Message in a Bottle!

This blog is not related to Alcoholism. This is related to Commodification of Water (About bottled water)

I have been thinking to write a blog on this topic, but found an article with above title in Saturday, March 24, 2007, THE HINDU, MetroPlus.

Some worth reading excerpts from this article:

• It is not about bottled water, it is about a mindset in people that you can actually buy water. There used to be a time wehen we used to fill water in bottles or cans while traveling on trains. Railway stations used to have water-refilling points. But today, you pick up a bottle and keep going.

• The biggest selling point of bottled water is claimed to be its purity, but the expose by the CSE put paid to that – “ A fear was put into people that water from the tap is unfit for consumption, but that again is for people who have taps.”

• The day might not be far when with your food bill at a restaurant you would get a bill for water (Most of us already do – preferring packaged/bottled water).

• Some Mr. Rozario points to a tradition in the country that person on his deathbed gets a last glass of water. He warns that in the future it might be necessary to keep Rs. 5 in the pocket ot pay for it.

• Bottled water is not extracted from somewhere. Local needs are being sacrificed by the extraction. Communities’ supplies are being affected.

• The new fad in bottled water is the variety, which is said to be oxygenated. The water is supposed to be “supercharged” with oxygen. It is claimed to have its won health benefits. Health professionals when contacted said it was a “myth in the lines of using iodized salt”.