a reality or are seen

in one‟s own perception). Since bottled water is

perceived to be safe (whatever this is true or not), it is

widely accepted and used. However, cultural factors,

like „perception of snob appeal‟, „convenience‟, and

„bottling companies marketing campaigns‟ further

enhance the consumption of bottled water.

What is the approach?

Bottling companies: go ‘greener’

In this global battle against bottled water, bottling

companies obviously have low ground over the

environmental impacts that the industry makes. Many

bottlers have started to react actively on the issue,

intending to improve their company images. Some

efforts have been done by bottling companies.

(1) Carbon neutral

Firstly, many companies work on the reduction of

company‟s carbon footprint to be carbon neutral.

Icelandic Glacial is one good example. Icelandic

Glacial claims that the company was the first carbon

neutral company in the bottled water market. The

company pipes the water directly from the Ölfus

Spring and packages it at the company‟s nearby

facility in Thorlakshöfn, Iceland, where the company

uses only geothermal and hydroelectric natural

energy. This allows Icelandic Glacial‟s initial carbon

footprint to already be much lower than other

conventional bottled water. Box 2 lists the policies

that Icelandic Glacial takes to meet carbon balance

(Icelandic Glacial; Prepared Foods, 2008).

Icelandic Glacial also claims that it uses local energy

providers, uses low-energy lighting throughout its

manufacturing plants and other offices and recycles

where possible. The company further offsets the

remaining balance of CO2 emissions via initiatives,

like reforestation, methane capture and wind energy

projects around the world (Icelandic Glacial).

Other big companies have been also putting in efforts

to become „greener‟. In 2008, Fiji Water joined the

Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain Leadership

Collaboration, an investor coalition on climate

Box 2: Icelandic Glacial’s policies for carbon balance. Source: Icelandic Glacial (Retrieved February 18

th, 2009)

change, to disclose the environmental footprint of its

products for the further management of CO2 emissions.

Fiji Water started to post the information on a new web

site along with progress reports on its pledge to become

“carbon neutral” (Beverage Industry, 2008b). Danone

Waters UK & Ireland, part of Groupe DANONE, joined

the Carbon Trust in the UK. Carbon Trust is an

organization which promotes the labelling of carbon

footprints on products (Carbon Trust, 2008).

(2) Increase of using recycled PET bottles

Bottling companies start to increase the use of recycled

PET bottles. On its web site, Pepsi-Cola announces that

the average Pepsi bottle contains 10% recycled plastics

and that more than 150 billions of Pepsi‟s containers

have been recycled since 1990 (PepsiCo, company

website). In 2007, the Coca-Cola Company set the goal

to recycle or reuse 100% of the Company‟s PET

(polyethylene terephthalate) plastics bottles in the

United States. The company also announced that more

than $60 million would be invested to build the world‟s

largest plastic-bottle-to-bottle recycling plant to support

its goal for PET bottle recycling (The Coca-Cola

The IMRE Journal


The water source: Icelandic Glacial spring water is sourced exclusively from the Ölfus Spring in Southwest Iceland. The company captures the water that is forced out under natural pressure on its way to the ocean - with no effect whatsoever on the natural balance of this resource. Green energy usage: The bottling plant is powered entirely

on hydro-electric power. 100% recyclable bottles: The waters are packaged in 100%

recyclable bottles. The outer case packaging is made from 75% recyclable packaging. The company also achieved a 10% reduction in PET by weights in 2008. Low emission shipping policy: As Iceland is a net-importer of

goods, Icelandic Glacial utilises otherwise empty cargo slots on existing scheduled vessels for shipment of product to destination markets. The flights and travel are restricted wherever possible. CarbonNeutral ® certified: Icelandic Glacial works with

CarbonNeutral Company and was certified as CarbonNeutral in 2007. Being carbon neutral refers to neutral (meaning zero) total carbon release, brought about by balancing the amount of carbon released with the amount sequestered.

