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Sounds like the key issue is that local officials grossly underprice water they have. Strange given California just came out of yet another drought…

andsoitis 4y ago
Not just California. Here's an example from Canada - https://esemag.com/water/nestle-sells-canadian-bottled-water/ https://esemag.com/water/nestle-sells-canadian-bottled-water... We can assume that Nestlé executives are sitting in Switzerland dreaming up where in the world they extract the most water from, put in a bottle, and reselling to the communities (and further afield) that they took the water from.
- zx8080 4y ago
  > put in a bottle, and reselling Isn't is the actual business they do? What's wrong with it?
  - andsoitis 4y ago
    > What's wrong with it? nothing in an of itself, but if you look at the strategies that Nestlé employ around the world to gain access to water while cynically damaging communities, it is hard to be on their side.
    - PM_me_your_math 4y ago
      Government has murdered people for resources. I trust nestle more than I trust Feeble Joe.
      - LBJsPNS 4y ago
        Haaaa, ha ha ha ha ha ha... Like corporations have never ever murdered people for resources. Google United Fruit and find out where the term "banana republic" came from.
      - olddustytrail 4y ago
        Nestlé is the company that bribed hospitals in poor countries to tell new mothers that their artificial milk was better than breast milk. Once they had been on the bottled milk they can't go back to breast milk so when they leave the hospital the mothers are forced to buy the artificial milk. Many of them can't afford it so the babies starve to death. This is what the corporation you trust has done. Literally killing babies for profit.
  - triceratops 4y ago
    In places with reliable supply of potable water - most of the developed world - the business provides no real value. And plenty of harm in the form of plastic pollution. Bottled water should be a niche business. In the same category as surplus MREs or heavy-duty construction radios.
    - eru 4y ago
      > In places with reliable supply of potable water - most of the developed world - the business provides no real value. That's for paying consumers to decide.
- gruez 4y ago
  >We can assume that Nestlé executives are sitting in Switzerland dreaming up where in the world they extract the most water from, put in a bottle, and reselling to the communities (and further afield) that they took the water from. What's the problem with that? It sounds exactly like what the water utility does, except with plastic bottles rather than pipes.
  - andsoitis 4y ago
    perhaps not a problem one some people's mind, but certainly a material difference: utilities prioritize the welfare of the citizens who reside in an vote for the (local/regional/national) political apparatus VS exploiting resources with the aim of maximizing profit for shareholders one benefit that private water companies like Perrier / Fiji Water / Nestlé et al provide to society is that they "distribute" water to locations where there's less. Or at least that what it seems like. However, on the one hand very little of the water consumed this way is by people who do not have access to local water. Two; they try as much as possible to underpay the "community" from whence they extract the water, so that should be made more fair.
    - gruez 4y ago
      >utilities prioritize the welfare of the citizens who reside in an vote for the (local/regional/national) political apparatus VS exploiting resources with the aim of maximizing profit for shareholders How is this any different than any other industries that consume water (eg. farms or factories) and use that to make money? At least with nestle water, it's not a premium product so in all likelihood it isn't getting shipped across the world like Perrier is.
      - Jochim 4y ago
        Incentive. Farms and factories require water as an input to fulfil some other purpose. They have no incentive to extract more water than they need for their processes, increasing the price incentivises them to reduce their consumption. In contrast, a bottled water company's revenue directly correlates with how much water they can extract. Increasing the price does not encourage a reduction in consumption since consumption is tied to revenue. In fact, if margins tighten due to price increases we might expect to see production increase, with the aim of maintaining the rate of profit. Even without being shipped across the world, in most places, bottled water is still hugely wasteful. Multiple facilities, haulage, plastic, stores, and refrigeration to deliver something that is directly piped into almost every building.

andsoitis 4y ago

Not just California. Here's an example from Canada - https://esemag.com/water/nestle-sells-canadian-bottled-water/ https://esemag.com/water/nestle-sells-canadian-bottled-water... We can assume that Nestlé executives are sitting in Switzerland dreaming up where in the world they extract the most water from, put in a bottle, and reselling to the communities (and further afield) that they took the water from.

zx8080 4y ago
> put in a bottle, and reselling Isn't is the actual business they do? What's wrong with it?
- andsoitis 4y ago
  > What's wrong with it? nothing in an of itself, but if you look at the strategies that Nestlé employ around the world to gain access to water while cynically damaging communities, it is hard to be on their side.
  - PM_me_your_math 4y ago
    Government has murdered people for resources. I trust nestle more than I trust Feeble Joe.
    - LBJsPNS 4y ago
      Haaaa, ha ha ha ha ha ha... Like corporations have never ever murdered people for resources. Google United Fruit and find out where the term "banana republic" came from.
    - olddustytrail 4y ago
      Nestlé is the company that bribed hospitals in poor countries to tell new mothers that their artificial milk was better than breast milk. Once they had been on the bottled milk they can't go back to breast milk so when they leave the hospital the mothers are forced to buy the artificial milk. Many of them can't afford it so the babies starve to death. This is what the corporation you trust has done. Literally killing babies for profit.
- triceratops 4y ago
  In places with reliable supply of potable water - most of the developed world - the business provides no real value. And plenty of harm in the form of plastic pollution. Bottled water should be a niche business. In the same category as surplus MREs or heavy-duty construction radios.
  - eru 4y ago
    > In places with reliable supply of potable water - most of the developed world - the business provides no real value. That's for paying consumers to decide.
gruez 4y ago
>We can assume that Nestlé executives are sitting in Switzerland dreaming up where in the world they extract the most water from, put in a bottle, and reselling to the communities (and further afield) that they took the water from. What's the problem with that? It sounds exactly like what the water utility does, except with plastic bottles rather than pipes.
- andsoitis 4y ago
  perhaps not a problem one some people's mind, but certainly a material difference: utilities prioritize the welfare of the citizens who reside in an vote for the (local/regional/national) political apparatus VS exploiting resources with the aim of maximizing profit for shareholders one benefit that private water companies like Perrier / Fiji Water / Nestlé et al provide to society is that they "distribute" water to locations where there's less. Or at least that what it seems like. However, on the one hand very little of the water consumed this way is by people who do not have access to local water. Two; they try as much as possible to underpay the "community" from whence they extract the water, so that should be made more fair.
  - gruez 4y ago
    >utilities prioritize the welfare of the citizens who reside in an vote for the (local/regional/national) political apparatus VS exploiting resources with the aim of maximizing profit for shareholders How is this any different than any other industries that consume water (eg. farms or factories) and use that to make money? At least with nestle water, it's not a premium product so in all likelihood it isn't getting shipped across the world like Perrier is.
    - Jochim 4y ago
      Incentive. Farms and factories require water as an input to fulfil some other purpose. They have no incentive to extract more water than they need for their processes, increasing the price incentivises them to reduce their consumption. In contrast, a bottled water company's revenue directly correlates with how much water they can extract. Increasing the price does not encourage a reduction in consumption since consumption is tied to revenue. In fact, if margins tighten due to price increases we might expect to see production increase, with the aim of maintaining the rate of profit. Even without being shipped across the world, in most places, bottled water is still hugely wasteful. Multiple facilities, haulage, plastic, stores, and refrigeration to deliver something that is directly piped into almost every building.