The negative buzz that’s been plaguing the bottled water industry of late — that it’s not really green — has taken its toll.

Bottled water prices and sales are falling, quickly.

The bottled-water industry’s been battered this year by environmental and health groups issuing reports that have questioned the purity of the water in the bottles. The Environmental Working Group and the Government Accountability Office both published reports recently questioning the product’s safety.

Other reports chided bottled water because the product:

• has high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with it due to all the transportation needed to bring water to market
• requires more water to be used in the production process than is sold, and
• creates a disposal problem because the plastic in water bottles generally doesn’t get recycled.

Then the recession hit, and consumers started to rely on cheap, plentiful and safe tap water. Result: Industry wide, sales have fallen for the first time in five years, according to The Washington Post.

Now the Wall Street Journal reports that bottled water marketers are in the middle of a price war. For example, PepsiCo., Inc. is selling its Aquafina brand water at a 50% discount, $2.99 for a 24-pack of half-liter bottles, in select stores. An even better deal is offered at Kroger Co. grocery stores — $2.49 for all those little bottles of its house brand of water. The WSJ story is here.

How to fight back?

Beverage companies are trying to switch to eco-friendly packaging. Coca-Cola’s introducing a PlantBottle that’s totally recyclable. Pepsi’s new Eco-Fina brand is made with 50% less plastic, and Plant It Water is introducing a paper container for its portable water product.

Tags: bottled water, Eco-Fina, Pepsi, Plant It Water, PlantBottle