Consumers spend a collective $100 billion
every year on bottled water in the belief--often mistaken,
as it happens--that this is better for us than what flows
from our taps, according to environmental think tank the
Earth Policy Institute (EPI).
For a fraction of that sum, everyone on the planet could
have safe drinking water and proper sanitation, the Washington,
D.C.-based organization said this week.
Members of the United Nations
have agreed to halve the proportion of people who lack
reliable and lasting access to safe drinking water by
the year 2015. To meet this goal, they would have to double
the $15 billion spent every year on water supply and sanitation.
''While this amount may seem large, it pales in comparison
to the estimated $100 billion spent each year on bottled
water,'' said EPI researcher Emily Arnold.
''There is no question that clean, affordable drinking
water is essential to the health of our global community,''
Arnold said. ''But bottled water is not the answer in
the developed world, nor does it solve problems for the
1.1 billion people who lack a secure water supply. Improving
and expanding existing water treatment and sanitation
systems is more likely to provide safe and sustainable
sources of water over the long term.''
Worldwide, bottled water consumption surged to 154 billion
liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004, up 57 percent from
98 billion liters in 1999, EPI said in a written analysis
citing industry data.
By one view, the consequences for the planet and for
consumers' purses are horrifying.
''Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand
for bottled water is increasing--producing unnecessary
garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy,'' said
Arnold. ''Although in the industrial world bottled water
is often no healthier than tap water, it can cost up to
10,000 times more.''
At up to $2.50 per liter ($10 per gallon), bottled water
costs more than gasoline in the United States.
A close look at the multibillion-dollar bottled water
industry renewed Arnold's affection for the faucet.
Tap water comes to us through an energy-efficient infrastructure
whereas bottled water must be transported long distances--and
nearly one-fourth of it across national borders--by boat,
train, airplane, and truck. This ''involves burning massive
quantities of fossil fuels,'' Arnold said.
By way of example, in 2004 alone, a Helsinki company
shipped 1.4 million bottles of Finnish tap water 4,300
kilometers (2,700 miles) to Saudi Arabia. And although
94 percent of the bottled water sold in the United States
is produced domestically, some Americans import water
shipped some 9,000 kilometers from Fiji and other faraway
places to satisfy demand for what Arnold termed ''chic
and exotic bottled water.''
More fossil fuels are used in packaging the water. Most
water bottles are made with polyethylene terephthalate,
a plastic derived from crude oil. ''Making bottles to
meet Americans' demand for bottled water requires more
than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel
some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year,'' Arnold said.
Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used
to bottle water each year.
Once it has been emptied, the bottle must be dumped.
According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86 percent
of plastic water bottles used in the United States become
garbage or litter. Incinerating used bottles produces
toxic byproducts such as chlorine gas and ash containing
heavy metals tied to a host of human and animal health
problems. Buried water bottles can take up to 1,000 years
to biodegrade.
Of the bottles deposited for recycling in 2004, the United
States exported roughly 40 percent to destinations as
far away as China--meaning that even more fossil fuels
were burned in the process.
Meanwhile, communities from near which the water came
in the first place risk running dry.
More than 50 Indian villages have complained of water
shortages after bottlers began extracting water for sale
under Coca-Cola Co.'s Dasani label, EPI said.
''Similar problems have been reported in Texas and in
the Great Lakes region of North America, where farmers,
fishers, and others who depend on water for their livelihoods
are suffering from concentrated water extraction as water
tables drop quickly,'' ''Arnold said.
All this, because many consumers associate bottled water
with healthy living.
More fool us.
''Bottled water is not guaranteed to be any healthier
than tap water. In fact, roughly 40 percent of bottled
water begins as tap water; often the only difference is
added minerals that have no marked health benefit,'' EPI
said.
France's Senate, it added, ''even advises people who
drink bottled mineral water to change brands frequently
because the added minerals are helpful in small amounts
but may be dangerous in higher doses.''
To be sure, many municipal water systems have run afoul
of government water quality standards--driving up demand
for bottled water as a result. But according to the study,
''in a number of places, including Europe and the United
States, there are more regulations governing the quality
of tap water than bottled water.''
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency sets more stringent quality standards for
tap water than does the Food and
Drug Administration for the bottled stuff, it added.
Americans drank 26 billion liters of bottled water in
2004, or roughly one eight-ounce glass per person every
day. Mexico had the second highest consumption, at 18
billion liters. China and Brazil followed, at close to
12 billion liters each. Italy and Germany ranked fifth
and sixth in consumption, downing just over 10 billion
liters of bottled water each.
Italians drank the most bottled water per person, at
nearly 184 liters in 2004--more than two glasses per day.
Mexico and the United Arab Emirates consumed 169 and 164
liters per person. Belgium and France followed, knocking
back almost 145 liters annually. Spain ranked sixth, with
137 liters swallowed each year.
Some of the fastest growth in bottled water consumption
is taking place in poor countries, however.
With consumption per person increasing by 44-50 percent
between 1999 and 2004, Lebanon and Mexico had among the
fastest growth rates of the top 15 per-capita guzzlers,
EPI said.
Indian and Chinese people drank far less individually
but collectively, the world's two most populous countries
appear to have been on a bender. India swigged three times
as much bottled water in 2004 as it did in 1999 and China,
more than twice as much.
If individual Chinese consumers drank one-fourth the
bottled water downed by the average American, EPI said,
China would springboard over the United States and become
the world's largest consumer.
