‘Watergate’- Nestle’s Mineral Water Scandal
Nestlé steals public drinking water and sells it back to us.
Nestlé owns bottled water brands worldwide and it all comes from local water sources often in areas with water scarcity. They take over 1 million gallons a day and pay nearly nothing for it therefore drying up entire rivers, destroying fragile ecosystems and often leaving vulnerable populations without a safe water source. Nestlé has infiltrated governments and bribed local communities to take control of their water, and their CEO has argued that water is not a human right so it should be privatized. At the current rate the world will run out of water before it runs out of oil.
Four key locations have been associated with Nestles allegations of environmental misconduct and water extraction practices: Michigan, California, Pakistan and Nigeria.
Michigan
There is a water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
While Flint drinks poison, Nestlé is pumping 200 gallons of fresh water out of Michigan every minute
Nestlé has been repeatedly sued over its aggressive acquisition of private water reserves and the alarming amounts of water it sucks out of Michigan’s ground. The multinational has been under fire in Michigan since 2003 when a judge ordered Nestlé to stop its operations due to ecological harm and a massive reduction in water levels from its operations.
In recent years, Michigan has become the battleground for what is often termed as "Water Wars," with Nestlé's operations at the centre of the controversy. Water, an essential and finite resource, has been the focus of intense debate as Nestlé extracts significant amounts of it from local sources. This situation has far - reaching implications for both local communities and the surrounding ecosystems.
The company formally known as Nestlé Waters North America became Blue Triton in April 2021, and they have been accused of depleting the waterways and aquifers of the regions that it operates in. In 2017, Nestle pumped more than 130 million gallons of water a year — about 4.8 million bottles of water a day — from wells in northwestern Michigan. In exchange for that, it paid $200 a year in fees. And whenever the company drew water from wells owned by the city, it paid a rate of $3.50 for every thousand gallons.
Michigan is not the only state where Nestle is getting more than its money's worth for the water it pumps.
California
In 2021, California water officials moved to stop Nestlé from siphoning millions of gallons of water out of Strawberry Creek, because it was diverting water resources which flowed into the forests of San Bernardino, located east of Los Angeles, which they bottle and sell as Arrowhead brand water, as drought conditions worsen across the state.
Nestlé has maintained that its rights to California spring water date back to 1865. But 2017 investigations found that Nestlé was taking far more than its share, meaning the company drew out about 58 million gallons, far surpassing the 2.3 million gallons per year it could validly claim. They have sucked up, on average, 25 times as much water as it may have a right to, according to the Story of Stuff Project, an environmental group that has been fighting to stop the bottled water company’s pumping in California for years.
However, Nestlé isn’t going quietly. It has accused the U.S. Forest Service of threatening the water rights of bottlers around the state with its intervention and it’s countered with a proposal for voluntary measures, but the company hasn’t shown any patience with federal oversight or environmental concerns. When asked on Southern California Public Radio last year whether it would reduce water extraction, Nestlé Waters North America CEO Tim Brown said, “Absolutely not. In fact, if I could increase it, I would.”
Pakistan
In 1998, Nestlé chose Pakistan as country to roadmap its global water strategy in the bottled water market. It produced and introduced “Pure Life” as “a source of clean water”. Typically, bottled water is often the consumers’ choice for a healthy beverage that gives them a source of minerals, helps to prevent obesity, and in so doing, reduces the risk of associated healthcare problems.
Nestlé’ bottled water is not affordable for the people in need of safe and clean drinking water, nor is it only sold in Pakistan. Nestlé contributes to the decrease of the ground water level, that dries local water provisions for the sake of profit.
Nestlé’s engagement in Pakistan and business policies are in contradiction to its own self commitments regarding human rights and the principle of sustainable use of resources as well as to its membership in the United Nations Global Compact.
The global water shortage of affordable and safe drinking water is manifested in Pakistan with an estimated 44 percent of the population without access to safe drinking water. In rural areas, up to 90 percent of the population may lack such access. As one indication of the magnitude of the problem, it is estimated that 200,000 children in Pakistan die every year due to diarrhoeal diseases alone. Groundwater extraction is one of the few possibilities to satisfy peoples need for drinking water but groundwater extraction in Pakistan is unregulated and different users, such as public water providers, agriculture and industrial exploitation compete for the use of this scare source.
Finally, Nestlé’s use of groundwater obviously exceeds the renewable volume.
Nigeria
The International Centre for Investigative Reporting found that Nestlé contaminated the water supply of its host community in Abuja, Nigeria. The investigation revealed that a Pure Life bottled water factory was discharging untreated wastewater, causing severe environmental damage and contaminating a stream that served as the community’s primary water source.
Nigeria is suffering from a deadly water crisis -- the lack of potable, accessible water has turned into a national emergency. While the crisis is killing more Nigerians than terror group Boko Haram, Nestle opened a new bottling plant in Abaji.
Nestlé has proven time and time again that it just doesn’t care about local communities and their access to fresh water. Almost 400,000 people stood up and denounced Nestlé for sucking up the local water supply in Pakistan -- and then selling it back at a profit.
Boko Haram has killed more than 4,000 people -- but the water shortage and lack of proper sanitation has caused the death of more than 73,000 Nigerians. In the coastal metropolis of Lagos, 15 million of the city’s 21 million have limited or no access to running water.
It is known too well about Nestlé’s aggressive global water strategy: buy up local water supplies of impoverished communities, bottle it in plastic and sell it to wealthy Europeans and Americans at huge mark-ups. Meanwhile, the impoverished communities suffer the ill health effects of drinking dirty and contaminated water.
The importance of water cannot be overstated. It is not only vital for human consumption but also for the survival of countless species and the overall health of the environment. As such, any large - scale extraction of water, especially when it may potentially affect local availability and quality, raises numerous concerns. Especially when Nestlé’s involved.
Sources:
https://www.ibfan.org/cop-30-climate-crisis-intensifies-water-scarcity-nestles-water-scandals/
https://www.mashed.com/717227/nestles-water-controversy-explained/
Daya Sangha
