Bottled tap water

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2007-09-21 11:21am

I thought they were kidding, but apparently it's really that bad:
http://alternet.org/environment/58604/

AMY GOODMAN: The soft drink giant Pepsi has been forced to make an embarrassing admission: Its bestselling Aquafina bottled water is nothing more than tap water. Last week, Pepsi agreed to change the labels of Aquafina to indicate the water comes from a public water source. Pepsi agreed to change its label under pressure from the advocacy group Corporate Accountability International, which has been leading an increasingly successful campaign against bottled water.

In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom recently banned city departments from using city money to buy any kind of bottled water. In New York, local residents are being urged to drink tap water. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has passed a resolution that highlighted the importance of municipal water and called for more scrutiny of the impact of bottled water on city waste.

The environmental impact of the country's obsession with bottled water has been staggering. Each day an estimated 60 million plastic water bottles are thrown away. Most are not recycled. The Pacific Institute has estimated 20 million barrels of oil are used each year to make the plastic for water bottles.

Economically, it makes sense to stop buying bottled water as well. The Arizona Daily Star recently examined the cost difference between bottled water and water from the city's municipal supply. A half-liter of Pepsi's Aquafina at a Tucson convenience store costs $1.39. The bottle contains purified water from the Tucson water supply. From the tap, you can pour over 6.4 gallons for a penny. That makes the bottled stuff about 7,000 times more expensive, even though Aquafina is using the same water source.

Gigi Kellett of Corporate Accountability International joins us in Boston, the group spearheading the Think Outside the Bottle campaign. We're also joined by freelance writer Michael Blanding. Last year he wrote an article for Alternet.org called "The Bottled Water Lie." We welcome you both to Democracy Now!

I want to begin with Gigi Kellett. Talk about Pepsi's admission.

GIGI KELLETT: Well, after a couple of years of our Think Outside the Bottle campaign, we have been asking of the bottled water corporations to come clean about where they get their water, what is the source of the water that they're bottling, because most people don't know that Pepsi's Aquafina, Coke's Dasani, come from our public water systems. And so, after thousands of phone calls, thousands of public comments submitted to the corporation, and us taking these demands directly to the corporation's annual shareholder meeting this year, Pepsi last week made the announcement that it would reveal that it gets its water from our public water systems.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, where exactly does Pepsi get it? Which public water supply?

GIGI KELLETT: Well, that is the issue that we're really looking at next, is what cities are they bottling the water in. You know, here in Massachusetts, it's coming from Ayre, Mass. So we want to make sure that on those bottles it says: "Public water source: Ayre, Massachusetts." That way, people know exactly what they're getting when they're buying that Aquafina bottled water.

AMY GOODMAN: Ayre being the name of a town in Massachusetts.

GIGI KELLETT: Ayre is the name of a town, right. Exactly.

AMY GOODMAN: And what happens to the town? They have their public water supply, and they have the plant for Pepsi?

GIGI KELLETT: That's right. We want to make sure that -- you know, Pepsi has certainly taken a lead on this for the bottled water industry, and we want to make sure that Coke and Nestle also follow suit. One of the things that we're finding as we're talking to people about this issue on the street is that they don't know where the water is coming from. And the bottled water corporations have spent tens of millions of dollars on ads that make people think that bottled water is somehow better, cleaner, safer than our public water systems. And in reality, we know that that's not true. And so, we want to make sure that we're increasing our people's confidence in their public water systems once again and knowing that we need to be investing in our public systems.

AMY GOODMAN: Gigi, can you go further on who owns what? You mention Nestle. What does Nestle own?

GIGI KELLETT: Nestle owns several dozen brands of bottled water. The bottled water brand they source from our public water systems is called Nestle Pure Life. They also own Poland Spring, Ozarka, Arrowhead. The list goes on. And regionally, it's distributed across the country. And then we also have Coca-Cola, which bottles Dasani water, and, of course, Pepsi with Aquafina.

AMY GOODMAN: And when it comes to being tap water, what is the difference between plain tap water and distilled water from these public sources.

GIGI KELLETT: Well, there's very little difference. You know, our public water systems go through a very rigorous testing and monitoring system and is tested by the Environmental Protection Agency. So we want to make sure that people know that our public water systems are much better regulated than these bottled water brands, which don't have to go through the same rigorous type of process.

I find myself at loss of words.

