[wrong_variable]

Being able to "price" something requires existence of a functional market.

Markets can only exist when contracts can be enforced.

Being able to enforce a contract requires monitoring and ability to issue fines, you also needs appropriate laws.

All of the above does not exist when it comes to ground water harvesting - especially in India and even in a police state like China.

[SilasX]

If it makes you feel any better, California is perfectly capable of doing all that, but they still don't, and are stuck in a tragedy-of-the-commons type water shortage where farmers will gladly waste $1 of water to produce 5 cents of crops, because the alternative is to get nothing.

[ip26]

Additionally, if they don't waste $1 of water to produce $0.05 of crops & do nothing with it instead, they lose the water rights next year.

[stirfrykitty]

Yet companies build plants on the Great Lakes, hoover up all the water, filter it, bottle it, and sell it to the unsuspecting, who happily buy it.

I never ever saw bottled water as a kid in Europe. It wasn't until I moved to the US where it appeared to be commonplace. When I went back home to England last year, they've got it in every supermarket I visited. Sad, really. I still just drink out of the tap here in Texas.

[swimfar]

What you wrote about bottled water not being a thing in Europe is definitely country specific. When I lived in Germany none of my German friends drank water from the tap. They would buy packs of bottled water for drinking at home.

[brianwawok]

Depends on where exactly you live.

Much of the US cities have great tap water. Some places (Flint) get lead going on.

However, much of the water in the US by area is well water. Well water tastes gross, and has some dubious health effects if not filtered right. Bottled water seems reasonable for those people.

Just because bottled water is not useful for you, does not mean it's not useful for anyone.

[padobson]

Yet companies build plants on the Great Lakes, hoover up all the water, filter it, bottle it, and sell it to the unsuspecting

I can't speak for every state, but here in Michigan (The Great Lakes state!), companies like Nestle have to apply for a license that subjects them to regular inspections to make sure they're not over-burdening the local groundwater supply. They pump from wells on their own private land using their own facilities. Their license fee is pretty cheap, something like $300USD.

This seems like a common-sense regulation that doesn't overly burden either the company or the regulator.

I buy Ice Mountain spring water with a clear conscience.

[pkaye]

I've heard though in Europe it is more common to have sparkling water in restaurants while in the US its plain water (maybe filtered tap water)