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The great water bottle controversy
But Health Canada’s website on bottled water reports that there’s no evidence to support this. In fact, Professor Rolf Halden of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, had this to say about water in U.S. cities. “The truth is that city water is much more highly regulated and monitored for quality. Bottled water is not. It can legally contain many things we would not tolerate in municipal drinking water.” The same is generally true of drinking water in Canadian cities. So where does the water in bottled and branded bottles come from? A recent report by Bloomberg News explained that “Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, the world’s biggest bottler, uses municipal water from Calgary and Brampton, Ontario, for its Dasani brand.” The same article also points out that “Bottled water is far more expensive than municipal water. A liter (33.8 ounces) of tap water in Canada costs taxpayers an average of less than one-10th of a cent, Toronto’s city government says. That means a liter of bottled water selling for C$2.50 is almost 3,000 times more expensive.” Aside from concerns about bottled water, such as landfills full of empty bottles and plastic leaching toxins, there are also ethical ones. Although affluent Canadians can afford to buy water, those on limited incomes can’t. Buying bottled water sends a powerful message to our elected leaders that there’s little need to maintain and improve Canada’s water infrastructure. For an American take on bottled water, visit the NRDC’s website.
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Sales of bottled water are gushing. Many consumers say they prefer the taste of bottled water to tap, believing it’s safer than municipal water supplies.