Company, 2007). Evian introduced new 750-ml and 1-

liter bottles that incorporate post-consumer recycled

PET, and launched the Evian Water Protection

Institute (EWPI) to “advance the sustainable

management of natural water resources and to help the

world‟s populations preserve, maintain and restore

their wetlands.” Evian, Coca-Cola and other bottlers

cooperate with RecycleBank, a firm that offers

incentives for consumers to participate in municipal

curbside recycling programs (The Coca-Cola

Company, 2007; Beverage Industry, 2008b).

(3) Bottle lightweight race

‟Lightweighting‟ the PET (polyethylene terephthalate)

bottles and reducing the amount of packaging

materials is another bottlers‟ focus. Most water bottles

which are made by standard machinery contain 18

grams of plastics. Now, the weight of some bottles is

cut down to 12 grams or less (ElAmin, 2007; PepsiCo,

2009; Weaver, 2009). In March 2009, PepsiCo‟s

Aquafina brand, the best selling brand in the United

States, launched a half-liter bottle, named Eco-Fina

bottle, to the national market. The new bottle,

weighting 10.9 grams, is made with 50% less plastic

than the same size bottle from 2002. PepsiCo claims

that this new bottle reduces the amount of required

plastics by 75 million pounds every year (PepsiCo,

2009).

PepsiCo‟s Eco-Fina bottle is not the lightest one in the

world. In 2007, France-based Sidel Inc. launched its

ultra-lightweight NoBottle, weighting 9.9 grams per

500-ml bottle, while the average weight of 500-ml

bottles at the time ranged between 13 and 16 grams.

Hence, with NoBottle, a 25% to 40% percent reduction

of plastics bottle could be achieved (ElAmin, 2007).

Nestlé SA's U.S. water unit cut the weight of its half-

liter bottle to about 12.4 grams for some regional

brands such as Poland Springs in 2007, and further to

less than 11 grams for other brands, like Pure Life. The

company claims that a 9.8-gram half-liter bottle is to

be introduced to the market by 2011 (Bauerlein, 2009).

Lightweighting the PET bottles becomes a technology

competition between bottlers.

(4) Increase water efficiency

Figure 11: Additional water used to produce 1 litre of bottled water

by Nestlé (liters), 2002-2006.

Source: Nestlé S.A., 2007

Some bottled water companies also invest to reuse and

recycle their water use in order to improve their

efficiency. Nestlé announces that it has cut its water use

by 30% since 2002 (See Figure 11), which is equivalent

to 8 billion liters of water saved. In 2006, the amount of

water needed by Nestlé for the production of 1 liter

water was equal to 0.86 liter (Nestlé S.A., 2007). The

Coca-Cola Company reports similar results. In 2007, the

company used 1.77 liters of water to produce 1 liter of

its beverage products. By 2010 this amount is to be

reduced by 10% (Coca-Cola Enterprises, 2008).

Role of governments: legislation and inspection

To respond to citizens‟ needs with respect to access to

safe and healthy water and to a protected environment,

governments can play an important role.

(1) Improve water facilities and expand the public water

system

Water is essential to our life and safe drinking water is a

basic need for human beings. Governments can

contribute substantially to improve water systems and

provide safe drinking water to citizens. According to a

progress report conducted by the United Nations

Children‟s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health

Organization (WHO) (2008), in 2006, 13% of the

world‟s population, i.e., approximately 884 million

people, did not have access to improved drinking water3

(See Figure 12). The majority of the population without

improved drinking water is located in developing

regions with about half of it in Asia (See Figure 13).

The IMRE Journal


Figure 13: Population using an unimproved drinking water

source, by region, in 2006 (millions). Source: modified from UNICEF and WHO, 2008

In some of these regions, bottled water is the major

source for drinking water (See Table 5). In addition,

improved drinking water coverage is significantly

lower in rural areas than in urban areas worldwide.

According to UNICEF and the WHO (2008),

approximately 746 million rural residents do not have

improved drinking water supplies, compared to 137

million urban inhabitants. Governments can design

policies and initiate infrastructure works to improve

that situation.

