In the past 20 years, the bottled water industry established a niche for its product to such an extent that approximately one third of Canadians drink bottled water as their primary source of drinking water.

Initially, Canadians saw the bottling and reselling of water for profit as a money ploy, since people had easy access to clean water from their taps at no extra charge. However, the bottled water industry had determination, financial backing and carefully planned marketing schemes to scare Canadians into believing that tap water was bad for your health, untrendy, not refreshing and inaccessible. The bottled water industry targets youth, mothers, the elderly, athletes, and the general public, eventually misleading and seducing people to opt for bottled water over tap water. 

Public water systems are bottled water’s biggest competitors. The expanding bottled water market erodes people’s confidence in their public water systems, paving the way for higher prices and corporate control of our water resources.

You can find old corporate profiles of Bottled Water companies Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Ice River Springs

Find out more by watching this video called "The Story of Bottled Water", produced by the folks at the StoryOfStuff.org.

(vidéo sous-titrée en français)