Dear Deepshikha,

The bottled water market appeared in India in the mid-1980s. At that time only the upper classes and tourists could afford to buy them. In the 1990s, the purchasing power of the middle class grew and the bottled water market exploded in the cities. Consumers are growing, prices have dropped, various types of packaging have developed, such as bottles of 20l for example. Each year the market increases by 40%. Many international companies have come to India: Coca-Cola with water Kinley, Pepsi with Aquafina, Nestle with Pure Life ...

Bottled water is not mineral spring water. Most of the time, it is pumped into the aquifer before being treated with modern techniques: reverse osmosis, UV rays ... The consequence of this practice is the worrying decrease of the level of the aquifers in the regions where are implanted the factories. It is a lucrative business because the raw material: water, costs nothing, only a tax to the government that is sometimes derisory. Companies are allowed to extract a certain amount of water, but there are no controls on the amount of water actually taken. Coca-Cola has been implicated in areas where its plants are located to be responsible for the reduction of water resources. In the vicinity of the factories, the water available for irrigation and the domestic needs of the inhabitants decreased considerably. The Indian consumer thinks of drinking quality water, buying bottled water, however this is far from the case. A standard exists in India on the quality of bottled water, but very few controls are made to know if the companies respect them. In 2003, the Center for Science and Environment carried out analyzes to assess the quantities of pesticides contained in bottled water sold in Delhi and Mumbay (Bombay). Only Evian, which is imported from France, did not reveal the presence of pesticides! One month after the publication of these results, the governments withdrew the licenses of 8 companies. In 2005, a study conducted by the Punjab Agriculture Univerity showed the presence of coliform bacteria in the water of the 9 brands tested, including the most important ones: Kinley, Aquafina, Bisleri. The presence of these bacteria indicates that the water may contain pathogenic elements and is indicative of a malfunction in the treatment process.

Bottled water in India is a real lucrative business. However, like any business that can have an impact on the environment and consumer health, it is necessary to install rules and enforce them. For lack of resources, the Indian government can not exercise controls. As a result, companies, which must be competitive, tend to abandon quality and commit abuses in relation to the quantities of water they are allowed to collect.

With my best regards

Prof. Bachir ACHOUR

Thanks so much professor for these helpful informations. Portion of fresh water availability is less as compared to the population and leads to build a potential market for bottled water but as you said quality matters. I find your note very helpful.

Indians were drinking raw water from wells or rivers or straight from the public taps some 25-30 years back. Sometimes people used to boil the well or river water before drinking or they used to add some herbal powder before drinking. There were not many water filters in the market nor bottled water in 1980s.

Today the picture is totally changed and frightening. Even in villages we can get bottled water (may be out dated). I feel one of the major reason for this unfortunate scenario is the failure of the Government to provide safe drinking water, as water supply comes under the Government.

The cost of the bottled water is not at all cheep as 1 litre of bottled water costs around Rs. 20/-, where as the tap water supplied by the Government agencies is about Rs. 15 to Rs. 20/- for 1000 litres. Even with this high cost, people prefer bottled water. The companies have totally used this attitude of the people to their benefit and they have also over publicized the pollution of our well & river waters.

Today even the people are to be blamed for their craze towards the bottled water. It has become more of a status symbol than the water quality or water availability. Whether it is the failure of the Government or the attitude of the public, one thing is clear that the multi national companies are making tremendous profit through water purifiers or bottled waters.

There are also thousands of local level drinking water suppliers supplying water in plastic drums or cans to hotels, flats, marriage functions, etc., making huge profit. No body tests or verify the quality of these local suppliers. Though there is standards and specifications for bottled water, it appears that there is no proper and regular mechanism to test and verify the quality.

There is a myth that these bottled or packaged water is good and healthy, but not many knows the treatment methods or shelf life. It is high time that serious thinking has to be made to control this craze and also reduce the plastic menace.

Thanks for highlighting these problems faced by existing market of packaged water. An inclusive scientific regulatory policy is needed. It is a useful note to work on related dimension.