Did you ever wonder how much bottled water Americans consume annually?

 

By David McClelland

 

            Before we discuss the answer to this question, we need to understand just how much water, from any source, we humans need. Just with our normal daily activities, the average person loses about 3 – 4 liters of water a day, which is about 10 – 15 cups. The water that is lost must be replaced or we become dehydrated which could cause us to become ill. How do you know if you are dehydrated? An abnormally dry mouth is the best indicator. The color of urine is another. Clear (OK), yellow (partially dehydrated) and orange (dehydrated).

 

Now, let's address the original question. Sales of bottled water last year were over $15 billion and are expected to top $16 billion this year in America alone. That is more than 30 billion bottles per year. About 200 billion bottles are consumed globally each year. Americans drink about 21 gallons of bottled water, per capita, per year. The largest bottling plant in the United States is in Hollis, Maine where Poland Spring water is bottled. You may have seen Poland's ads as they advertise frequently on the weekly TV show, "The Office," and elsewhere. There is no question about it, we Americans are a thirsty bunch and the tap water that we older folks grew up on just isn't good enough for many any longer. It may be the convenience of carrying a 12 to 18 fluid ounce plastic bottle with us wherever we go that has us hooked. Many moms send their kids to school and to after-school activities armed with bottles of water. It has become a way of life. Who would have believed it even 20 years ago?

 

You may also wonder where this love affair with bottled water began. The truth is that we have had bottled water available to us for many decades. Remember Perrier water from France in the green bottles that restaurants offered, seemingly forever? Then, there is Pellegrino water? Pellegrino is from the town of San Pellegrino Terme, Italy and there, they have a spigot running all of the time providing San Pellegrino water free to all of the citizens. However, the free water has no bubbles. They add the bubbles when the water is bottled for export. Today, there are dozens of other brands of bottled water including Aquafino, Dasani, Evian, Highland Fling, Ice Mountain, Fiji, etc. About 50% of all brands are bottled in Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles.

 

The major criticism of bottled water concerns the PET bottles which now make up 1/3 of 1% of all waste in the USA to add to our landfills. And, since there is no deposit on the bottles, we are not inclined to stoop over and pick them up wherever we see them, and we see them everywhere.

 

The bottled water industry is huge. Just transporting the bottles from the bottling plants to the stores where we buy it is massive. The weekly convoy is equivalent to 37,800 18-wheelers delivering the water. Water weighs about 8 pounds a gallon. Remember when we learned as kids, "a pint is a pound the world around." Water is so heavy that you can't fill an 18-wheeler with bottled water. You have to leave empty space in each truck or the tires wouldn't be able to carry the full load. One could conclude that the same is true for all bottled beverages.

 

In answer to our question of how much bottled water Americans consume annually, we have learned that annual sales in our county will be about $16 billion this year, that we consume about 30 billion bottles of water a year and that the average American consumes about 21 gallons of bottled water per year.  Love bottled water or hate it, there is little question that it is here (and everywhere) to stay. Are you a bottled water consumer?