Almost two-thirds of bottled water in the US comes from tap water, costing the consumer 2,000 times more than tap water, according to a recent report.
The report from NGO Food and Water Watch highlights the marketing strategies used by bottled water industries when selling a product that is supposed to be purer than tap water.
Large beverage companies are now using bottled water as the main source of profit in the US and as a substitute for declining soft drink sales.
Such market strategies are designed to promote the safety of bottled water for people without access to tap water, particularly recent immigrants, the report finds.
They also include groups that mistrust tap water and communities who are concerned over obesity and the sugar levels in drinks.
In 2014, Nestle invested more than $5 million in advertising their US bottled water brand, Pure Life.
About three quarters ($3.8 million) went to Spanish-language television advertising.
“These water barons not only prey on distrust of tap water, but they also help reinforce that distrust through lobbying to enact policies to keep the bottled water profits flowing,” added Ms Hauter.
They ended up as litter, in landfill or were incinerated.
The report concluded by recommending that people choose tap water instead of bottle water and that Congress increase funding in the US`s drinking and wastewater infrastructure.

Gugulethu old age home Ikhaya Loxolo was one of 11 institutions that received bottles of fresh water courtesy of the Gift of the Givers last week.
Gift of the Givers chief Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said the distribution of bottled water to the centre was in keeping with Gift of the Givers’ continued efforts to bring relief to water depleted areas in the Western Cape.
“Even though it is envisaged that Day Zero is on 9 July, in essence many areas are at Day Zero already.
“Interventions are in the form of boreholes, water management systems, provision of JoJo tanks and provision of bottled water.
“In December last year boreholes were drilled in Beaufort West providing 300 000 litres per day.
Two more boreholes have been drilled at old age homes in Beaufort West that will be functional next week.
Drilling at De Doorns is complete, water will be pumped into the municipality reservoir soon.
In the meantime 60 tons of water has been provided for animals with tons more in transit.
Bottled water has been distributed to many institutions in the last week.
“The recipients were ecstatic, clearly there is a crisis and people are in great distress.

Over 50,000 households in Mombasa have no access to clean water and sanitation, two NGOs have said.
Maji Na Ufanisi and Mombasa Water Action Group said out of a population of over 1.2 million, 25 per cent relies on water vendors.
Simon Kazungu, program officer at Maji na Ufanisi said those without access walk over a kilometre or more than 30 minutes to get just five litres of water per day.
"Only 27 per cent of Mombasa has access to sewer or septic tank infrastructure.
Access to safe drinking water is an essential element of sustainable development, central to the goal of poverty reduction," Kazungu said.
Mombasa gets 43,000 cubic metres of water daily against a demand of 182,000 cubic metres.. "There is need for ensuring that clean and safe water is accessible to all," Kazungu said.
"We call for development of county water resources management strategy that assesses water situations," Kazungu said.
HAKI Africa Programme Officer Francis Auma said water cartels in the county are to be blame for perennial scarcity.
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Residents of Abosomtwe Agya, a suburb of Konongo in the Ashanti Region, who hitherto battled with water scarcity can now heave some sigh of relief following the provision of potable drinking water by Engage Now Africa, a non-governmental organisation.
The community with a population of over 5,000 has been depending on a polluted river as a source of drinking water and for other purposes including farming.
Residents also compete with animals for the same source of water.
Running water carries mud and other debris including human excreta into the river especially when it rains exposing residents to skin and water-borne diseases.
Addressing a gathering to commission a mechanised borehole for the community, Country Director for Engage Now Africa, Cecilia Amankwah, said it was part of the NGO’s service to humanity to ensure that everyone gots potable drinking water.
She thanked its donor partners who have been supporting their projects over the years.
‘’Our main vision is to help uplift, deliver and to heal our African brothers and sisters through education, medical services and also eradication of modern slavery.
A leader of women group in Abosomtwe Agya, Madam Martha Afiriyie, said the project will increase the use of clean water for drinking and food preparation and awareness of good hygiene practices by children and families.
He noted that the provision of potable water to the community would make it easier for teachers and nurses to accept postings to the area to improve the educational and health status of the people and reduce the long distances children had to walk to get water.
He urged members of the community to improve their participation in the ownership and maintenance of the facilities through community sensitisation, mobilisation, training in water maintenance and hygiene to ensure its sustainability.

Mugabe’s Ocean Conference Explained.
The Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri says despite being a landlocked country, Zimbabwe takes the implementation of SDG 14 seriously and is also committed to good land use and agricultural practices to prevent water pollution.
Minister Muchinguri Kashiri said this during a presentation during a Partnership Dialogue on Fisheries at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York today.
Minister Muchinguri told the gathering of partnership organisations, governments, private sector and non-governmental organisations that Zimbabwe has extensive inland water resources with over 10 000 medium to large dams where small scale fisheries operate with permits and in the process contribute significantly to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 and 3 which focus on ensuring food security and improving nutrition and healthy lives of the Zimbabwean people.
She explained that various measures that Zimbabwe has put in place to ensure sustainable use and management of fisheries through collaboration of law enforcement agents and the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
Muchinguri Kashiri also spoke about the regional partnerships such The Zambezi River Authority between Zimbabwe and Zambia, as well as bilateral partnerships with Mozambique and South Africa where the two sides jointly manage fish stocks in shared waters, a move that has reduced overfishing.
“Zimbabwe’s conservation management framework also involves imposing partial fishing moratorium to enhance breeding and replenishment of fish stocks.
Zimbabwe also confiscates illegal fishing rigs and cancels licences and imposes heavy penalties to those who are involved,” she said.
Minister Muchinguri Kashiri also announced that Zimbabwe has launched Command Fishing Programme largely driven by rural communities especially women and youths at a small scale level, and appealed for technical cooperation in technology transfer, and fighting pollution.
“We need financial resources and monitoring capacity to ensure there is no misuse of fertilisers and pesticides which if not properly applied can pollute waters which end up in the seas.

