Win Baker knows a good thing when he sees it. In a world brimming with designer clothing and ultra-expensive automobiles, it’s not surprising that visitors to his inns are willing to shell out as much as $675 per night for a posh room with all the amenities. “People are attracted to a designer bed and breakfast inn that is truly unique and different,” he says.

Those who visit the Legendary Inns of Newport certainly aren’t disappointed. Baker’s hotels—the Cliffside Inn, Adele Turner Inn and Abigail Stoneman Inn—are filled with antiques, artwork, and an assortment of pillows and soaps. Yet, one of the biggest draws is quite surprising: a water menu with more than two dozen varieties of liquid at arm’s length.

“We have people stay here because they love water,” Baker explains. In fact, the water menu has made such a splash with his clientele that one of his hotels, the Abigail Stoneman Inn, includes a pub specializing in still and sparkling waters from around the world. CNN recently named the inn’s James Finch Pub one of the world’s top 10 aqua bars.

Over the past decade, bottled water has made major waves with consumers. According to the Beverage Marketing Corp., a New York–based consulting firm, sales of bottled water hit $8.3 billion in 2003, up from a mere $200 million in the late 1970s. Americans now consume more bottled water than beer, wine or milk. The only beverage category ahead of water now is soft drinks.

“Consumers are increasingly drawn to bottled water,” says Arthur von Wiesenberger, a consultant and founder of the Bottled Water Web (bottledwaterweb.com), a site that tracks the bottled water industry. “Today, there are dozens of different types of bottled water and hundreds of brands with different compositions and tastes. It has become a major part of our lives.”

To be sure, it’s difficult to walk down a street without seeing someone toting a plastic bottle. And it’s almost impossible to ignore the dozens of brands of water that now line supermarket shelves—including top sellers such as Pepsi’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola’s Dasani (which come from municipal water supplies) as well as European favorites such as Evian and Perrier (which derive from actual springs). There’s mineral water, artesian well water, spring water, purified water, sparkling water, vitamin water and oxygenated water, to name a few. (See “What’s on Tap” on the previous page for an idea of exactly what the terms mean.)

The common denominator is that consumers pay a hefty price for their bottled water—despite the fact that several studies have shown that it’s generally no more healthful than the water cascading from the tap. According to the University of Geneva in Switzerland, the only difference between some bottled water and tap water is that it comes from bottles rather than pipes.

Yet, concerns over water quality and interest in different types of water have grown from a trickle to a flood. “As Americans pay more attention to health and fitness and count their calories, water is gaining in popularity,” says Stephen Kay, a spokesperson for the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA). What’s more, lingering concerns over the quality of water from municipal supplies have convinced many consumers to drink bottled water.

“It is not a fad. It is part of a significant change in lifestyle,” Kay says. “It’s convenient to have a bottle of water handy for the car, the workplace, wherever a person is.”

Water, Water Everywhere

The concept of drinking bottled water is nothing new. Over the centuries, archeologists have unearthed flasks from ancient cultures used to store and drink water. The modern bottled-water industry got its start in Belgium in the 1500s. That’s when a company named Spa Reine began bottling water for King Henri II of France. In the 1870s, Mountain Valley, a company based in Hot Springs, Ark., began bottling in the United States, and other companies followed suit. During the early 1900s, ice delivery companies began selling water in five-gallon bottles.

However, it wasn’t until the early 1980s, when PET plastic appeared on the scene, that individual bottles of water became ubiquitous. At that point, consumption began to seep higher and higher. “It put bottled water in grocery stores, convenience outlets, gasoline stations—just about everywhere,” von Wiesenberger says. “People began carrying bottles with them to the gym and the office, and drinking it at home.”

Today, it’s an industry that’s thriving. A mélange of firms—from major beverage bottlers such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestlé and Danone to regional and mom-and-pop companies—make up a marketplace that continues to grow in size and scope. “Not only are consumers buying bottled water in stores, they’re looking for it at restaurants, hotels and other locations,” says Brian Mazzei, field marketing manager for Evian, which sells its water in 120 countries and claims 97 percent brand awareness in the United States.

Mazzei, who is a 2003 University of Phoenix MBA graduate, admits that the competition for supermarket shelf space and for menus at hotels and restaurants has reached a fever pitch. “It is increasingly difficult to hit all the points of availability in a hotel—restaurants, catering, minibars and in rooms.” Yet, it’s a huge moneymaker. A one-liter bottle of water that might cost the hotel 50 cents can be resold for $4 to $7. “Making sure your water is sold at certain high-profile, upscale establishments is a big issue,” he says.

