The bottled water industry has generated demand for its product through marketing, persuading Americans that bottled water is purer and healthier than tap water, even though the U.S. federal government requires more rigorous safety monitoring of municipal tap water than it does of bottled water.

After decades of steady growth, for the first time in years U.S. bottled water sales fell during the economic recession. During this time, more expensive brand names struggled while cheaper private-label water – store brands – experienced an increase in sales. This lead Nestlé, among other companies, to reduce the price of its bottled water, to use advertising methods that tout purity and to target people in emerging markets and minority groups in the United States that have limited safe drinking water.

Download and read Take Back the Tap: Bottled Water Wastes Resources and Money or the fact sheet.