DailyDirt: There's No Such Thing As Free Water

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Americans drink billions of gallons of bottled water each year. Despite a significant fraction of bottled water being simply re-packaged tap water, consumers still buy water is relatively expensive bottles when potable water in generally available for free (or at subsidized prices). Studies have shown that, in blind taste tests, people can't really tell the difference between tap and bottled water. (Wine drinkers have also failed similar kinds of taste tests over inexpensive versus expensive wines.) So here are just a few links on the curious phenomenon of drinking bottled water when equally healthy tap water is widely available.

• A water sommelier is a serious profession in the $12+ billion bottled water industry. Drinking water might not seem like a luxury item now... (let's hope free sources of potable water continue to exist). [url]
• The water in various beverages can be traced back to its geographical origin by the isotopic ratios of oxygen and hydrogen. Bottled water, beer and soft drinks can be analyzed, and the purchase locations of these drinks can be roughly determined. [url]
• The price of bottled water is not highly correlated to the cost of the water or the materials used in making the bottle. Processing/Distribution and marketing are significant components of the price of bottled water, but ultimately, bottled water prices are set by what consumers are willing to spend on a refreshing bottle of H₂O. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: beverages, bottled water, economics, h2o, isotopes, potable, pricing, water, water sommelier