Bottled water leader enlarges fine print on its product source

Aquafina labels will spell out that the water comes from the tap.

Photo: T. Abraham/CWS

August 6, 2007

The largest U.S. bottled water brand will spell out that it contains tap, not spring, water.

PepsiCo's Aquafina, which accounts for 13 percent of the $15 billion U.S. bottled water market, currently carries the words “Bottled At The Source P.W.S.” on its labels. The new labels, although still sporting snow-capped mountains, will include the words “Public Water Source.”

Coca-Cola Co. said that by early fall, it would begin posting online information about tests it performs on its Dasani brand of bottled water. Dasani also uses water from public sources.

The disclosures follow growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry, including campaigns by churches and faith-based organizations. Last month, New York City started a campaign to get people to drink tap water instead of bottled. San Francisco's mayor banned city employees from using city funds to buy bottled water when tap water is available. Ann Arbor, MI, passed a resolution banning commercially bottled water at city events.

Church World Service campaigns for the right to water for all. Among its projects and advocacy initiatives, CWS supports community-based ownership and management of water resources in Africa, rainwater harvesting in Palestinian villages and improved sanitation and hygiene education in Vietnamese schools.

CWS is also founded and chairs the Washington, DC-based Religious Working Group on Water, made up of representatives from a broad range of faith-based organizations, institutions, communities and agencies, including several CWS member denominations. Participants advocate for U.S. policy makers to work to ensure universal, sustainable access to sufficient, safe, physically accessible and affordable water and sanitation.

Similar concerns spurred a Church World Service education and advocacy partner to launch a campaign against bottled water last year. The Presbyterians for Restoring Creation campaign was also aimed at the environmental impact of bottled water.

Also last year, the United Church of Canada adopted a proposal to end the use of bottled water, citing concerns about privatization and toxic waste.

Four out of five bottles end up in landfills, and the production process contributes to global warming. The bottled water industry uses around 50 million gallons of oil to produce the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles nationwide, with more oil burned to ship and refrigerate the water.

There is growing concern that the bottled water industry undermines confidence in the safety and cleanliness of public water supplies, while 1.2 billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water. The developing world's increasing reliance on bottled water bought from private companies was the focus of the World Water Forum, held in Mexico City last year.

Some see bottled water as stealth privatization of water services in countries where tap water is unsafe. Worldwide the industry is now about US$100 billion a year. Global consumption of bottled water more than doubled between 1997 and 2005, making it the world's fastest-growing commercial beverage. Mexico is the world's second largest consumer, after the U.S.

The Worldwatch Institute notes that in developed countries, tap water is often safer than its commercial counterpart.