International trend puts multi-billion industry under scrutiny {writer: Piet Coetzer}

If global trends are anything to go by, it can be expected that the unregulated South African bottled mineral water market, which is estimated to be worth close to R2 billion per year, will come under attack in the not-too-distant future.

Campaigns against bottled water – which is considered to misrepresent heath factors involved and is said to contribute massively to plastic pollution and carbon dioxide emission levels – are spreading like wild fire internationally.

It all began around mid-2009 when the historic town of Bundanoon in the Australian state of New South Wales became, as far as is known, the first local authority in the world to ban the sale of commercial bottled water.

In 2008 Australians spent about 500 million Australian dollars on bottled water in a growing market.

Bundanoon, an Aboriginal name meaning “place of deep gullies”, with a population of 2 035, has become the first hamlet community in Australia – and perhaps the world – to vote for a voluntary ban on the sale of prepackaged bottled water.

“It is all about common sense. When you reduce the usage of bottled water, you are not only saving the environment, you are also saving your wallet at the same time.

“We have amongst the best tap water in the world,” Jon Dee, director of the environmental group Do Something, told the local media.

The “Bundy on Tap” campaign, inspired by concerns about the adverse environmental impact of packaging, transportation and disposal of bottled water, saw the banning of the sale of prepackaged bottled water in all local shops. Instead, reusable plastic bottles were available for purchase, to be filled from free water fountains installed across the scenic hamlet.

Since then, it would seem, Bundanoon has triggered an international trend. In recent weeks, it was reported that the battle against bottled water was gathering momentum in London, with water refill stations appearing at Hammersmith Bus Station and Tower Bridge Museum. The stations provide on-the-go access to fresh, chilled and mains-fed water.

The project is sponsored by Thames Water as a 10:10 campaign where passers-by pay 20 pence to refill a 500ml bottle, funding research into the impact of the scheme by the charity Waste Watch, with plans to roll out stations across London if successful.

Commentators in the United Kingdom expressed the opinion that the project was an indication that public awareness of the environmental impact of bottled water is on the rise.

The UK bottled water industry imports more than 25% of its stock. It is said to be contributing considerably to landfill waste, but has seen a decline in sales for the first time in at least five years as the snob-value of ordering bottled water when dining out also seems to be on the wane.

From the United States, it is reported that San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, St Louis and many others have recently jumped on the “ban bottled water” bandwagon – making it, among others, illegal to spend tax money on bottled water.

“The realisation that bottled water is seldom of higher quality than tap water has caused a major shift in public opinion.

It causes 60 million plastic bottles a day to be manufactured, transported and then disposed of in US landfills. It’s killing our planet, and for no good reason,” one recent report read.

Massive amounts of greenhouse gases are produced from the manufacturing and transportation of the plastic bottles.

It also requires three times as much water to make the bottle as it does to fill it. All this adds up to an exceptionally wasteful industry.

According to Dr Leo Trasande of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, all plastic bottles leach synthetic chemicals into water, some more than others.

Even the popular refillable polycarbonate water bottles are known to release BPA (Bisphenol A) into water. The best and healthiest solution is a quality home water filter and refillable glass water bottles.

The website of the National Bottled Water Standards at www.nbws.org states that the bottled water industry in South Africa can be “extremely lucrative”, R1.7bn a year and climbing, with an expected annual growth rate of 25% expected for the next decade, according to recent research.

The website was designed “to serve small businesses who are doing cost analysis with the intention of entering the bottled water industry in South Africa, without having to outlay large amounts of money.”

The website points out, however, that “current bottled water standards and government regulations in South Africa are still very lax, with no official body having the authority and teeth to enforce or police requirements. Any standards that are being adhered to are purely voluntary.

“While this makes the industry particularly attractive as a small business venture, it also leaves an enormous opportunity open to unscrupulous operators supplying the public with sub-standard quality of bottled water.”

It informs readers that the market has grown to over R1.7bn from R880 million in 2003, and is “expected to increase at a staggering rate during the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.

In 2005 consumption was estimated at 196 million litres, and that figure is expected to rocket to 568 million litres by the World Cup in 2010.

It goes on to state that “the growth rate of bottled water surpasses that of other beverages – clearly indicating a more health-conscious market”.

On the question of water and health, an article by Chicagohealers at www.articlesbase.com states: “Bottled water has rapidly become a very popular drink. In this age of convenience, bottled water fits in very well with many new modern lifestyles.

“It provides portable and dandily available purified and sanitised drinking water.

“It is also an upgrade for the many artificially or with high fructose corn syrup sweetened drinks that have flooded the market,” the author writes.

“The question is whether or not it is a great improvement over tap water.”

After weighing up both the positives of bottled water and of tap water, the author, who is lobbying for “natural medicine and a holistic lifestyle,” comes to the conclusion that: “Having an occasional bottle of water is not a health risk. Drinking only bottled water could be a problem. The best of both worlds would be to buy a water filter and alkalising unit that will purify your tap waster and increase the pH of the water up to 9.

“There are many health benefits in doing this. Alkaline water increases your body’s ability to neutralise excess acid ions that come from the high amount of acid foods and liquids we ingest. This will help the body reduce inflammation, tooth decay and enamel erosion in the mouth and generalised water retention.

“Weight loss and lower blood pressure is another benefit,” adds the author.