Water Business Why Is Mineral Water So Popular? In Europe, mineral water has long been sold as drinking water. In Japan, the consumption of mineral water has risen remarkably over the last decade. Increasing numbers of people prefer mineral water to tap water because of the chlorine smell of tap water; it's no secret that people are becoming more health conscious, and the recent gourmet boom may also be a reason. The first household-use PET bottle appeared on the market in 1983. After the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries issued guidelines in 1990, sales of domestic PET-bottled mineral water products rapidly increased, with household-use products outnumbering business-use products. In 1997, consumption of both imported and domestic mineral water reached 794,000 kl, ten times that of ten years ago. Imported Hard Mineral Water Is Popular Among Dieters Mineral waters contain dissolved minerals, and this content is described by the water's hardness. The more minerals the water contains, the harder it is. Mineral water with more than 200 parts per million hardness is called hard water; water with less mineral content is called soft water. Most of Japan's domestic mineral water is soft water. In Europe, however, where mineral water is drunk for health purposes, most of the water consumed is hard water containing a great deal of dissolved minerals. Hard mineral water gives a sense of fullness and satisfaction to the stomach. For this reason, people who want to lose weight use it as a diet drink. Even with increasing numbers of domestic products on the market, mineral water remains popular. All images Copyright. 1999 Kansai International Public Relations Promotion Office. All Rights Reserved.