I never ever saw bottled water as a kid in Europe. It wasn't until I moved to the US where it appeared to be commonplace. When I went back home to England last year, they've got it in every supermarket I visited. Sad, really. I still just drink out of the tap here in Texas.
Much of the US cities have great tap water. Some places (Flint) get lead going on.
However, much of the water in the US by area is well water. Well water tastes gross, and has some dubious health effects if not filtered right. Bottled water seems reasonable for those people.
Just because bottled water is not useful for you, does not mean it's not useful for anyone.
I can't speak for every state, but here in Michigan (The Great Lakes state!), companies like Nestle have to apply for a license that subjects them to regular inspections to make sure they're not over-burdening the local groundwater supply. They pump from wells on their own private land using their own facilities. Their license fee is pretty cheap, something like $300USD.
This seems like a common-sense regulation that doesn't overly burden either the company or the regulator.
I buy Ice Mountain spring water with a clear conscience.