You’re paying too much for that tap water!
USA Today reports Aquafina has changed its labels to specify P.W.S. — Public Water Source — under pressure from Accountability International.
The company said it was reasonable to make people understand that they were paying for water that is easily available in their bathroom sink.
Of course, Aquafina is filtered and purified, but it’s certainly not mountain spring water. It’s just processed tap water — the same stuff that you can find in your kitchen sink.
As ConvergEx Group Chief Market Strategist Nick Colas stated in an interview with Business Insider:
“The [bottled water] industry grossed a total of $11.8 billion on those 9.7 billion gallons in 2012, making bottled water about $1.22/gallon nationwide and 300x the cost of a gallon of tap water,” Colas says.
“If we take into account the fact that almost 2/3 of all bottled water sales are single 16.9oz (500 mL) bottles, though, this cost is much, much higher: about $7.50 per gallon,” according to the American Water Works Association.
That’s almost 2,000x the cost of a gallon of tap water and twice the cost of a gallon of regular gasoline.
According to the Beverage Marketing Association, a trade group, nearly 50% of all bottled water sold in the U.S. is just tap water that’s been purified.
But drinking it makes us feel better about ourselves.
Except for that pollution thing with all the plastic bottles.
But we’re rather feel better about ourselves than worry about that.