Alferd Packer · Post by **Alferd Packer** » 2007-09-21 11:30am

This is news to me in that I didn't realize that Aquafina was a Pepsi product. For some reason, I always thought it came from Coke, and was indeed bottled public water. In fact, some water companies base their advertising campaigns on this fact("You can buy something a bear shat in, or you could buy our shit-free water!").

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2007-09-21 11:33am

Penn & Teller *in unison* "That's bullshit!"

Wasn't the Coca Cola Company also caught up in pretty much the same scandal just a few years ago?

Zac Naloen · Post by **Zac Naloen** » 2007-09-21 11:46am

Big Orange wrote:Penn & Teller *in unison* "That's bullshit!"

Wasn't the Coca Cola Company also caught up in pretty much the same scandal just a few years ago?

I vaguely recall an episode Bullshit that covered this particular subject in fact...

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2007-09-21 11:54am

I remember my father complaining about the fact that some of the bottles of "mineral water" sold in China were in fact bottles of tap water. I didn't expect to see such deception in the US.

Big Phil · Post by **Big Phil** » 2007-09-21 11:59am

Alferd Packer wrote:This is news to me in that I didn't realize that Aquafina was a Pepsi product. For some reason, I always thought it came from Coke, and was indeed bottled public water. In fact, some water companies base their advertising campaigns on this fact("You can buy something a bear shat in, or you could buy our shit-free water!").

I believe Dasani is the Coca-Cola bottled water product.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2007-09-21 12:00pm

Sidewinder wrote:I remember my father complaining about the fact that some of the bottles of "mineral water" sold in China were in fact bottles of tap water. I didn't expect to see such deception in the US.

Someone should take off those rose tinted shades you seem to be wearing.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2007-09-21 12:01pm

SancheztheWhaler wrote: I believe Dasani is the Coca-Cola bottled water product.

They say as much in the article.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2007-09-21 12:04pm

I didn't expect to see such deception in the US

Why would one expect accountability from US companies as opposed to Chinese ones? They're only accountable when forced to, through legislation or public investigations. If there's an opportunity to sell bullshit and profit, they'd use it no matter where they are.

ThatGuyFromThatPlace · Post by **ThatGuyFromThatPlace** » 2007-09-21 12:45pm

however, aren't bottles labeled 'spring water' or some such required to actually come from springs? I seem to recall that being said somewhere.

Meh, Austin tap water is springwater so I don't really care, the only time i drink bottled water is when I'm somewhere where the tapwater is a little on the chewy side or when I'm back-packing.

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2007-09-21 12:47pm

Bottled water is quite popular here. But a lot of it is from real wells. "Real" Mineral water even requires an official authentication from the state.
Not that many people drink tap water, simply because a large percentage of Germans like sparkling mineral water (even though non-sparkling ones like Volvic or Evian are gaining market shares). There are some popular systems to turn tap water into sparkling one, but I guess a lot prefer to just buy it instead of making it themselves.

Johonebesus · Post by **Johonebesus** » 2007-09-21 01:23pm

ThatGuyFromThatPlace wrote:however, aren't bottles labeled 'spring water' or some such required to actually come from springs? I seem to recall that being said somewhere.

Meh, Austin tap water is springwater so I don't really care, the only time i drink bottled water is when I'm somewhere where the tapwater is a little on the chewy side or when I'm back-packing.

I expect that if municipal water comes from a spring, they could sell tap water as spring water.

Teebs · Post by **Teebs** » 2007-09-21 02:15pm

I think in most of Europe the way to tell is if it's labelled 'mineral water' (or whatever the local translation is), normally then there's some sort of legal defiintion that excludes tap water, so the tap water bottles tend to be labelled as spring water or something similar.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2007-09-21 02:21pm

Aquafina tastes like crap, probably because Pepsi's filtration process removes the trace minerals that give water the 'flavor' most people (including myself) are used to tasting.

Coke's Dasani, OTOH, is not only filtered, it has a patented* mix of minerals added to it after filtration that make it taste more 'normal'.

IIRC, I've never seen either brand so much as imply that it's 'spring water' they're selling.

*Patented so that Coke has something to sell to the independent Coke bottlers who might otherwise bottle/market their own bottled water and thus rob the Coca-Cola Corporation of profit.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2007-09-21 02:38pm

Dahak wrote:Bottled water is quite popular here. But a lot of it is from real wells. "Real" Mineral water even requires an official authentication from the state.
Not that many people drink tap water, simply because a large percentage of Germans like sparkling mineral water (even though non-sparkling ones like Volvic or Evian are gaining market shares). There are some popular systems to turn tap water into sparkling one, but I guess a lot prefer to just buy it instead of making it themselves.

