Right: Farmers who rent water sources to bottling companies are often at odds with their neighbours who, among other objections, insist that the water rights apply to irrigation, not the bottled water industry.
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Background information
A Brief History of Bottled Water
1622
Water is first bottled for sale in the United Kingdom's Holy Well bottling plant. The practice grows popular with the bottling of mineral spring water across Europe and the U.S. in the 1700s, since the natural springs are believed to have healing and therapeutic effects. For this reason, bottled water is often sold as a medicinal remedy in pharmacies until the 1900s.
1783
In an effort to mimic the fizziness of mineral water, Johann Jacob Schweppe manufactures carbonated water in Geneva, Switzerland, founding the eponymous Schweppes Company.
1809
Carbonated water starts its boom in the U.S. after Joseph Hawkins receives a patent to produce ''imitation mineral water.'' Soon after, production booms, thanks to advances in bottling speed and decreases in glass costs. This, coupled with the public's fear of cholera and typhoid, leads to millions of bottles being sold annually in the U.S. by the mid-1800s.
1905
An English doctor ends the waterborne typhoid epidemic with chlorination, which uses chlorine to kill dangerous bacteria. The process is soon introduced in other countries as well. The demand for purified bottled water wanes.
1973
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are patented. They are the first plastic bottles that can contain the pressure of carbonation, thus creating a much cheaper alternative to bottling than was possible with glass.
1977 to 1981
Perrier positions itself as 'Earth's First Soft Drink' with a series of print and television ads, benchmarking the moment when bottled water begins its commercial dominance (although the initial boom is just for sparkling mineral water - not flat water).
Early 2000s
The tap vs. bottled war is fully engaged, with beverage companies playing to consumers' fears of illness and contamination from tap sources. One major player in the assault on tap water is Brita filters, with ads that say 'Tap and toilet water come from the same source. Don't you deserve better?'
2012
United States annual consumption reaches 9.67 billion gallons - that's an average of 30.8 gallons per person. Residents of Louisiana, Texas, and Arizona consume the most, but as a whole Americans are drinking more bottled water and less tap water (36 gallons fewer than in 1980), fuelling domestic bottled water sales of $11.8 billion.