After reading “Message in a Bottle” by Charles Fishman in the July issue of Fast Company, I questioned whether the article would be widely discussed by bloggers and other people interested in the environment. Even though bottled water is ubiquitous, particularly on these scorching July days, is an article that questions the validity of both the industry and its consumers an appealing draw for a mass audience? I’m unsure. But I will say the issue has certainly spread to more quarters. Recently San Francisco banned city government offices from buying bottled water, and New York City announced an ad campaign to entice people back to drinking NYC tap water. The New York Times ran an article on the issue this past Sunday. And just yesterday while at the gym, I saw a piece on bottled water on one of those business shows (they all blend together for me). This story is certainly not new, but the convergence of all this media at once has definitely brought the issue to more prominence.

If you have seen any of the reports I mentioned above then you know that the bottled water industry is $16 billion and growing. As people opt for healthier beverages, hands are grabbing water bottles rather than soda. They aren’t turning on the tap. So companies such as Pepsi (PEP), which owns Aquafina, Coke (KO), which owns Dasani and Danone, which owns Evian (GDNNY.PK), are profiting, while many say the environment is suffering. (The environmental impact of this business is discussed in the above articles as well as here and here.) There is also the question of why a country where a vast majority of people have access to potable water, unlike millions worldwide, doesn’t drink it. Not just drink it, but pay a premium. But I will set aside those debates for today.

You are probably wondering, “What does this mean to me, the investor?” Probably not much right now. Industry experts are downplaying any attempts to draw people away from bottled water. However as the green movement continues to wash over the country, there is no doubt the issue of bottled v. tap will become more prominent. And given the projections of where the industry is going (up! up! up!), this little bump could possible become a big hiccup.