It is a common perception worldwide that drinking bottled water is safer than consuming tap water. In Egypt specifically, people have little faith in the safety of the water that runs from the tap, in light of the country’s exceedingly high level of kidney failure — a condition spurred by the lack of a reliable source for clean drinking water.
Although the health benefits claimed by the labels on bottled water are unproven at best, most Egyptians consider tap water contaminated and unhealthy.
Bottled water consumption has been steadily growing in the world over the past three decades, and has become one of the most dynamic sectors of the food and beverage industry. In Egypt, the stable price of bottled water has made the market grow considerably, although it is estimated that bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap water by volume.
