Canadians are drinking more bottled water than they ever have, but the
prairie thirst, at 63 million litres in 1998, is 10 percent of the
national market.
The biggest consumers are in Quebec, which represents a third of the
market, says the Canadian Bottled Water Association. Internationally,
France ties with Italy as the largest market in the bottled water
world. Each person in those countries drinks about 135 litres a year.
Canada’s per capita is 22.
Jayson Brandt of Aqua Source in Lethbridge, Alta., says business has
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picked up, but he doesn’t know if it is due to water safety concerns.
His customers buy water either by the jug or through filtration systems
installed in their homes. Those systems start at $500 and rise to
thousands of dollars depending
on the quality and quantity of water required.
At Saskatoon Bottled Water Co., Tom Madden also sees more customers
coming in, especially from acreages around the city.
Another sign of a booming industry is the number of new water
businesses. “There’s a lot more competitors in small towns now,” said
Madden.
“The problem is they don’t all produce quality water.”
While many bottled water companies start with municipal tap water and
purify it by various means, some businesses don’t follow all the
standards.
Another problem, Madden said, is governments don’t have the staff to
enforce guidelines on water purity.
But Elizabeth Griswald, the national association’s executive director,
said she found the opposite. More water businesses are calling the
association to find out the standards. The group requires its members
to follow strict purity guidelines. Sales by association members
represent 85 percent of all bottled water products sold in Canada.
