the bottled water industry is a growing industry that has huge upside but also has a many factors that make it seem NEGATIVE for society.
Pros
Clean water
Most people in the world do not have excess to water at their demand, but in the United States we have the ability to buy water that has been clean and already packaged for consumption
Convenience of being able to take a bottle almost anywhere
Most Americans at some point in their life will have to go to either a grocery store, gas station, or a convenience store and in any of those place you will find at least 3 different water bottle brands to choose from. Bottled water has become one of the top beverages to drink in America so its ability to reach is much easier.
Most people prefer the taste of bottled water rather than water from the tap
People rather have clean bottled water than water from the tap, people look down upon tap water because they know that it could potently contain harmful chemicals. Tap water in most households is used to wash dishes, and then they associate tap water with being dirty.
In case of an emergency bottled water can be useful
Bottled water is a source of water that no matter what happens it will always be there. If a hurricane were to break out or a tornado were to come to your town and the water in your house stopped working then you would be left high and dry but the only way
Cons
Overflow of plastic bottles thrown into the trash
Plastic bottles are sold in large amounts and not recycled properly. In recent years the plastic bottles have not been recycled as much as they could, the propaganda for recycling has slowly come to an end. This is bad for the environment because plastic bottles are not biodegradable.
More costly than tap water
To make these bottles and make sure that the water they put into the bottles is clean and then package these bottles. Tap water is already in your home you just have to pay your water bill.
Impact on the environment , it takes up to 450 years for a plastic bottle to completely decompose
The bottle industry packages their bottles in these bottles that are not biodegradable and take up room in our landfills.
Chemicals from the plastic bottles can seep into the water
BPA is a chemical used to make the bottles of water and it also cause many health risks. Breast cancer is one of the risks that is issues during drinking bottled water. although the BPA doesn't leak into the drinking water all the time it still is a health concern that isn't being taken upon seriously.
Harms aquifers and other groundwater by draining them to bottle water
When aquifers are completely dried out they can not be refilled. These big companies that drill into Aquifers are taking all the water are drilling without thinking about the environmental effect that they will issue.