LONDON — Tap water campaigns here are not dampening bottled water sales, according to a June 13 press release from Datamonitor, a UK-based market analyst.

Datamonitor quotes results from its latest bottled water market report when noting in the press release, “British consumers have increased their consumption of bottled water at the fastest rate in Europe over the past five years.”

According to the market analyst, British consumers drank, on average, 41 liters of bottled water per person in 2007. In the UK, per capita volume growth was a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8 percent between 2002 and 2007.

The growth in the UK bottled water market represents the fastest growth in Europe, even among countries where the practice of drinking bottled water is more established, such as Italy at 234 liters per person and Spain at 143.2 liters per person, the press release said.

According to the press release, British consumers associate drinking bottled water with promoting a “healthy lifestyle.”

Thames Water and the government-funded Consumer Council for Water launched in February a pro-tap water campaign directed toward restaurants and cafes, as WaterTech Online™ reported. The Evening Standard soon after launched a campaign designed to increase the availability of London’s tap water in restaurants and bars, as WaterTech Online reported.

To read details from the Datamonitor press release, click here.