Corporate Accountability International: Pepsi Agrees to Reveal Source of Aquafina Bottled Water

30/07/07 After months of intensive campaign activity, Pepsi has agreed to provide consumers with more information about the source of the water used for Aquafina. In direct response to a national day of action yesterday, Pepsi agreed to spell out "Public Water Source" on the Aquafina label.

As part of the Think Outside the Bottle campaign, thousands of people across the US have been urging Pepsi to make changes in the Aquafina label, which includes an image of snow-capped mountains and states "pure water, perfect taste." Though the image implies that the source of Aquafina is mountain spring water, it actually uses tap water as its source. In fact, up to 40% of bottled water uses tap water as its source.

"Pepsi's response to the Think Outside the Bottle campaign is an important first step," says Gigi Kellett, Think Outside the Bottle Campaign Director. "Concerns about the bottled water industry, and increasing corporate control of water, are growing across the country. It is significant that Pepsi is taking some action, especially since Aquafina is the leading bottled water brand in the U.S."

Pepsi's decision to change the Aquafina label comes in the midst of growing national attention to the bottled water industry. Last month San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom banned city spending on bottled water and the US Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution highlighting the importance of public water systems and the negative impact of bottled water.

The Think Outside the Bottle campaign has reached millions of people over several weeks in dozens of media outlets including the New York Times, National Public Radio, and the Boston Globe. Most people in the world won't have access to enough water within 20 years, according to the United Nations, and the EPA projects 36 states in the U.S. will experience water
shortages even sooner.

Corporate Accountability International members are concerned that marketing of Aquafina and other brand names leads consumers to choose bottled over tap water. People in the U.S. spent $11 billion on bottled water last year, and Pepsi's Aquafina generated $1.3 billion in revenues in 2005.

Students, faith leaders and community activists have joined the Think Outside the Bottle campaign to challenge bottled water corporations and galvanize support for public water systems. In addition to revealing the sites and sources of water used for bottling, the Think Outside the Bottle campaign calls on Pepsi, Coke and Nestle to publicly report breaches in water quality, comparable to reports by public water systems, and to stop threatening local control of water when siting and operating bottling plants.