…most bottled water sold in the US comes from the same municipal sources that supply tap water – a fact probably unknown to most consumers. Coca-Cola makes Dasani at the company’s Detroit plant by purchasing, treating and bottling municipal water before selling it at a significant mark-up to consumers. Pepsi bottles its Aquafina water brand in Detroit the same way.
The business model is hugely profitable. The cost to buy that municipal water is exceedingly low – and once bottled, the mark-up can be about 133 times greater, a Consumer Reports analysis of company water billing and usage records found.code> …