Thursday, July 3, 2008

Don't Let Your Water Get Taken Along For The Ride

You’ve heard the stories about environmental waste from bottled water in those handy 16 ounce plastic bottles. To hear the stories you’d think these bottles are single handedly responsible for high gas prices. We were curious that the stories did not attack soft drinks in plastic bottles or one gallon plastic bottles in the grocer store. They all use petroleum but not a peep from the media. We did some research and found that the story is being driven by a public relations firm hired by the nation’s water utilities. Why do they care?

First every consumer that buys bottled water is telling the nation’s water utilities that they don’t trust the product that comes from their tap. So they feel every person carrying a bottle of water is an attack on their competency. In a way after deaths several years ago in Milwaukee due to cryptosporidium and high manganese or boil water alerts in hundreds of cities yearly, it is understandable why the consumer is skittish.

Second, while most water tests okay at the utility well head, things happen to water after it travels miles under city streets. For instance, every time a water main breaks, e. coli, a bacteria that can cause illness, enters the pipe. In some cities water mains are made of lead that can leach into the drinking water. Some cities have been aggressive in changing out those pipes, but that didn’t stop them from sending water through those pipes for years without telling the consumer about the risks. And there must have been risks or the utilities wouldn’t spend millions replacing pipes. And lead pipes may be better than what lies under some city streets. In some southern cities, hollowed out cypress logs still are part of the water system in those communities.

Third, chlorine is added to purify the water. Google chlorine sometime and see what the health effects it causes. In World War I they called chlorine “mustard gas” and they used it to poison enemy troops. Now we put it in our water to keep illness from infesting our water supply. You certainly will want to keep from drinking that and some would argue we shouldn’t even shower in the stuff.

Water needs to be portable because hydration is key for health. A healthy diet is an acceptable trade off for the environment. If you’re concerned about being seen carrying bottled water, put a sticker on it saying “I recycle”. Because the only way bottled water can waste petroleum is if we don’t recycle the bottle.