Bottled water ... rules and regulations

Information to consumers is key but maybe insufficient or not accessible enough, written in too small characters on the bottles' labels. In United Sates, a 1997 survey showed that nearly half of those surveyed (47%) claim to want additional information about their water, yet 23% do not know who to contact to obtain that information19.

Regulations have bottled water mention their composition, origin of the water, but this depends from one country to the other. The European Union requires natural mineral water's labels to state the waters' analytical composition, giving its characteristic constituents and the specific water source and name, and information on certain treatments used20.

The EU mineral water rules further forbid the use of more than one brand label per source of water21 and generally prohibit labels from making any claims about the prevention, treatment or cure of human illness22.

The actual cost of the water in the bottle purchased off a store shelf is generally just a fraction of a cent to a few cents. Thus, typically 90 % or more of the cost paid by bottled water consumers goes to things other than the water itself -- bottling, packaging, shipping, marketing, retailing, other expenses, and profit.

On the one hand, quality standards and controls as well as spring protection could help better protecting water quality at a larger scale. The European Union's bottled water standards set limits for total bacteria count24 and ban all parasites and pathogenic micro-organisms, e.g. coliform bacteria25. Other drinking waters, including bottled spring or purified water and tap water, must meet the quality requirements set by the drinking water directive26.

Waters intended for human consumption are drinking water for everyday uses.

In United States, bottled water is considered a food product and must meet all applicable food packaging and quality regulations of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). Tests for common parasites such as viruses Giardia and Cryptosporidium are compulsory for big cities using surface water for tap water, but not for water bottlers; tests for organic chemicals such as industrial chemicals, some pesticides and trihalomethanes are done four times a year for tap water, once a year for bottled water (Olson 1999).

This regulation completely exempts 60-70% of the bottled water sold in USA, particularly water bottled and sold within the same state, carbonated, or disinfected water.

The 1980 European drinking water directive provides for spring protection: the spring or outlet must be protected against the risks of pollution, which implies a strictly regulated abstraction period, allowing for the spring to naturally renew, thus preventing excessive pressure on water resources.

However, the natural mineral water directive doesn't refer to specific measures for reducing the use of pesticides in agriculture, for instance, nor to protection areas around water abstraction points, contrary to ordinary drinking water. This last issue is solved at national level.

Indeed, natural mineral water companies have an interest in protecting their springs from pollution on their own initiative as this water cannot be treated, but this has a positive environmental impact only on the concerned catchment area and does not extend to other water resources. Evian, e.g., has been able to control over the past 200 years the development of economic activities on the spring's catchment area, where no industrial settlements or intensive agriculture and cattle-breeding are allowed.

Evian pays the difference between the cost of chemical fertilisers and green manure.

In Switzerland, Henniez planted trees on its spring's catchment area because of too high levels of nitrates in its mineral water. The situation is not so clear in emerging countries.

India, for example, lacks standards on bottled water, hygiene requirements for the containers and a mandatory system for testing and monitoring bottled water quality and safety (Jose Rahel, 1998). Indeed, 65% of Indian bottlers simply pump water from any bore well or even municipal water supplies.

This results, in addition to poor bottled water quality, in threatening ground water resources because of overexploitation and pollution due to purification and processing.

Indeed, bottled waters are generally of good quality, although they are not exempt of some contamination incidents (e.g.: Perrier in 1990).

Yet, good water quality for bottled water doesn't induce good water quality on a broader scale; purified bottled water, as a manufactured product, doesn't need to be of the highest quality prior to being treated, although good quality water at spring would reduce treatment loads and costs.

back to previous bottled water page

Bottled water costs ... rules and regulations