(2) Improve the quality of public water

In some regions, although municipal water with pipe

systems connecting to the households is provided, it is

not safe for daily drinking. Polluted water sources,

lack of a good quality management of the municipal

water systems and old pipe systems are often the

problems.

The water system in China is an example (Johnson,

2006). Governments can help to improve facilities of

public water systems (hardware) and adopt stringent

legislation about standards and the inspection of public

water quality (software).

(3) Make data about public water quality transparent

and accessible

In regions where the public water quality is good,

residents do not always trust the safety of public water

and turn to bottled water. One Expert on the European

Commission‟s water policy suggests the five-year time

lag between EU reports water quality may be a main

reason why the EU citizens ignore the high quality of

public water (Gray, 2008). A proposal is that the Water

Information System for Europe should contain

comprehensive reports to the Commission publicly

available on the internet.

(4) Maintain a stringent legislation on standards and an

inspection of bottled water quality

Bottled water may not always be of good quality,

especially in countries without stringent legislation and

inspection of bottled water quality. The conflict over

contaminated bottled water in India in 2003 provides

one example. In India, in 2003, the Center for Science

and Environment (CSE), an environmental group, found

massive doses of pesticides and other chemical

contaminants in many local brands of bottled water. On

average, every sample of bottled water tested contained

36 times more pesticides than the maximum permissible

concentrations in Europe. Even so, the water companies

The IMRE Journal

Page 14 ‘Back to the Tap’ and the Water Industry

Huiju Tsai

Figure 12: World drinking water coverage, 2006

Source: UNICEF and WHO, 2008

stated that that they met the standards of the

government. Hence, CSE blamed Central Government

for lax legislation on bottled water and weak

enforcement (Devraj, 2003). Evidently, adopting

legislation and ensuring its enforceability through

inspection constitute key tasks for governments.

(5) Improve the recycling rate of plastic bottles

Some governments have taken initiatives to ban

bottled water or impose a tax on plastic bottles to

encourage citizens drinking tap water. (See above for

London and Toronto in Canada and Chicago, U.S.A.)

In Member States of the European Union legislation

on the recovery and recycling of packaging waste is in

place.

Lastly, however the ultimate choice option is with

consumers. On average, the carbon footprint of tap

water is lower than the one of bottled water. Bottled

water which is produced and consumed locally has a

lower carbon footprint than imported brands. In areas

where safe drinking water refers to a variety of

options, making a choice for a lower carbon footprint

may be a good action for consumers to take.

Interestingly, options with lower carbon footprints

often are less costly.

Future perspective

Given the situation of a global campaign against

bottled water and the response by the bottlers, one

might ask: what could be the future of the industry?

Many analysts remain optimistic with respect to the

bottling industry. A report by Datamonitor, at the end

of 2008, predicts that the market's volume of bottled

water might rise to 165.5 billion liters, a value of $94.2

billion, by the end of 2012, representing a compound

average growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7% for 2007 - 2012

(Figures 14 and 15). In the Asia-Pacific region, the

average annual growth rate of revenue is predicted to

reach 13.7%. Even in the North-American and

European markets, despite the „Back to the tap‟

opposition, CAGRs of 7.3% and 4.1%, respectively,

are predicted for the same period. The markets may be

able to reach values of $ 31 billion (America) and $

40.8 billion (Europe) by 2012 (Datamonitor, 2008).

Although the average annual growth rates of the

bottled water industry might flatten or decrease, the

numbers are still predicted to be positive in all regions.

Figure 14: Global bottled water market value forecast: $US

billion, 2007-2012.

Source: Datamonitor, 2008

Figure 15: Global bottled water market volume forecast:

liters billion, 2007-2012.

Source: Datamonitor, 2008

In that line, Beverage Marketing (2009) published

its new annual report, estimating that the growth

rate of bottled water in 2008 was only 2.3%, a sharp

decline from 8-12% in the decade before. It was

suggested that the global backlash against the

bottled water industry might contribute to this

decrease of growth. Nevertheless, the global

faltering economy might also be the culprit.

