Cappuccino, croissant and sandwiches are expensive on our highways, everyone knows that, but I never thought I would spend so much money on a bottle of water. After traveling hundreds of kilometers, hot and thirsty, I stopped at a service station to get some water, but in the absence of fountains I had to buy bottled water. And here came a bitter surprise: I paid more for gasoline than for gasoline.
Water costs more than 3 euros per litre on the motorway
After a wonderful beach holiday, it takes seven hundred kilometres to get home by car. With my wallet lightened by the summer price hikes – wages have been stagnant for decades – I organise the return journey to avoid further bloodshed. I make sandwiches, fill bottles with water and start driving, hoping to avoid traffic. Travelling in the hottest hours of the day is a real challenge, even now with air conditioning. But my water supply is rapidly diminishing until it is completely empty. But the journey is still long and I am hot and thirsty. So I stop at a rest stop to hydrate, or so I think.
I look for a fountain to fill my thermal bottles but there is nothing, it feels like we are in the desert. However, the issue of ‘free water on the motorway’ has also been brought up many times for the sake of the environment. But it seems that only humorous cartoons on social media remain from this conversation (see photo above). It is strange that in recent years motorway service stations have started to offer more and more services to drivers, such as children’s play areas, dog parks or picnic areas complete with tables in the shade for lunch breaks. I prefer the only possible alternative, to buy a bottle of mineral water from the refreshment point, how much can this cost?
I am amazed in front of a huge refrigerator with all kinds of cold drinks (see photo above), but what I need most right now is some water. Finally, on the last shelf at the bottom, I find the transparent gold that many call our lifeblood; a very appropriate name in this case, considering the exorbitant price I read on the price tag. But unlike sodas and fruit juices, there is not much choice: there are only two brands among the most expensive. Two euros and sixty cents for a 0.75-liter bottle, still or sparkling. Considering that we are talking about a basic need, it is absurd that we consume liters of it in the summer months, on the advice of doctors, to be able to withstand the increasingly scorching temperatures.
Water bottles are 75% more expensive
I would pay 75 percent less for the same bottle of mineral water in any supermarket; on average it costs around €0.89 per litre, or even €0.75 when offered. Apart from the €3.46 per litre paid on the motorway. So why do some service stations only sell the most famous brands of water, excluding the cheaper ones? Prices in the supermarket start at €0.22 for a one-and-a-half-litre bottle (see photo below). This means that with the same amount I spent on the motorway I could buy at least three bottles of the same brand, or 12 one-and-a-half-litre bottles, equivalent to two cases of water if I had chosen a different label.
All this is due to the marketing practice of the existing contraction of motorway service areas, which means that smaller formats are more expensive than larger formats. But it is a shame that you have to go on a treasure hunt at the refreshment counter where I stop to find 1.5 or 2 litre bottles of water. I only realised that they existed at the end of the very long and arduous walk to the exit. There, in a barely visible mini fridge, were at most a few bottles for the ‘modest’ price of 2.90 euros. Unfortunately, I had already paid for and drunk my first sip of the 0.75 litre bottle, which cost me 2.60 euros, as I found it just in front of the entrance and a few steps away from the cash register. I wonder how many people will experience the same thing.
In short, even taking into account the larger formats, the cost of water on the highway is more expensive than gasoline, which is already very high, at 1,919 euros per liter. But water is a necessity, so we can’t compare it to a 40cl bottle of tea (3.90 euros), a cappuccino (2 euros), a bun (2.60 euros) or a sandwich (7 euros). You can easily do without these, but especially in the summer and while driving, you can’t do without water. But unfortunately, this is the truth. So if you have to make a long journey on the highway, don’t forget to bring sandwiches and plenty of water, because bottle prices in the motorway service areas have become really exorbitant.
Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
