Op-Ed: Shoppers react to company selling tap water in bottles Special

Shipley - Asda supermarkets are selling mains tap water as bottled water. The multinational giant prides itself on providing customers with great value for money. Yet, its "Smartprice" bottled water has a 2500 percent mark-up.

Asda's "Smartprice" bottled water stands on its shelves next to premium spring and mineral waters, such as Evian, Volvic and Perrier. However, Asda's own brand product is considerably cheaper, being merely tap water from Yorkshire Water.

Steve Hayes

Asda, part of Walmart, prides itself on providing customers with value for money.

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"Cheeky buggers!" was the reaction of one shopper. Asda don't actually claim that their bottled water is in fact mineral water. They simply rely on customers to assume that because the water is being sold in bottles alongside well known mineral waters, it must be mineral water too.

Steve Hayes

Asda, part of Walmart, selling tap water as bottled water.

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As Asda shopper Rachel said: I don't buy it, but I know a lot of people who do, thinking it's bottled water. Asda, not only claim to provide customers with the best value for money, the company also prides itself on its commitment to sustainability. As the company proudly asserts on its website: We’ve always worked hard to reduce our impact on the environment. Since 2005, with our parent company Walmart, we’ve been measuring our achievements in three key areas: products, energy, and waste. It is difficult to see how taking Yorkshire Water tap water, treating it to unnecessary filtering, pouring it in plastic bottles and selling it to customers who could get the same product from their domestic taps is anything other than an unnecessary product, making gratuitous use of finite energy resources, whilst creating wholly uncalled for waste.