Generally speaking, drinking bottled water is

considered as a habit with a growing trend

worldwide in the next few years. Beverage

Marketing Corp. (2008) predicted that bottled water

may surpass carbonated soft drinks to become the

largest beverage category by volume in the next

five to seven years (Palmeri and Byrnes, 2009).

New developments and markets

The global „anti-bottled water‟ movement has lead

to innovations and the development of new markets.

One market is the one for biodegradable packaging.

In 2006, UK based Belu Natural Mineral Water

launched biodegradable water bottles from

NatureWork for its production. The bottle, made of

The IMRE Journal


corn-derived plastics, can be commercially composted

back to soil in 12 weeks (Food Productiondaily.com,

2006). In March 2009, PurBlu Beverages, Inc., U.S.A.,

switched to a biodegradable polyethylene terephthalate

(PET) bottle made by Planet Green Bottle Corporation.

This oxo-degradable PET bottle is claimed to be

degraded biologically in five to 15 years but not to

impact the PET recycling process (Packexpo.com,

2009). Biodegradable packaging products seem to

have a growing market with annual increase rates of 20

% (Food Productiondaily.com, 2006; Merrett, 2008).

A second market is the one for refillable bottles made

by companies such as KOR Ideas, Sigg, CamelBak,

and Kleen Kanteen (Palmeri and Byrnes, 2009). These

refillable bottle products are often claimed to be free of

bisphenol-A (BPA), the leaching toxin found in

polycarbonate bottles. Moreover, refillable and

reusable bottle are often claimed to be environmentally

friendly (Wheeler, 2009).

In 2005, the Paris municipality distributed free

refillable carafes in order to encourage the citizens to

support drinking tap water (BBC News, 2005a). In

general, however, it is not clear how a market with

refillable containers can be sustainably established

without strong incentives, preferably set by

government regulations, as in the case of Germany

with its obligatory deposit fee on one-way drinks

containers.

A third market which may also benefit from the anti-

bottled water movement is the market for home

carbonation systems. A home carbonation system

contains a carbonation machine, a carbon dioxide

canister and a reusable bottle (Soda Club). With this

system, a variety of sparkling water and soda drinks

can be easily made at home. However, this system is

not newly invented. In fact, the first business can be

traced back to the very beginning of last century

(Wikipedia). Currently, Soda Club, a company based

in Israel, has the biggest market share worldwide. The

company claims that its home carbonation products are

earth friendly, as its products use tap water, do not

need the use of plastics for bottle and avoid

transportation of water and soft drinks (Soda Club).

Other firms making filtration systems may also benefit

from the global bottled water campaign.

The „Back to the tap‟ movement has been heating up in

many countries. The major argument against bottled

water industry is the heavy, additional impact that the

industry could cause on the environment. Some protests,

thus, criticized that the bottled water industry is

unnecessary. For people in certain regions where there

is no access to safe daily drinking water, this claim may

not be true. However, when consumers do have various

options for their safe drinking water, making a choice to

reduce the burden that the human population places on

the environment can be a good option.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Prof. Dr. Jan C. Bongaerts, Mr. Stefan

Bartz and Ms Karen Murillo for their precious

information and feedback.

Notes

1. The amount of carbon footprint may vary due to

different factors applied for calculation. Thus,

one cannot compare the data of Fiji Water with

that of Poulter (2008) directly.

2. Consumers‟ perception of health and the fear of

public water risks are not distinguished as two

factors in this study.

3. An improved drinking water source is defined by

UNICEF and WHO (2008) as a drinking water

source or delivery point that, by nature of its

construction and design, is likely to protect the

water source from outside contamination, in

particular from faecal matter. It includes piped

water into dwelling, plot or yard, public

tap/stand pipe, tube well/borehole, protected dug

well, protected spring, rainwater collection.

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