Human Right to Water in a Bottled Water Regime

Abstract

The bottled water industry is a strong manifestation of privatization of water as a resource, which is often promoted by protagonists as a means to improve “accessibility” to “safe” water for all at “affordable” prices. However, for antagonists, the sole aim of the bottled water industry is to earn profit out of a generally minimally priced resource, even at the cost of human health and well-being. This chapter aims to examine the implications of bottled water for realization of the human right to water, arguing that it fails to meet most of the criteria for enjoying the right, considering the circumstances of the consumers of bottled water as well as the residents of the areas from where bottled water is mined.