Bottled water ... understanding a social phenomenon Discussion Paper

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My 15 years old son, Gareth, consumes bottled water like it is going out of fashion. Every second person you see drinks bottled water ... what is going on? Here are Christine Ferrier's views on this subject ...

The objective of this discussion paper is to provide an overview of the bottled water market situation.

Bottled water is the most dynamic market of all the food and beverage industry.

The term bottled water doesn't refer to one single product and the same designation can be used to qualify different products, depending on countries.

Three major types of bottled water can be identified: Natural mineral water is, in the European Union, an extremely specific product responding to strict criteria. It is wholesome underground still or aerated water, protected against pollution hazards and characterised by a constant level of minerals and trace elements. This water cannot be treated, nor added any exogenous elements, such as flavours or additives.

United States require for natural mineral water to have a minimum level of 250 ppm total dissolved solids.

Spring water in Europe is also underground water protected against pollution hazards.

It cannot be treated but it doesn't need to have a constant mineral composition.

Water from different springs can be sold under the same brand name.

In United States, spring water is derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth.

Purified water is surface or underground water that has been treated in order to be suitable for human consumption. It differs from tap water only through the way it is distributed (in bottles rather than through pipes) and its price.

In addition to these three major categories, the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) considers four other categories of bottled waters: artesian water / artesian well water; drinking water; sparkling water and well water.

So many different categories do not facilitate consumers' identification of the product they buy. In some cases, bottled water is actually bottled tap water. At the time of writing this article it has just been disclosed that in South Africa a major international bottled water company is bottling and selling water sourced from the water board ... this was never disclosed openly.

This web page and the next 8 have been summarized from a thought proving and excellent piece of work by Christine Ferrier in April 2001 after being commissioned by the WWF. I make no claim to the contents of her 26 page report whatsoever except in terms of the summary made therefrom.

Bottled water different types and bottled water definitions