(January 26, 2007) — When walking down the aisle of waters at the supermarket, many expect to find water, clear water. When walking to the vending machine at school, we expect to find plain, regular water, and we usually do not want to pay more than $1 for it. But that does not seem like the case anymore. Now the supermarkets have increased the prices of water to around $2 or more a bottle. Why, you ask? Because water is now flavored. Not only is there water with mint flavor and water that is colored yellow, there is even water that claims to be enhanced with vitamins and minerals. Clearly these companies are not selling water anymore, but they are selling an idea. People are no longer looking for water as a necessity but as something with an extra twist. According to a recent Reuter’s article, Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc and Nestle feel that flavored water will soon take over U.S. consumers who find regular water boring . Statistics show that bottled water is a booming industry, and now that water comes in a wider variety people tend to purchase something new, instead of the old . According www.beveragemarketing.com , flavored waters account for just 3 percent of wholesale single serve water revenues. But sales show that this could double in the next five years. Clark had flavored water in its vending machines, but according to cafeteria manager Rosa Rodriguez, the water was most likely removed due to the Senate Bill passed this year, which requires certain foods that meet nutritional requirements. As for the future, Rodriguez does not see flavored water being an addition to school lunches. The real world is not the only place where flavored water has gained prominence. Television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy feature their actors drinking flavored water such as Hint, giving the impression that water with flavor is better than regular water. This raises the question as to why flavored water would really be that different? Is water that tastes like mint really better than the water many of us have been drinking for so long? Flavored water does have a downside to its sweet taste. According to Vincent Iannelli M.D. , sports drinks such as Propel and Gatorade (which claim to restore electrolytes lost during exercise) have been said to cause cavities. Some students who drink flavored water have a positive opinion on this growing epidemic. “For people who dislike regular tasting water, the added taste is an incentive to drink more water,” says sophomore Arby Abraamyan. But is the cost worth the flavor? If a person drinks around three bottles of water a day, $1.39 times three, times seven days a week, makes around $30 a week on water, forcing people to spend around $117 on water a month. According to Rich Maloof for MSN Health & Fitness, preliminary statistics for 2005 show that Americans spent $9.8 billion on 7.35 billion gallons of bottled water. If that is $9.8 billion on regular water, the amount people will spend on flavored water will obviously be a lot higher.