Bottled Water Boom Appears Tapped Out

By Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 13, 2009

Environmental Concerns, Recession Put Crimp in Sales

The recession has finally answered the question that centuries of philosophers could not: The glass is half-empty.

That's because sales of bottled water have fallen for the first time in at least five years, assailed by wrathful environmentalists and budget-conscious consumers, who have discovered that tap water is practically free. Even Nestle, the country's largest seller of bottled water, is beginning to feel a bit parched. On Wednesday, it reported that profits for the first half of the year dropped 2.7 percent, its first decline in six years...see full story.

(Photo Credit: Daniel Munoz/Reuters)