Statistics reveal that more than 50% of Americans prefer to drink bottled water and that from 1988 to 1998, the sales of bottled water tripled to about 4 billion annually. Almost all the states require all bottlers and distributors of bottled water to obtain a permit from the concerned department of health and human resources in the office of environmental health services. This is to ensure that the bottled water is from an approved source, which is properly protected, is properly labeled about the source, tested for potential contaminants and inspected to verify that it is bottled in a sanitary manner. Bottling plants can be in-state bottling plants or out-of state bottling plants. In-state bottling plants are permitted to use any laboratory from the facilities provided by the department of health and human resourced. Alternatively, they can use an out of state laboratory not provided in the list only if the laboratory has been certified with the Safe Drinking Water Act Regulations for testing of water. However, the plant must submit the state or country certification number as well as the name and address of the laboratory while submitting the application. The leading brands in the market are the PepsiCo and Coca cola. Pepsi and Coke each produce a single bottled water brand in the retail premium PET segment in the industry. PepsiCo's Aquafina, which is exhaustively filtered with no added minerals, is considered to be in the number one position with an increasing number of sales. Coke's Dasani, which has a mineral mix, is a close second in the market. Nestl's Perrier and Danone's Evian follow close to these two leading brands. Bottled water provides a safe alternative to tap water. All different bottled water brands offer unique flavors for consumers. |
