Bottled Water RevelationsBottled Water Revelations

Survey says nearly 90% of adult Americans drink bottled water and have an opinion about it.

Rick Lingle, Freelancer

October 21, 2024

2 Min Read
Results of IBWA survey on water
Rick Lingle via Canva

While it’s hard to get a vast majority of Americans to agree on much of anything, we do love to drink water.

According to a new national survey of more than 2,000 US adults aged 18 and older conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), 89% say water of any type from any source is among their most preferred beverage.

That’s up from 83% in 2022.

“Drinking water — whether it’s tap, bottled, or filtered — should always be encouraged,” says Jill Culora, IBWA’s vice president of communications. “With the high rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease in our on-the-go society, bottled water provides a safe, healthy, and convenient beverage choice.”

The survey found that 88% said they consume bottled water. A scant less — 87% —say they have a positive opinion of bottled water as a beverage choice.

Let’s unpack other packaging highlights from the survey…

  • 18% are married to the bottle — they drink only bottled water.

  • 11% of respondents are totally untethered from bottled water — they drink only tap or filtered tap water.

  • 72% drink both bottled water and tap or filtered tap water.

Some 88% of bottled water drinkers have a particular packaging preference. Of those, 75% prefer to purchase plastic bottles, 16% prefer to purchase glass, 6% prefer metal cans, and 3% prefer paperboard cartons.

Related:Saratoga Springs’ Blue Bottles Get Their Own Pantone Color

Bottled water drinkers also say that features like convenient packaging when on the go (81%) and resealable containers (79%) are important to them when choosing a beverage.

Getty-Images-Plus-Bottled-Water-Hand-mediaphotos-iStock-770x400.png

Water bottles are a beverage lightweight.

According to Culora, Americans’ health-driven shift from less healthy packaged drinks to bottled water is also healthier for the environment.

“People who make this switch are also helping the environment because not only are bottled water containers 100% recyclable, but they also use much less plastic than soda and other packaged beverages,” she points out.

According to the IBWA and on average, 16.9-ounce bottled water containers use almost one-third less PET at 8.3 grams than 16.9-ounce bottled soda beverages at 23.9 grams. Soft drinks and other sweetened beverages require thicker plastic containers because of carbonation and or bottling processes.

The IBWA reminds us that bottled water containers are 100% recyclable including the caps. With more brands moving to tethered caps by choice or regulations, those small plastic components will have a higher likelihood of being recycled with the bottle.

Bottled water containers make up approximately 53% by unit count of all PET plastic collected in curbside systems throughout the US while PET soda bottles make up just 16% of PET plastic containers, according to the National Association for PET Container Resources' 2022 Postconsumer PET Bottle Bale Composition Analysis.

Related:Evian Bottles the Fountain of Youth, with Help from Pharrell

The IBWA also asserts that water in plastic packaging — whether PET, high-density polyethylene, or polycarbonate — has the least impact on the environment versus glass, carton, or aluminum can that create more waste, emit more greenhouse gases, and use more water and energy to produce. 

About the Author

Rick Lingle

Freelancer

Rick Lingle, now a freelancer, was Senior Technical Editor for PlasticsToday, and previously for Packaging Digest, until his retirement in December 2024. Lingle has been a packaging media journalist since 1985, specializing in food, beverage, and plastic markets. He earned a chemistry degree from Clarke College and worked in food industry R&D for Standard Brands/Nabisco and the R.T. French Co. He can be reached at [email protected].

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