Drinking water around an oil-producing area in South Sudan is heavily polluted. A German NGO puts the blame on Malaysian oil company Petronas. It has also become a subject of embarrassment for carmaker Daimler. Klaus Stieglitz came across the problem of drinking water by chance. “In 2007, one of our project partners informed us that the water tasted bad,” he said. Stieglitz and his colleagues at the aid organization “Sign of Hope” went ahead to investigate the situation in South Sudan. They collected water samples near the oil fields in Thar Jath in Unity State. The analysis showed that the taste was the smallest problem. Water from some wells had a salt content almost four times higher than allowed. Now Sign of Hope has presented the results of another study in Berlin. It is based on analysis of 96 hair samples collected in four locations. Toxicologist Fritz Prangst evaluated the results. The professor from the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences at Berlin’s Charite Hospital, says the findings represent “a threat to the population.” Traces of lead and barium Samples from the areas around the oil fields were full of lead and barium. The worst hit location was Koch, 14 miles away from the oil field. The exposure to lead there was four times higher than the average. On the other hand, In Rumbek, about 137 miles…

Crisis in Somaliland: drought and famine threaten millions.
In Somalia over six million need humanitarian assistance, around 680,000 people have fled the drought there since last November and around 1.4 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year.
This is the fourth rainy season when there has been little or no rain in Somaliland, which was one of the first areas hit by drought three years ago.
I’ve never seen a drought like this.
I had 200 goats and now I have 20 left.” Qoran is among the residents selected by the NGO Concern Worldwide to receive a cash transfer she can use in the local shop.
Nearly 23,000 received support in the form of cash and EU Humanitarian Aid has given money to help nearly 14,000 people.
Euronews reporter Monica Pinna spoke to Heather Blackwell of EU Humanitarian Aid and asked her: “Just six years ago Somalia suffered a famine that cost the lives of over a quarter of a million people.
Mercy Gitau of Concern Worldwide in Somalia told us about the Baldheere storage facility: “This tank contains 270,000 litres of water.
Before the tank was built, getting water required huge effort.
When there were tensions between the two countries the border was closed and we had to go 15 kilometres.

Nature lover Ramakrishnan Ramasamy’s goal to save Cameron Highlands is filled with challenges.
As the president of the non-governmental organisation, Regional Environment Awareness Cameron Highlands, he faces constant threats from those who want him to back down.
But to the public, he is known as the president of the non-governmental organisation, Regional Environment Awareness Cameron Highlands (Reach), since 2000.
“These actions have resulted in a host of problems, from falling ground temperatures to landslides, dying rivers, traffic jams, littering and polluting of the water supply.
This was not the Cameron Highlands we all know.
“I was made the president the following year and have been leading the organisation ever since.
“On many occasions, there were unknown individuals who issued warnings and even death threats to me.
“We work with schools, universities, the corporate sector and also the local community to learn and engage in biodiversity.
“However, I declined because this has never been part of my goals.
“Even if we can get more people who want to save Cameron Highlands to come on board, our mission is already a success.”

One Weekend.
On Saturday, May 6, 2017 at Timber Creek Park, Kitchen 519 is sponsoring World Vision’s Global 6K for water.
In-person registration begins at 9:00 a.m. Six kilometers is the average distance that people in the developing world walk for water — water that is often contaminated with life-threatening diseases.
World Vision is the largest nongovernmental (NGO) provider of clean water in the developing world, bringing a new person clean water every 10 seconds as part of their full solution to end poverty.
In 2015, World Vision provided access to clean water to 2.3 million people.
According to World Vision, in 1990, 76 percent of the world had access to improved drinking water.
“My family sponsored kids when I was growing up and I’ve donated to them.
Because she is a restaurant owner, Smarrito recognizes and appreciates all of the community support she has received.
This affords her the opportunity to make a greater impact, she said.
Day of 6K registration begins at 9:00 a.m. and walkers have up to 2:00 p.m. pm to complete 6K.

China urges closer ties with non-government bodies, media in war on water pollution.
The call for a greater role for non-government organizations (NGOs) in holding polluters to account comes just when China has sought to put such groups under tighter scrutiny, amid a broader push to control civil society and keep a lid on dissent.
The environment ministry and the provincial government of Hebei launched an investigation after a team of volunteers reported the cesspits, which had contaminated farmland in the northern province’s Dacheng county.
Reporting on environmental violations was a form of community service, he said, adding that there were 240,000 followers of the ministry’s public account for such reports on popular messaging app WeChat.
"We are particularly keen for NGOs to make the most of their unique capacity and to work on this issue from another perspective, by bringing public interest lawsuits in this area."
The cesspits were uncovered by the Chongqing Two River Volunteer Development Centre, based in southwest China.
Full treatment to restore the two sites will cost 38.48 million yuan, or $5.6 million, the Hebei provincial environmental protection agency estimated on Friday.
It said the pits belonged to a brick factory and a fertilizer plant, with arrests made as early as 2013 at both sites, though repeated waste treatment efforts by authorities there had proved unsuccessful.
The environment ministry said it had ordered the nearby cities of Tianjin and Langfang to clean up as many as 18 cesspits in 2014, most caused by the illegal dumping of "acid waste".
In its first "environmental census" published in 2010, China identified 5.9 million sources of pollution and 209.8 billion tonnes of accumulated wastewater nationwide.