Introduction
The economy of the UK has improved drastically over the years. UK is now renowned a conducive area in which to carry out businesses and has risen in areas of food and drink technologies, medical devices and transport technologies for instance rail and aerospace (Gutnik, 1984). The bottled water rumble was an unexpected phenomenon in UK that occurred with rampant inflation and at the height of a downturn (Blumenfeld, et al., 2000). Though individuals did not have enough money in their pockets at the time, bottled water business become an immediate success.
Discussion
With the current economic climate in the UK, the issue of whether bottled water has become a luxury or a necessity has been raised since UK spends billions of Pounds on the manufacture of plastic bottles as well as purification of water (Blumenfeld, et al., 2000). The UK bottle water market as well as market for water coolers has improved 580 million litres to around 2 billion litres in a duration of 15 years, since 1993 (Philip & Tanner, eds., 2001). But studies have shown that with increased employment opportunities as well as affordable income by individuals in UK, bottled water has indeed become a necessity. This has been made possible with many areas now having bottled water as the only source of drinkable water (Daniel, 2008). A survey conducted in London and Midlands in 1992 revealed that out of 250 individuals, a quarter of those individuals never drunk tap water (Philip & Tanner, eds., 2001).
Despite it (UK) having the safest drinkable tap water as compared to most African countries and undeveloped countries, individuals are now more than ever willing to pay up to 1,300 times as much on bottled water (Blumenfeld, et al., 2000). Bottled water is all about health, hydration as well as purity and thus is a convenient way of bringing hydration (Gutnik, 1984). Currently, UK has about 113 bottled water corporations which range from ones located in garden sheds to hi-tech bottling industries (Ibid, 1984). Many restaurants in Britain are now offering bottled water as an alternative to tap water and people are now opting for this more than wine, spirits or fruit juices.
Since water is just water, what are most important are the chemicals and minerals contained in the product (Daniel, 2008). Despite people having the belief that bottled water comes from natural springs, studies have revealed that some do not come from there and is actually acquired from tap water. For instance, a bottled water company by the name of Marwin UK Ltd. sells a product called Purefect 95 (Blumenfeld, et al., 2000). Based in an industrial estate in Manchester, the company gets its water from a tap then purifies it within the company. Corporations dealing with water only subsist for their own profitable gains and pay little or no attention to the affordability of water or its quality (Daniel, 2008).
Private organizations are however coming up to try and convince the public of the hazards as well as health issues caused by bottled water. Corporations of bottled water are becoming privatized and this leads to the public having a right to access information concerning the quality as well as the standard of the water (Gutnik, 1984). Hence the private organizations are trying to make individuals go back to their old way of drinking tap water, saving costs along the way and thus making the bottled water just but a luxury.
Conclusion
Even though people in the UK can afford bottled water due to their current economic climate, tap water is still being recommended for use since it is much safer and cheaper. In the end, individuals will end up saving a lot of money and avoiding health related issues hence boosting the economy even further.
References
Ashley, Daniel 2008, Drinking Tap Water is Better for your Budget, The Daily Facts.
Blumenfeld, Jared and Leal, Susan 2000, The Real Cost of Bottled Water, San Francisco Chronicle.
Gutnik, Martin J. 1984, Ecology, New York: Franklin Watts, Inc.
Lamoreaux, Philip E., and J. T. Tanner, eds. 2001, Springs and Bottled Waters of the World: Ancient History, Source, Occurrence, Quality and Use, New York: Springer Verlag.