Bottled Water-Know What You Are Buying Before Spending the Money.
Although widely controlled and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, bottled water is a big business with various degrees of quality. Consumers should pay close attention to bottle water labels and be aware of deceptive marketing practices to purchase the best water available.
Over half of all Americans (54%) drink bottled which as of 1997 was a $4 billion wholesale industry that continues to grow at a rate of 8-10% per year. In fact, growth of the bottled water industry is continuing to outperform other beverages including fruit drinks (1.4% annual growth), beer (.8% annual growth) and soft drinks (.5% annual growth). Sales of bottled water have nearly tripled in the last decade and according to a recent inventory, there were 700 brands of bottled water being produced from 430 bottling facilities in the United States (Marketing a perception of purity (1).
Sales usually means profits and according to industry stock analysts, profit margins for some bottlers range in the neighborhood of 25-30% and every $1.50 bottle of water sold brings in about $.50 in profit (Enormous Growth in Sales of Bottled Water (2). .
In fact, the former CEO of Perrier Corporation was so impressed with the profits from bottled water sales that he stated:.
"It struck me that all you have to do is take the water out of the ground and then sell it for more than the price of wine, milk or for that matter, oil" (Enormous Growth in Sales of Bottled Water (1). .
Bottled water packaged in the United States is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and comes from two basic sources; natural springs and municipal water supplies (Federal Regulation (1). Spring water makes up 75% of the water sold in the United States and the water must come from a spring or orifice in the earth for the label to have the word "spring" on it. The word "spring" cannot be used if the water is substantially processed or from a municipal water source (source 02).