system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Eli5: why is sparkling water so popular in Europe, but not in North america

If you go to a restaurant in germany and ask for water, they'll give you sparkling water, you have to ask for flat water specifically. That is the complete opposite in america though.
gpt
The popularity of bottled water started in Europe, and it started with mineral water from specific famous springs. In a lot of cases, the water from these springs is naturally carbonated. (I say "in a lot of cases" because Evian is not carbonated, and neither are a few other French brands.)

For the most part, in Europe when you buy a bottle of water, what you're getting is the water from that spring as it naturally comes out. 

Because people in Europe who buy bottled water developed a taste for this, they tend to expect bottled water to be mineral water, and for it to be naturally carbonated to at least some extent. 

In America, naturally sparkling mineral water has never been very popular. A lot of people enjoy things like club soda and seltzer, but that's not the same thing at all and not nearly as ubiquitous for everyday drinking. 

When bottled water became popular here, the companies selling it wanted to make it as appealing as possible to as many people as possible, so they neither looked for naturally carbonated mineral springs nor did they try to sell Americans on carbonated water. Especially because it's cheaper just to use filtered tap water and sell it to people using the magic of branding rather than any genuine claims about the source, ingredients, or flavor.

In general in the US, carbonated waters are associated with Europe. The two main brands of mineral water are San Pellegrino and Perrier, which are imported from Europe (and gained popularity/established brand positioning via affluent Americans who had tried these waters in Europe first). Even canned carbonated water brands such as La Croix are given a European brand concept, since relatively few people are dedicated seltzer drinkers.