Lukas SchniedersHerman MinorEnglish 114/8/14Bottled WaterThe entity of water purity has come a long way in recent years, but it may not be not up to what you expect. Let me start with a statistic: In 1981, bottled water consumption accounted for 1.8% of U.S. liquid consumption. In 1997, this figure increased to 6.9%, representing approximately $3.9 billion in bottled water sales in the United States (Opel). This is an increase of 5.1%, which means that interest in bottled water has increased and, according to modern statistics, this figure has also increased in recent years. In 1997, bottled water sales were $3.9 billion. In 2012, bottled water sales were $11.8 billion (IBWA). There is no doubt that sales and interest in bottled water are increasing over the years, but what makes it so interesting and captivating? The answer is several things; the misconception of 100% purity, marketing and the lack of pure water available. For starters, an estimated 40 percent of the world's citizens did not have reliable access to a clean water supply in 2008 (Barlow 2007; Shiva). One of the reasons people go to the store to buy cases of bottled water is the lack of pure water where they live. Many Americans live in the countryside and do not have clean drinking water. Some people living in cities don't want to drink the chemicals in city water; that's why they buy bottled water at the store. This brings me to the next reason why people consume bottled water, the misconception of total purity. Most bottled water does not come from surface water sources where diseases such as Cryptosporidium are found. Some bottled water comes from treated municipal reserves. All IBWA member companies that use municipal paper......the problem is the fact that plastic water bottles are not clean. The quality of water bottles is unknown and depends on what some studies and the fact that the companies themselves won't tell you. According to the FDA, there are no guidelines as to what can be true and what constitutes a lie on water bottle labels. The only regulation is that of the EPA, and it states that the recycling label must be true. Regarding the words “natural, pure, filtered, osmosis and other descriptive words, there is no such regulation. “The packaging really sells the product experience,” says Joe Kornick (partner at Chicago design firm Kornick Lindsey). "Nothing is more true about water because of the difficulty in discerning the taste. Instead of a mundane experience, packaging can make it a great experience. It satisfies the rational and emotional needs of consumers." (Packaged offer).