Bottled Water Flim-Flam

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http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17358

 

 

Bottled Water Flim-Flam

 

By Krista Camenzind, YES! Magazine

December 9, 2003

 

The $7.7 billion market for bottled water in the United States is fueled by the

belief that it is safer and healthier than tap water. A recent study by the

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) demonstrates that frequently the

opposite is true.

 

 

 

After testing more than 1000 bottles of water from 103 different companies, the

NRDC uncovered microbial content in excess of state guidelines in one-third of

the brands it sampled. The NRDC also discovered synthetic organic chemicals in

one-fifth of its samples, usually at levels below state and federal limits.

While tap water is not exempt from contamination, EPA guidelines do call for

near constant testing of tap water quality. Bottling facilities are required to

test less frequently and if they find pathogens like E. coli or fecal coliform

they can still sell their water with a small disclaimer on the label.

 

 

 

While tap water is subject to extensive regulation and testing by the EPA, the

agency does not oversee the bottled water industry. That task falls to the Food

and Drug Administration, but only if the water crosses state lines. The FDA has

adopted only some of the EPA's water standards and has the equivalent of less

than one full-time staff person dedicated to developing and issuing bottled

water rules. The 60 to 70 percent of bottled water brands that are produced and

sold within one state are subject solely to state regulations and only 7 states

effectively monitor bottled water.

 

 

 

The plastic used to package the 6 billion gallons of bottled water sold in the

U.S. in 2002 amounts to 1.5 million tons of plastic. Once produced, plastic

water bottles clog landfills and litter the landscape, and toxins in the plastic

can find their way into ground water. Nine out of 10 plastic water bottles end

up as garbage or litter. That's 30 million discarded bottles a day.

 

 

 

Extracting the quantities of water necessary to fill that many bottles has

sizeable environmental repercussions. In Mecosta County, Michigan, for example,

Ice Mountain, a subsidiary of Nestle Waters North America, pumps more than a

half million gallons of water per day from local springs. For the right to drain

central Michigan's waters, Ice Mountain paid a $100 licensing fee and garnered

millions of dollars in tax credits from the state. Residents of Mecosta County

have organized a boycott of Ice Mountain and Michigan Citizens for Water

Conservation has taken the company to court, arguing that the massive pumping

enterprise does not constitute a " reasonable use " of the state's water.

 

 

 

Reprinted from Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures, PO Box 10818, Bainbridge

Island, WA 98110. Subscriptions: 800/937-4451 Web: www.yesmagazine.org

 

 

 

 

 

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