Yet, small, quality bottlers also carry a good deal of weight in the water industry. For example, Spring Valley Natural Spring Water Company, a Swansea, Mass., firm, produces about 35,000 gallons of water each month. Customers can fill up directly at the natural spring for 25 cents per gallon, buy three different labels of water from vending machines located adjacent to local highways, and purchase bottles at stores, cafes, restaurants and hotels for 50 cents to $2 per bottle.

Owners Tony and Pat Fonseca started the business more than a decade ago. “People know that the water they are getting is natural, true spring water,” she says. “It is lightly mineralized and has a fantastic taste. It’s not something you get from the tap or a major water bottler.” Spring Valley depends mostly on word of mouth. But that, along with several sponsorships of local events, has been enough to carve out a comfortable income for the Fonsecas. In addition, the firm creates custom-designed private labels for weddings, business functions, hotels and others.

High Watermark

The popularity of water continues to rise. In Australia, Japan and the United States, water bars have begun to gain appeal. For example, the Peninsula Hotel in New York City now offers a complimentary water bar in rooms. It features five types of bottled water. The James Finch Pub at the Abigail Stoneman Inn offers dozens of high-profile brands including Voss, Perrier, San Pellegrino and Crystal Geyser.

Meanwhile, Energy Brands Inc., a Whitestone, N.Y., company, has introduced Glaceau, vitamin waters designed to aid with stress reduction, energy, endurance and more. And companies such as Aqua Rush, Athletic Super Water, SerVenRich and AquOforce offer H2O with as much as 10 times the oxygen content of normal tap water.

Of course, brand and location are everything. Labels such as Fiji, Rain Forest Springs and Mt. McKinley provide water from some of the planet’s most exotic locales, while Voss, bottled water from Norway, has become a favorite of Madonna and other water-swigging celebrities, who reportedly fly shipments of the wet stuff in from Europe.

Some, like von Wiesenberger, have even held tasting events and competitions. “There are considerable differences in water and how it tastes,” he says. “The bottled water industry is continuing to evolve. It has a very exciting future.”

What’s on Tap?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has strict regulations about bottled water and the words that can be used on its labels. Here are some of the different types available:

• Artesian: This is water that comes from a naturally occurring underground aquifer.
• Carbonated: These waters, sometimes flavored with citrus or berries, have bubbles added.
• Distilled: Bottlers remove all minerals and trace elements from these waters, which makes them ideal for irons, humidifiers and other appliances, but less than ideal for drinking.
• Mineral: These waters contain at least 250 parts per million of naturally occurring minerals and trace elements.
• Natural: These waters come from springs or wells and haven’t been treated or altered in any way.
• Purified: Water that has undergone distillation, deionization, reverse osmosis or other suitable processes in order to meet U.S. standards is labeled as “purified.” In most cases, waters labeled as purified come from a municipal water supply.
• Sparkling: This is water that has the same amount of carbon dioxide as it did when it emerged from its source—though some carbon dioxide replacement can occur during production.
• Spring: These high-quality waters come from underground formations that bring water to the surface of the earth naturally. Spring water must come directly from the spring or by tapping the underground formation through a bore-hole.

By the Gallon

Have you been complaining about high gas prices lately? If so, check out what some of your favorite drinks cost per gallon in comparison:

drink average cost per gallon:

• Municipal tap water less than $0.01
• Unleaded gasoline $1.85
• Milk $3.47
• Evian bottled water $4.52
• Coca-Cola $5.30
• Heineken beer $16.00
• Voss bottled water $23.13

Wet Facts

A half-liter bottle of water can cost 1,000 percent more than the same amount of water coming from a municipal water supply.

The average American drank 22.6 gallons of bottled water in 2003. That’s more than double the amount consumed in the early 1990s.

In 2003, Americans consumed 6.4 billion gallons of bottled water, a 7.5 percent increase over 2002 volume levels.

The top three bottled water companies in the United States—Nestlé Waters North America (NWNA), Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola—accounted for 59 percent of total wholesale dollar sales in 2003.

A 2000 survey for the International Bottled Water Association found that Detroit residents consumed a mere 1.3 servings of bottled water per day while San Diego and Los Angeles residents swigged 3.2 servings.

Nine out of 10 water bottles—30 million per day—end up in landfills. They can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade. Please recycle!

On Tap?

How’s the quality of your tap water? Visit http://epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo.htm before you sip.