Bottled water: social metabolism, discourses and inequalities associated with water in Bogota, Colombia.

In this thesis Anyi Viviana Castelblanco Montañez analyzes that the conception of water as a commodity has generated a "global water market" that submits its access to the logic of supply and demand, without addressing the structural causes of water deterioration. This research analyzes the impacts of the Manantial, Cristal and Siembra brands in Bogotá and the places where water is extracted through the political ecology of water, showing how its consumption competes with public or community water. From the analysis of discourses, social metabolism and public policies, power relations are revealed that legitimize bottled water through narratives of hygiene, sustainability and conservation, facilitated by misinformation, market strategies and regulations. Thus, our relationship with waters and ecosystems is symbolically transformed, positioning bottled water as a commodity of the global food system with local expressions that aggravate inequalities and environmental deterioration in the city and the places where it is extracted.

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