this product could give another chapter for Peter Gleick if he chooses to update Bottled and Sold. In this excellent (recommended) book, Gleick takes us on the journey as to how water became a commoditized substance which can cost more, per liter, than the gasoline filling your tank. There is a basic truth in this parallel -- that buying either liquid is emptying one's purses to pollute the planet.  While this carton water might be better than plastic or glass, while those developing it might have well meaning, there is a simple reality that Gleick would make clear: buying this water is a destructive purchase.

In the beginning there was water— refreshing, abundant and indispensable for living creatures. Without water we cannot survive, without clean water we cannot live healthy lives. Water is a basic human right.

Then, water became a commodity. And bottled water has been emerged as a big industry with hundreds of large and small brands to fight for our attention. In this competitive industry four corporations dominate. Swiss giant Nestlé, France’s Danone, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. U.S. residents increased their annual consumption by more than 13 gallons from 29 gallons per person in 2007 to 42.1 gallons a decade later, according to International Bottled Water Association (IBWA). Spending millions of dollars on marketing, often misleading, the bottle water industry changes the way people about the water. As Robert S. Morrison, vice-president of PepsiCo, said in 2000, “ The biggest enemy is tap water.”

“Water fountains used to be everywhere, but they have slowly disappeared as public water is increasingly pushed out in favor of private control and profit,” writes Peter H. Gleick in his illuminating and well-researched book Bottled & Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water, published in 2010 from Island Press. “[They] have become an anachronism, or even a liability, a symbol of the days when homes didn’t have taps and bottled water wasn’t available from every convenience store and corner concession stand. In our health-conscious society, we are afraid that public fountains, and our tap water in general, are sources of contamination and contagion.”

Bottled water has been emerged as one of the most popular beverages, especially in the U.S. Except for a small reduction in sales in 2008 and 2009-the year when the financial crisis emerged-bottled water volume in the US has grown every year since 1977. More than half the population drinks bottled water; its sales far exceed the sales of milk and beer. Consumer surveys and studies that attempted to determine the forces behind this trend, have found that some of the reasons that people prefer bottled to tap water is health and safety issues, taste of tap water (although in water tests people could not detect any difference between bottled and tap water), and concerns about some contaminants. It is indicative that when public water crisis like that in Flint hit, the bottled water industry jumps in a position itself as a solution.

The environmental impact of bottled water is significant. Consider where the plastic comes from to make the bottles, and what happens to the plastic bottles after the water inside has been consumed (less than 17% ever gets recycled). PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles are a type of thermoplastic polymer resin, typically made from petroleum. Making a kilogram of PET, which is enough for around 30 one-litter plastic bottles, takes around 3 litters of petroleum. Consider the energy required to make, purify, package, transport-especially imported bottled water- store and chill every bottle before it can be sold. More energy is then required to filter, ozonate, or otherwise purify the water before use. The carbon footprint of bottled water is more than 500 times that of tap water. And because of so much bottled water comes from springs or groundwater wells, more and more communities with large bottling plants nearby, worry that large-scale commercial withdrawals will affect their local wells, wetlands, and streams.

We take water for granted, but population growth, urban development, farm production and climate change are increasing competition for fresh water and producing shortages. Bottled water is not going to disappear, but as Peter H. Gleick writes, it can become “what it used to be-a luxury bought and consumed only for reason of pretension, style, and occasional convenience, or as a short-term solution for emergencies when other safe alternatives are not available.” Sooner or later, we have no choice but to cope with water scarcity and solve our water problems. If we’re to succeed, he says, the water industry needs five serious reforms:

1. Support and expand state-of-the-art tap water systems
2. Develop, pass and enforce smart water regulations
3. Require truthful labeling in bottled water to identify the source of the water, the mineral content, the process to purify the water and information on where up-to-date water-quality test results can be found.
4. Protect consumers from fraud and misrepresentations, and
5. Reduce bottled water’s environmental impact.

It will certainly help if you stop buying bottled water- with phone apps you can even find where to refill your reusable bottle when on the go. And, next time you go to a restaurant ask for tap water. Some of the world’s best restaurants have already made the switch.

This book causes us to evaluate our actions and our obsession with bottled water. Which is long overdue. How many people actually stop and think about where this bottles end up? Many could benefit from reading this book.