The Bottled Water Industry: A Profit-Driven Privatization

Bottled water is the other form of privatizing water and is a profit driven business worldwide. It is important to include bottled water in the same discussion as municipal water sources mainly in looking at how developed countries are handling water issues. For Europe and the United States, both have relatively safe water and the infrastructure, which provides water to all citizens compared to developing countries. The problem however for developed countries is the bottled water industry and the continual issues with expansion. “Bottled water is second to soft drinks as the world’s most-consumed beverage, surpassing 56 billion gallons in 2010.” The bottled water industry has become increasingly popular and is an easy way to get clean drinking
First, bottled water is a convenient product that is not a substitute for tap water, rather bottled water is for consumers to use on the go. Suppliers of bottled water would agree with that bottled water is not a substitute for tap water and is for convenience, however, more and more people are switching to bottled water as their main source of water. A 2003 Gallup poll showed that 74% of Americans drink bottled water, with 20% consuming it exclusively. The irony is that most bottled water comes from municipal water sources. About half of all bottled water sold in the United States today is filtered municipal tap water. Nestle is the only brand compared to Coke’s Dasani and Pepsi’s Aquafina that sells from both municipal and spring sources. Nestle Waters is the largest and most profitable bottled water firm and biggest supplier of spring water. In North America, Nestle profits of $4.2 billion in 2009. It owns 15 water brands and operates 50 spring water extraction sites in 15 U.S. states.” The reason the bottled water industry is getting so large and profitable business for corporations is in part with campaigns targeting the positive aspects of bottled water, while altering the public’s perception of tap water at the same
Nestle owns a bottling plant that residents tried to derail, however by the time the public became aware of the companies interests it was too late. Fryeburg is a rural community with 3,083 residents and have pursued actions attempting to drive out Nestle. Enough though Nestle invests $430 million in the economy of the state of Maine, the water belongs to the town and its people according to residents. In the state of Maine the laws allow Nestle to have absolute dominion , meaning whoever owns the land has rights to the water beneath it. Other than the price of the permits and cost of land, Nestle is extracting water essentially for free. A few residents are concerned about Lovewell Pond, citing deterioration and a green slime that is new. Mainly, the residents of Fryeburg are worried about Nestle extracting too much water causing the depletion of aquifers. Jim Wilfong started a group called H20 for Me fighting for the conservation of water. The legal battle between the residents of Fryeburg and Nestle still continues over a decade later in 2016. As of right now, Nestle is still extracting water and the residents of Fryeburg are waiting on the Maine’s Supreme Court decision on if Nestle is pumping too