It has pretty much slid down the memory hole but way back in the 70s tap water was commonly drank and tap water was pretty universally considered good and healthy. Public fountains were common and well used. Bottled water was a rarity. You could find Perrier and a few boutique bottled water but other than snooty fashionistas and people using tonic water to mix with their gin water was used from the tap.

The funny thing is that municipal tap water was, with a very few exception, very good and, almost without exception, safe. The same is still, for the most part, true today.

The shift was a result of a protracted advertising campaign by bottlers to demonize municipal water supplied and sell bottled water.

The result has been that people now happily pay more for water than gasoline on a per ounce basis and that the water in the bottles is less safe and poorer quality than most municipal water. But there was another result. One that directly applies to well water and protection of aquifers that the wells draw off. A side effect is that when people think of drinking water a majority think of a plastic bottle full of "spring" water.

Like people who are not viscerally aware that beef comes from cows many people fail to intuitively make the connection that the water they drink ultimately comes from ground or surface water. That protecting streams and lakes and aquifers is all about protecting their water supply.

Edit for spelling.