Nestlé was also found to be extracting water from aquifers in drought-stricken California, 27 years after its permit expired.
The company has around 100 bottled water factories in 34 countries around the world and has been bottling water since 1843.
Bottled water is a crucial commodity in countries with scant access to clean drinking water.
According to Peter Gleick, the author of Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water, the boom of the bottled water industry in the developed world is partly due to deep-rooted fear of drinking tap water.
As bottled water comes with an expiration date, millions of gallons of water become useless every year, and in a ceaseless and vicious cycle, bottled water as companies drill even farther down.
“There is a black hole in relation to the exact impact of leached material,” he says, adding that a plastic bottle does not necessarily need to expire for its chemicals to start leaching.
“A study has been done in Mexico recently about high-temperature water storage and increased leaching of BPA in those [plastic] bottles,” he says.
Although the plastic used in the production of water bottles is highly recyclable, the world’s recycling capacity is stretched, with the majority of bottles ending up in landfills or the oceans.
Under pressure, powerhouse bottled water companies have launched recycling campaigns.
Dr O’Leary says drinking tap water out of a reusable cup is the best alternative to carrying bottled water.