I think it´s so widely spread in Germany because most Germans are morons who buy into the "the lime in tap water will block your arteries" bullshit. This myth is so widely spread and so ingrained into so many peoples brains that you won´t get it out. You can tell them what you want to. It´s just like the myth that you shouldn´t reheat mushrooms. People will hear what you say, nod friendly, and the next time the topic comes up they will tell you again that tap water and reheated mushrooms are T2h eVol0rz.
I shit you not, i´ve even been told that tap water is bad for you by a biologist who just did her major and is now working on her PHD.
It drives me nuts.

Coriolis · Post by **Coriolis** » 2007-09-21 03:07pm

The funny thing is that tap water is safer than bottled water since tap water requires FDA regulation.

Another reason why Americans are dumb

I believe that if you look carefully on the back of some bottled water, it says "PWS". It stands for "Public Water Supply".

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-09-21 03:42pm

Most of these bottled waters are just glorified tap water.

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2007-09-21 04:01pm

Coriolis wrote:The funny thing is that tap water is safer than bottled water since tap water requires FDA regulation. Another reason why Americans are dumb

I believe that if you look carefully on the back of some bottled water, it says "PWS". It stands for "Public Water Supply".

Tap Water REQUIRES EPA regulation not FDA Regulation.

Coriolis · Post by **Coriolis** » 2007-09-21 04:34pm

Isolder74 wrote:
Coriolis wrote:The funny thing is that tap water is safer than bottled water since tap water requires FDA regulation. Another reason why Americans are dumb

I believe that if you look carefully on the back of some bottled water, it says "PWS". It stands for "Public Water Supply".
Tap Water REQUIRES EPA regulation not FDA Regulation.

Whoops, my bad

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2007-09-21 05:00pm

Penn and Teller

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-09-21 05:18pm

I've known this for years. I buy Aquafina occasionally because thier 1-liter bottle is very well designed (with a wide mouth), and because all California Aquafina is botttled in my hometown, so it tastes like the tap water I grew up with.

Red Star · Post by **Red Star** » 2007-09-21 05:39pm

As far as I know Aquafina that is sold in Ontario comes from Mississauga water works, which in turn comes from lake Ontario.

ThatGuyFromThatPlace · Post by **ThatGuyFromThatPlace** » 2007-09-21 09:22pm

Aquafina sold in Tx. (And I believe Dasani as well) Is bottled in Dallas which has some of the aforementioned 'chewy' water (it's getting better now that we're not in a drought, but it's still more mud than water)

I don't buy those brands of bottled water.

Picking up a bottle I happen to have laying about (going to school in Dallas with it's chewy water means I go through a rather embarrassing amount of bottled water) It seems I drink a lot of Ozarka Natural Spring Water (I pay more attention to where the stuff is bottled and price than the brand name) which is bottled in Wood Springs Texas from (you guessed it) Natural spring water.

A quick look at their website confirms both that it is actually bottled from a natural spring and not from municipal sources and that bottled water is federally regulated (by the FDA)

Here's a breakdown of the regulations from the [ur=http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/botwatr.htmll]FDA website[/url]
The most interestign part though is this table

Code: Select all

TYPE 	DEFINITION
Artesian Water 	Water from a well tapping a confined aquifer in which the water level stands at some height above the top of the aquifer.

Mineral Water 	Water containing not less than 250 ppm total dissolved solids that originates from a geologically and physically protected underground water source. Mineral water is characterized by constant levels and relative proportions of minerals and trace elements at the source. No minerals may be added to mineral water.

Purified Water 	Water that is produced by distillation, deionization, reverse osmosis or other suitable processes and that meets the definition of "purified water" in the U.S. Pharmacopeia, 23d Revision, Jan. 1, 1995. As appropriate, also may be called "demineralized water," "deionized water," "distilled water," and "reverse osmosis water."

Sparkling Bottled Water 	Water that, after treatment and possible replacement of carbon dioxide, contains the same amount of carbon dioxide that it had at emergence from the source.
Spring Water 	Water derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth at an identified location. Spring water may be collected at the spring or through a bore hole tapping the underground formation feeding the spring, but there are additional requirements for use of a bore hole.

Of the different botlling methods/definitions (confirming that there is an actual legal definition of Spring Water as applies to bottled water)

The actual legalese is (as far as I can tell)
Here and Here

I don't know why that first one is broken, but I'd be grateful if someone could figure out how to fix it.