Max+Prado++Water+Shortage

INTRO
Since the beginning of the human race, people have strived to find simpler methods of transport for water from a natural source to their homes and throughout history, cultures have become increasingly innovative. Ancient civilizations made clay vases and used animal skins to transport water in small quantities to their villages. The Romans built aqueducts to have water transported straight to their cities. Water was free and easily accessible to the public but greed would soon rear its ugly head and turn a basic necessity into a profitable marketing scheme.

HISTORY OF THE BOTTLE WATER
In 1395 an Italian company, San Pellegrino began to produce and bottle the first branded mineral water. In 1826, the Evian brand of bottled water was introduced. It wasn’t long until the idea of bottling a practically free resource, caught on. In 1898, a French doctor created the Perrier Water Company and in 1873, Deer Park was established in New York, both of which are now owned by Nestle. At first, water companies bottled their water in glass bottles. The glass bottles sold well but, producing the glass became costly to manufacturers and was not seen as convenient for people on the go. It was not until the late 1960’s when companies began bottling in plastic bottles. The new plastic packaging made it easier and cheaper for mass production. When the popularity of soft drinks exploded in the early 1990’s, large corporations such as the Pepsi and Coca-Cola decided to also cash in on the privatization of water. The Pepsi Co. began distributing Aquafina in 1994 and soon after Coca-Cola followed with Dasani in 1999.

Pepsi's Aquafina water and Coco Cola's Dasani bottle water are both just filtered tap water.
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Water Bottle Usage Today
Until this day, the innovation of the plastic water bottle has been seen as convenient and beneficial for both the consumer and manufacturers but, in reality, it is quite the opposite. The privatization of water is not just hazardous for the environment but, also a crime against society. Massive corporations are pumping water from public springs, bottling it, then selling it back to the people for 1000 times its worth and neglecting the regulation of its purity. The water bottle industry is one of the fastest growing and the least regulated industries in the world. An outstanding 90 billion liters of water was sold last year alone. Unfortunately, almost all of those plastic bottles are non-reusable. On average, Americans drink 70 million bottles of water each day and only 20 percent of those bottles are recycled. The rest accumulate in our landfills and create 1.5 million tons of plastic waste each year. The devastatingly large quantity of plastic waste seeps into the oceans where it is then mistaken for food by the marine wildlife, slowly damaging the delicately balanced ecosystem. The plastic itself is made from the petroleum product polystyrene. Lightweight and malleable, polystyrene’s slow deterioration process means there are masses of plastic waste that are guaranteed to remain for generations to come. ===Fun Fact :Close to 50 billion bottles of water are consumed in the United States each year, with close to 200 billion in the world.===

CHEAPER AND CLEANER WATER SOURCE
What would this world be if people stopped purchasing bottled water? How would we be able to hydrate ourselves in such a readily available and portable way? The answer is so simple, it’s criminal: tap water. Developed countries like ourselves, are provided with municipal water. It falls under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration or the (FDA). With the help of the Environmental Protection Agency, the water gets regulated and inspected for bacteria and toxic chemicals frequently. You can look up the results for your community water supply and see where it rates at the National Tap Water Database. For the bottled water industry, 70% of product that does not cross the state line from which it came is exempt from FDA oversight. The consumer has no idea if the water in their $2 bottles is contaminated. More often than not, the ordinary water flowing from taps may be the cleaner water source, and for pennies on the dollar. = WATER IS FOR THE PEOPLE NOT COMPANYS = Tap water is not only safer to drink but, also 1000 times cheaper. On average, a gallon of tap water will cost a fraction of a penny. In buying a bottle of water, you will be paying up to 5 cents an ounce. With the water bottle industry estimating profits in the billions each year, the privatizing from natural water resources like aquifers and springs is increasing at an alarming rate. These companies are engaged year around in search for new water sources to pump dry in order to meet the ever growing demand. In rural towns and farmlands around the United States and other areas of the world, the theft of water for financial gain leads these corporations to buy any land that may be have naturally occurring water sources. These corporations find a source and pump until it has been completely exhausted, then move onto the next source while the residents can do nothing but watch as their water is taken and depleted from under their noses.

CONCLUSION
There is only 1% of fresh water on this Earth to satisfy the worlds demand. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. To help save the world’s water supply, we the people must put a stop to the pumping of public water from unsuspecting towns. The purchasing of bottled water is not only harmful to our environment but, also to our pockets. We must not take for granted the already available tap water. It is the most precious resource this world has to offer and it is the one resource no human can do without. We must act now and do what we can to protect what is already ours. The greed and financial gain for a select few should not be tolerated. Take a stand and put an end to this crime. Stop the purchase of bottled water and we can save what little we have left.

[|5 Resson to Stop Drinking Bottles Water]
Sources: [|Who Owns Water] [|History of Water Bottles]