As concerns about the environment have exponentially increased, more and more people have advocated against plastic water bottles. Plastic water bottles create large amounts of unnecessary waste, even when recycled (which often does not occur). Furthermore, despite being marketed as the cleaner, fresher, more luxurious alternative to tap water, there is little proof that the water is of a higher quality. In fact, there are fewer regulations on bottled water manufacturers than on the water that comes from your sink. Advocates often cite these arguments when attempting to curb bottled water consumption. However, many do not realize that, in addition to widespread ecological and health concerns, bottled water also contributes actively to environmental injustice, both here and abroad.

First, bottled water manufacturers make their profit through the exploitation of depressed rural communities. Companies like Nestlé broker unfair contracts with small, economically suffering towns, often in areas with minimal water regulations. They promise new jobs and improved infrastructure in exchange for massive tax breaks and sometimes exclusive rights to the area’s springs and aquifers, from which they pump hundreds of thousands of gallons a day. For the resources they drain, the manufacturers might pay as little as 0.000087 cents per gallon (this was the proposed contract for a bottling plant in McCloud, California). To put that in perspective, on average tap water costs a household 0.0015 cents per gallon. Once the water is bottled, the manufacturers sell at nearly 10,000 times the original value, at 10 dollars per gallon.

These contracts also often exempt manufacturers from any legal responsibility for the environmental consequences of their bottling plant, of which there are many. Using water for sustainable agriculture and other regional uses is distinct from bottling in that the water stays within the regional water cycle, which means that the springs and aquifers from which they extract will eventually be replenished through precipitation and infiltration. However, bottling plants remove water from cycle completely, sometimes shipping it halfway across the world. Furthermore, it extracts water from its source at rates that will not allow the water supply to naturally replenish itself. This can lead to a few serious issues for the region. First, it can cause water scarcity, which could severely depress the region’s agriculture production and also limit water resources for personal use. Second, draining springs can severely damage the region’s ecology, threatening species that rely on those resources. Finally, emptying of aquifers (groundwater) can literally depress the topography of the region, because the above Earth loses support, and the ground sinks through a process called subsidence. This can seriously damage above-ground structures. Because of carefully created contracts, bottling manufacturers are not responsible for any of these consequences, and because their main concern is profit, they have no stake in the region’s sustainability.  

The jobs that manufacturers promise the community are just as unsustainable. Once the region is drained of its water resources, all jobs opportunities will disappear. Ironically, many of the communities that manufacturers target are located in the northwest and the rustbelt, which became economically depressed because they relied on industries that vacated when resources depleted. One resident from Michigan raised the concern of once again relying on a fickle industry: “God knows that people need jobs in this area….but one has to look at the bigger picture and think about sustainable jobs….Back in 1890 to 1920 the timber industry came to Michigan and wiped out this state. I am sure there were plenty of jobs then. They said there was 500 years of timber, and in less than 50 years it was gone. Is that what we want to see again?”

As far as infrastructure, bottled water has actually encouraged its decline. America’s water infrastructure includes structures like dams, aqueducts, and underground pipes, as well as facilities like treatment plants and sewage systems. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, much of this infrastructure was built in the mid 20th century, and its lifespan is quickly coming to an end. This aging infrastructure has caused the water supply of entire cities to be contaminated, most famously occurring in Flint, Michigan. As communities rapidly lose faith in the safety of tap water, they have begun relying on bottled water instead. As an unintended consequence of this reliance, the pressure to update public water infrastructure has significantly decreased and minimal investment has been made in improving these systems, creating a vicious cycle wherein bottled water manufacturers are the only beneficiaries. In fact, they actively profit off of tragedies like Flint.