Bottled water

Reading a review of a newly published book on the bottled water industry got me thinking about the water problems in China and how bottled water has become so widespread in this country.

Many people say that clean water will likely be at the center of many conflicts in the 21st century, and its production is closely tied to another precious resource – oil. According to the book review linked above, manufacturing a plastic bottle, pumping and treating the water that goes into the bottle, and transporting it uses enough oil to fill roughly one quarter of the bottle.

Places like the southwest United States, southern Spain, and northern China are quickly drying up. China’s densely populated areas have probably faced problems with clean drinking water for decades, but now so many rivers are polluted by factories and industrial agriculture, its population produces increasing amounts of trash, and municipal water systems are under the strain of transient residents living without access to running water or modern sanitation. Northern China is facing acute water shortages and the Yellow River, the cradle of civilization in northern China for 5,000, is so dry that water fails to reach its end on most days of the year.

I drink only bottled water from the water coolers at school or from the cooler in my apartment. The coolers are everywhere and small shops run a brisk business delivering water by moped and buying back the empty jugs. I also drink bottled water or ice tea drinks when eating out and I’ve tried quite a few of the Chinese brand sports drinks. The tap water is not recommended for drinking, although I do shower in it, brush my teeth and rinse with it, and wash dishes with it and have never had a problem.

There seems to be a market cycle for bottled water in the United States. American’s average annual consumption of bottled water rose from 5.7 gallons in 1987 to 27.6 a decade later (and a commensurate increase in marketing), but now there is a predicted backlash against the industry. I wonder if China will follow a similar trajectory. Bottled water and tea drinks are rapidly replacing the traditional method of boiling local water to make tea. And, yes, you can buy imported Evian water here for about 10 times the price of local bottled water. Bottled water doesn’t have the same hip cachet here as it has in the States but iced tea and iced coffee in bottles and cans are certainly the things to drink and be seen with in your hand.



There may be more dry rivers and more landfills overflowing with plastic bottles in coming years.