Environmentalists, consumer activists and green politicians are leading a backlash against bottled water in the United States. They say bottling, packaging, and transporting the water wastes energy when tap water is actually produced to a higher standard. Plastic bottles also end up in landfills. A large percentage of bottled water sold in the US is simply tap water subjected to a little extra filtering. This water, which includes Coca-Cola’s Dasani and Pepsico’s Aquafina, must now be clearly labelled as “public water source”. In 2006, wholesale revenue for bottled water totalled $11bn (£5.4bn) and the industry is set to grow at 10% annually. The Independent 4/8/07 page 38

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