Water is water is water? A clear, almost tasteless liquid straight from the tap? Something we tend to use to quench thirst when nothing else is available? Wrong, wrong and wrong again.

Enterprising companies are now bottling water, packaging it in snazzy shaped bottles and/or soft packs and selling it under catchy brand names. Supermarkets, small stores and hospitality outlets offer countless varieties, both still and sparkling, and labelled to extol the health benefits of this once humble drink. Even restaurants and bars have jumped on the bottled water band wagon, featuring various products on their shelves and display cases and even on their wine lists.

In short, bottled water is now big business with sales well over $300m annually. And this does not include the home and office delivery segment of the market. When this also rapidly growing sector is added to annual sales the figure doubles.

The entire soft beverage market is booming but according to the peak industry bodies, the Australian Beverages Council and the Australian Bottled Water Institute (ABWI), the growth in bottled water — especially the still variety — has been nothing short of phenomenal. Tony Gentile who heads both organisations attributes the success to several factors.

“Firstly, it’s now readily available everywhere in convenient packs,” he says. “Secondly, it’s a natural, clean-tasting, low-joule drink that appeals to today’s health and weight-conscious consumers, and lastly, but by no means least, the various bottling companies are in fierce competition, each one trying to outdo the other in marketing ploys that will convince the public that their brand is superior.”

Gentile says that although there are now many smaller bottlers/importers vying for a slice of the lucrative pie, the market is still largely dominated by a relatively few large companies, such as Coca Cola Amatil (CCA), Frucor and Cadbury Schweppes.

Coca Cola markets a number of bottled waters which have captured close on 40% of the still water market. The company’s brands include Mt Franklin, Australia’s top seller - a natural spring water which has retained some minerals and trace elements. The brand is also available in a light sparkling variety, sold exclusively through restaurants and cafes.

CCA last year announced a big jump in company profits saying the rise was largely due to its bottled water brands which were now accounting for around 20 per cent of annual sales.

Frucor — the Australasian arm of international food and beverage giant, Groupe Danone — has also seen a huge jump in sales of its bottled and sipper-top pack water brands. These include H2Go, a spring water that company spokesman, Martin Prebble describes as a convenient ‘fun’ brand, appealing to active ‘on the go’ people of all ages, particularly to young women who have emerged as the biggest consumers of bottled water.

One of the company’s biggest sellers, however, remains the imported Evian brand mineral water which parent company Danone has been bottling since 1826 from a spring high in the French Alps.

There are many, many other water bottlers of course, including a number of ‘boutique’ businesses, some large and some small. But whatever the company, whatever the size, whatever the type of product, there are stringent rules in place, both from the Food Standards Australia New Zealand code (FSANZ) and from AWBI.

Gentile says that before bottlers can become members of AWBI, and be able to label their product accordingly, they must meet and maintain strict industry standards established by the association to ensure that bottled water meets acceptable levels of purity, quality and safety. This involves one or more of a number of practices and/or processes, including source protection and monitoring, reverse osmosis, distillation, filtration. ozonation and disinfection. The method depends largely on the source and content of the water and this is where a great deal of confusion arises.

Fortunately, the latest regulations covering labelling have taken away much of the guesswork for the consumer, Gentile says. “Bottled water falls into two main categories, still and sparkling, but there are many variations within each, all with different characteristics and requiring different processes,” he says.

“Generally speaking, however, carbonated water is usually consumed as a refreshment beverage while still water is considered a pure drinking water.

Among the variations are:

• Bottled water: Water not represented as mineral or spring from any source (municipal, well, etc) that can be treated to make it drinkable.

• Natural water: Bottled water such as spring, mineral, artesian or well water from an underground formation and not derived from a public water supply system. The water has not undergone any treatment other than filtration and iron removal. There have also been no significant changes in the overall concentration of ions occurring in the original source.

• Spring water: Bottled water originating from an approved and physically protected underground source and not from a public community water supply. It may be treated to remove unwanted chemicals and microbiological components.

• Natural spring water: The same as spring water but it has not undergone any treatment to remove any components.

• Mineral water: Obtained from an approved underground source such as bore holes or springs and not from a public water supply. The water contains some minerals and trace elements and may be treated to remove unwanted components.

• Natural mineral water: The same as mineral water. It is collected under conditions that guarantee its original bacteriological purity, bottled close to its emergence from the source (under hygienic conditions) and is not subjected to any treatment apart the removal of any unstable constituents. that may modify its essential mineral content.

• Carbonated or sparkling water: Bottled water including spring and mineral that contains carbon dioxide.

There are still other variations. Some, for instance have vitamins, flavourings and/or other additives but technically they still fall into the bottled water category.

Gentile says that bottled water is now the fastest growing soft beverage category in Australia with sales growing at over 30% per year. And this trend will continue, he predicts. He points to the growing domestic awareness of health issues (such as obesity) and says that this will only help to accelerate sales, particularly as Australians are still lagging behind their American and European counterparts when it comes to their annual consumption of water.