(Originally aired July 30, 2007.)
Tom Fudge: If you buy bottled water at the grocery store, it's possible you've purchased Aquafina. It's a big seller, a Pepsi product. And on the label you see an image of mountain peaks. But does this water really come from some pristine mountain spring? No. It comes from a tap. In fact, the product has always carried the initials P.W.S., which stands for public water source.
The fact that a lot of bottled water comes from the same place as the water in your sink raises questions about why we buy so much water. Bottled drinking water, as a consumer product, barely existed 30, 40 years ago. Now it's huge. In fact, to some people the idea of drinking water from a tap or drinking fountain is distasteful. Yet some studies indicate people can't really tell the difference between tap and bottled water, if it's the same temperature. Why have we come to expect bottled water? And is there anything wrong with Americans spending money on drinking water?
Guests
- Charles Fishman, award-winning journalist and author who is senior writer for Fast Company Magazine.
- Dennis Bostad, general manager of the Sweetwater Authority .
- Conrad Powelski, chief financial officer for Palomar Mountain Premium Spring Water .
