Why is Your Bottled Water Delivery Service So Expensive?

Bottled water is the number one beverage in the United States, according to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA). It had the highest growth rate of all packaged beverages in 2024. In fact, bottled water retail sales reached $50.6 billion in 2024, up 3.7% from 2023. And while bottled water continues to grow, other packaged drinks saw negative growth last year, signaling the trend toward healthier options that promote wellness.

The reason so many workplaces choose bottled water delivery over tap water is because it’s perceived as a clean and convenient hydrating solution. However, there are several reasons why the preferred choice is not bottled water for many businesses, including the cost.

To find out exactly why bottled water delivery is so expensive and if it is really worth the price, we turned to The Atlantic and Business Insider.

Why is the price of bottled water so high?

The Atlantic states that the price of half a liter of bottled water costs the same as a day’s worth of cooking, washing, showering and toilet flushing. Shockingly, bottled water is between 240 and 10,000 times more expensive than tap water. Comparatively, if a small business paid bottled water prices for tap water, its monthly water bill would be close to $9,000.

The key factors driving the high cost of bottled water delivery include the cost of producing the bottle itself, the cost of supplying and filtering the water that goes into the bottle, the transportation costs of shipping and delivering the bottle, and the cost of marketing the final product.

Depending on the company you choose, you’ll likely pay for the water itself, plus a delivery fee and a rental fee for the cooler itself. The more water your workplace uses, the more deliveries you’ll need – and the higher your costs will be. 

“It costs a lot of money to stand out in a crowded marketplace – especially when you are selling one of the most common things on earth,” said The Atlantic reporter, Derek Thompson.

Is bottled water worth the hefty price tag?

It is no secret that bottled water comes with a large price tag, but what many find surprising is the fact that bottled water is not worth nearly as much as the industry is generating. Erin Brodwin and Aylin Woodward, two writers for Business Insider, describe the price of bottled water as one of the biggest scams of the century.

Brodwin and Woodward explain that many homes and businesses, especially in America and other first-world countries, have plenty of access to clean drinking water. They say that in a lot of cases, publicly sourced tap water might actually be safer than bottled water because of the microplastic particles found in bottled water. And even after all this, Americans still spend over $15 billion on bottled water each year.

How much is your bottled water delivery service costing your business?

We crunched the numbers to calculate exactly how much an average business spends on bottled water delivery services every year and the final sum is steep. According to a Culligan Quench study, a bottled water delivery service that serves 50 people costs over $4,200 a year on average, and a 5-gallon water jug delivery service that serves the same number of people costs over $3,400 a year. You could spend a fraction of that ($700 per year on average) by switching to a bottleless water cooler like those offered by Culligan Quench.

Bottleless water coolers are known as point-of-use (POU) water coolers and they connect directly to your building’s existing water line. This means they provide unlimited filtered water straight from the municipal water supply, and you pay the same cost regardless of how much water your business uses.

Check out our Cost Comparison Calculator to see the real cost of bottled water delivery vs. a bottleless cooler for your workplace.

Save money with a Culligan Quench bottleless water cooler

A single Culligan Quench bottleless water cooler that serves a company of 50 employees costs around $700 a year. These significant savings are possible because Culligan Quench bottleless water coolers are connected to your building’s water line and filter the water on-site. Therefore, our bottleless water coolers may also be referred to as filtered water dispensers.

Adding more bottleless water coolers to your workplace instead of single-use plastic bottles or  5-gallon water jugs lowers your company’s overall expenses, reduces your carbon footprint and decreases physical touchpoints in your office. Plus, if you take advantage of Culligan Quench’s touchless water cooler options, you can eliminate water-based touchpoints altogether. Switching to a bottleless cooler is an opportunity for businesses to save money and provide drinking water that’s cleaner, crisper, more economical, eco-friendlier and safer to drink.

Check out our Cost Comparison Calculator to see the real cost of bottled water delivery vs. a bottleless cooler for your workplace.

Learn more about Culligan Quench and our filtered water dispensers or get a free quote from one of our water experts.

You can also watch the first video from Economics in Plain English, a video series launched by The Atlantic , which focuses on readers’ frequently asked economic inquiries and answers the age-old question, “Why is bottled water so expensive?”

Bottled water delivery questions & answers

What are the main reasons why bottled water delivery is so expensive?

Bottled water delivery comes at a high cost because there’s production and transportation involved, on top of the actual water you’re purchasing. From plastic bottle manufacturing to water filtration to delivery to your workplace, the process is multi-step and results in a high price tag. 

What is an alternative to bottled water delivery?

Bottleless water coolers are a popular alternative to bottled water delivery. Because they connect directly to the water line, they filter your water on-site and don’t require any bottled delivery. They provide an unlimited supply of filtered, great-tasting water at a fraction of the cost.

How much can my business save by switching to a bottleless water cooler?

A company of 50 employees using a bottleless water cooler can save approximately 80% by switching from a jug delivery service. And that savings grows when you factor in more people using the water. Bottleless coolers provide an unlimited supply of filtered water, so you won’t pay more for more users.