heat This Bottled water circulates around €252,100 million a year, which is more than double the cost of providing access to drinking water to people who still don’t have it. According to a UN report warning this industry “drinks” underground resources where many people live, especially in the south.
The study, prepared by the United Nations University Institute of Water, Environment and Health, with data from 109 countries, warns that between 2025 and 2030, bottled water sales (including mineral, spring and purified water) will reach $500,000 million. so dollars in a few years they will double the current numbers.
While in the Global Nordic countries, this product “more of a luxury than a necessity” as most have quality waterIn the south, this market is growing mainly due to the lack or absence of a public and reliable supply.
Destroying the myth: bottled water is no safer
Despite industry campaigns to promote the concept of “purity” in their products and discredit tap waterWhile following the world, the authors of the report identified multiple cases of inorganic, organic and microbiological contamination of hundreds of brands in countries in all regions.
“This review is a Strong evidence against the misleading perception that bottled water is an unquestionably safe source and that the source of water or industrial processes that may affect human health may compromise quality”.
While acknowledging that there are many examples of poor water quality in public domestic supply, I couldn’t confirm that the bottled one is more “safe”they insist.
He often criticizes bottled water manufacturers have managed to avoid the scrutiny imposed by rules and regulations to public water services; And now, more than ever, the legislation regulating them needs to be strengthened, especially regarding the quality of the water they sell.
Groundwater in danger of extinction
According to the same source, industrial water extraction can contribute to the depletion of groundwater resourcesespecially in countries of the Global South where drinking water is not always available and this is The market offers lucrative expansion opportunities.
“The absence or weakness of water regulation policies in many countries of the Global South, Growth of the bottled water market in them may increase pressure on local water resourceswith little or no contribution to sustainable and reliable drinking water in the long term”.
So, according to you, The expansion of bottled water works against them, or at least slows progress towards achieving the goal. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in terms of water, “to divert attention and resources from public water supply systems.”
According to the report, the expansion of this market could adversely affect investments and the role of the State in the long-term development and improvement of public water supply infrastructures.
When the SDGs were created in 2015, experts estimated the amount of investment required to reach the goal of universal drinking water supply by 2030 at $114 billion per year.
For this reason, Providing clean drinking water to the nearly 2 billion people who still do not have clean drinking water will require a one-year investment of less than half of the $270 billion we currently spend on bottled water.
“This points to a global case of extreme social injustice, where billions of people around the world lack access to reliable water services while others enjoy luxury,” concludes the study.
OTHER SHAPES:
– Just five companies: PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Danone and Primo Corporation added sales of $65,000 million, more than 25% of the total.
– More than one million bottles of water are sold every minute in the world and 350,000 million liters are consumed annually.
– The average cost of a bottle of water in North America and Europe is around $2.5, more than double that in Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean ($0.80, 0.90 and $1). Australia has the highest average price: $3.57 per unit.
– A liter of bottled water can cost 150 to 1000 times more than a municipality pays for tap water.
– The largest market segment is purified bottled water (47%), which usually comes from public supply systems or surface waters and undergoes disinfection processes such as chlorination.
– Citizens of Asia-Pacific are the largest consumers of bottled water, followed by North Americans and Europeans.
– 60% of global sales are made in the Global South (Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean).
– The United States is the largest market with sales of approximately $64,000 million, followed by China (45,000 million) and Indonesia (22,000 million). Among the three, they make up almost half of world sales.
– Egypt is the fastest growing market for purified bottled water (40% per year). Seven more countries from the Global South are among the 10 fastest growing markets: Algeria, Brazil, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, India, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.
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