It is said that super salesmen can sell just about anything - including lawn mowers to Eskimos and surf board to Bedouins - but the industry selling bottled water must surely belong in that category.
We are having a drought in this country and water is scarce - but the kitchen taps are still running - and the water that flows from them is incredibly cheap.
To fill a glass would cost an almost unimaginable fraction of a cent - and yet we are happily buying exactly the same stuff in excess of a dollar a bottle!
It is hard to remember exactly how this started. Somewhere down the track teenagers decided it was " cool " to drink bottled water. With teenagers, fads start from a single source - and spread faster than Bubonic plague.
A tiny industry that supplied natural spring water to a small clientele saw opportunity - and expanded. Over just a few years hundreds of firms were stocking supermarket shelves with everything from personal size bottles of water to family size packs.
This is an unregulated industry. The product claims are not subject to scrutiny.
Water labelled " from a natural spring " can come from the same source as your kitchen tap - and with a light carbonation - be called a " health drink ".
And now - we are seeing a health risk emerging. The water from our kitchen tap contains a small amount of fluoride added to prevent tooth decay. This is not present in bottled water - and as a result we are seeing a huge jump in dental health problems after years of gains.
This is particularly prevalent in children because the bottled water fad is at it's most prevalent amongst young people.
Not only has a clever marketing campaign induced us to pay more for a readily available and cheap item, but it's use is having an adverse health effect.
It makes the lawnmower market for Eskimos look a lot more convincing !
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