[Baynative]

There's a good chance that your water comes from California, a state experiencing the third-driest year on record.

The details of where and how bottling companies get their water are often quite murky, but generally speaking, bottled water falls into two categories. The first is "spring water," or groundwater that's collected, according to the EPA, "at the point where water flows naturally to the earth's surface or from a borehole that taps into the underground source." About 55 percent of bottled water in the United States is spring water, including Crystal Geyser and Arrowhead.

The other 45 percent comes from the municipal water supply, meaning that companies, including Aquafina and Dasani, simply treat tap water—the same stuff that comes out of your faucet at home—and bottle it up. (Weird, right?)

But regardless of whether companies bottle from springs or the tap, lots of them are using water in exactly the areas that need it most right now.

(MJ-2015)

[mplsconservative]

Mother Jones as a source from 2015?? I can assure you that the upper midwest as depicted in the map you posted is not in a drought.

[mplsconservative]

Meant to tack on - the best bottled water I’ve found is Chippewa from a spring in Wisconsin. Good tasting and better than grabbing a Coke from the fridge.

[fruser1]

"areas that need it most"

Nothing stopping them from buying it. I prefer a free market.

According to the brand I get, Deer Park, it comes from PA spring water. I have no way to tell if that's true or not.

When they found water on the moon, I was seriously considering relabeling bottles as "moon water".

[discostu]

That’s because a lot of those areas don’t charge enough for water. Tucson water costs about 1/3 of what Detroit water costs. Guess which city companies that need a lot of water will aim towards.