For the first time in decades, Americans are drinking more water than soda

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

published 9 March 2017

Water might be a lackluster hydration option, but it's inarguably a healthy one. Americans are finally clueing in, too, new research has found. For the first time in decades, people in the U.S. drank more bottled water last year than they did soda, The Wall Street Journal reports, with the gains coming "amid concerns about the health effects of sugary drinks and the safety of public-water supplies."

The exact numbers, according to Beverage Marketing Corp., found that U.S. consumption of bottled water was at 39.3 gallons per capita in 2016, while soft drinks drained to 38.5 gallons. Soda companies were still making 26 percent of that water bottle revenue, though, since Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. own major bottle companies like Dasani and Aquafina.

Compare all that to how Americans were drinking just a decade ago. In 2006, Americans drank more than 50 gallons of soda per capita compared with fewer than 30 gallons per capita of bottled water.