US Mayors Agree to Phase Out Bottled Water

Rich,

The point is to clean up the contamination.
There is no sense in granting permission for our PUBLIC resources to be privately profitable for a few corporate execs while you lose money and freedom and poorer families suffer.

Water is a PUBLIC resource and our systems need to be clean, affordable, and accessible to all members of society.

If you keep supporting making water a private commodity- what happens when you can no longer afford to consume with the clean and cool kids any longer??

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People just better make sure that the cities that do this switch to safer methods of cleaning the water, like getting rid of the chlorine, which is linked to many illnesses. Also, demand that fluoride be taken out too . . . I never had any health problems before I began drinking tap water for about two years. after I realized what it was that was causing my health to decline, I stopped drinking tap water and have slowly been able to rebuild my health.

Two wrongs doesn't make a right. So-called treated city water is nothing but sewage replete with dioxins, mercury, lead, chlorine, fluoride, fertilizer and pesticide runoff plus much more.

Bottled water is mostly filtered tap water in plastic bottles which leaches out undesirable compounds into the water. Both of these sources leave much to be desired.

I'm not going to argue whether distilling or reverse osmosis is the best. Forget that. Either method is far and away better than city or bottled water.

Which ever you choose, the water will be about 99% free of contaminants. You can add all the necessary minerals back into the water. They can be purchased in liquid form and then adding so many drops per gallon. Just be sure you put your water in glass containers, not plastic.

Don't quibble or fuss over which method to use. Let the mayors do whatever they wish. Take charge of making your own water and you will know what's in it.

Government is taking our rights, freedoms, liberties and choices away from us through draconian legislation. Protect your right to choose while you still can. Do what you think is best, not what Big Brother thinks is best for you.

And this would hopefully mean LESS plastic bottles floating around in our oceans.

Let me tell you a story you can or can't believe. Back in 2003 I published a book on UFO / ET. Within that book I named a certain ethnic group who (I felt due to the research I did for the book) where human looking ET.

Since I've published my Internet book, I've been harassed by "spooks" who have broken into my home, poisoned my food and drink (including my private well) and have not yet stopped. Over the last few years I have install electronic solenoid locks on my home doors and garage door and video cameras with Tivo like devices that record 24/7. These sneaky bastards still "under cover of night" feel like they want to make more trouble for me. My well is still contaminated and if it where not for bottled water I would most certainly be in very bad health or dead now.

My advice for what it worth is to look at this "no bottled water" thing as another attempt to "corral" the public into limited sources of water so that maybe you to can experiance what I'm going though now. Don't let these freaks limit your choices on water. Because without drinkable water you are doomed!

A good first start. Now, when do we start phasing out plastic bags? They are by far the biggest cause of litter in cities.

one of the big problems I have with city water is that it is chlorinated which maybe the cause of our high heart disease since there was a study that said the chlorine lacerates the inside of the arteries which allow the plaque to catch in it and build up over time. The second issue I have is that it is a lot of time has flouride added which is against the geneva convention on medicating people without their consent. Flouride is know to mottle teeth in high doses cause glandular problems cause thickened and brittle bones and can effect the brain. If it is of any help it is only for topical application to the teeth not ingested. So there are a few reasons why I prefer to drink bottled spring water and not the city water.

Wow! Hoorah!
The best security we can have is rain catchment municipal and personal (no reason for any rainwater runoff in cities) and wells that are not sucked dry by industrial agriculture (that practice should be outlawed.)
Bottling companies buy up springs and wells in many small towns and suck all the water so that local citizens have poor, salinated water and have to BUY water. Orange Springs Fla. for one. The Navaho reservation for another.

It is a frighting thing to see people rely so much on a company making a profit, to get the most essential element on the planet!

The American Beverage Associations called the resolution "tainted with hypocrisies and inaccuracies....most mayors across America gladly welcome bottled water when disaster strikes...Our beverage companies continually come to the aid of communities ravaged by floods, fires, hurricanes...and compromised municipal water systems."

They would say that. They stand to lose an INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF MONEY!
And just because something is recycleable does not mean it's sustainable, healthy or good for the planet!

I should have thought of putting water in bottles years ago. I can't believe that someone would spend a dollar to buy less than a pennies worth of water. One day at a festival I saw someone filling up those bottled water containers with a garden hose. I thought it was pretty funny. How stupid can the public get. Wow, look at me, I am drinking plain water from a fancy bottle....

The biggest problem with Reverse Osmosis is waste. For each gallon of drinkable water, 3 gallons went down the drain as waste. In your own home, you probably could arrange for that to be redirected to the shower or sink or garden.

In my home, we collect rainwater, have a drip-line from the air conditioner into a large flower pot, and collect laundry water (gray water from wash and rinse cycles) for use on the garden. We're working on a redesign of the bathroom sink so the waste water will flush the toilet. This is because not everyone in my house will contribute to the humanure.

The article says that plastic water bottles are 100% recyclable. That's true. The problem is, they're not recycled into plastic water bottles or other food-grade plastics. They're recycled into fleece clothing, kayaks, and flower pots.

Bfriesen (June 25 2008 5:25 pm) said: "How about a canteen with a built-in filter ... a Brita canteen?"

Actually, such a thing exists. It's a Bota Bottle: e.g. http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/accessdetail.cfm/BOT100

Ask webwalk noted above, the mayors are not banning bottled water. The are making a statement that their local governments will not buy it. Some of the posters above supporting the bottling of tap water for sale to the public might want to try to see the broader and deeper issue of what is going on, Informational link about water problem:
http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/cms/page1131.cfm

Anyone try taking away my Volvic is in for a great deal of hurting. Torture, war crimes, fraud, lies, stolen elections, etc are one thing. Taking away bottled water crosses the line.

The dumb factor must come from the suckers drinking fluorinated water from the tap. Stalin used to give fluoride to prisoners to dumb them down and keep them docile. Also drugs excreted from peoples kidneys are in tap water since water treatment does not remove all of them. Bottled water coming from surface waters is dangerous in some areas. When you travel you have no idea.

Boiling water to distill it or make sure it's safe uses energy and concentrates nitrates. Drink water given to you in an eatery? No sir. I buy mine in a 1 L bottle, carry it around when I go out. Where I am I pay 8 dollars a gallon (about 2 dollars a liter). Too bad I can't drink gasoline.

The control freaks are getting too much. Enough is enough. This article is actually unclear as to what the Mayors are phasing out. I would think a better way of control would be to tax the bottled water if the bottled water is coming from public supplies. If not, no tax.

In my city (Phoenix) they collect bottled water to give to the homeless. I found this shocking. Why not give them a reusable glass/cup/bottle? It is not as if we are in the middle of nowhere and there is no public access to clean drinking water. In fact, because of the extreme heat, it is illegal in Arizona to refuse a person a glass of water if they request it. Why do we need to create all this extra waste? I would think if you are homeless, it would be a lot easier to carry around a cup than a bunch of bottles of water.

glass is the answer and is 100% recycled and can last for years.
I can see some state or province say a glass bottle can be used as a weapon at some event. Isn't that have the plastic bottled water craze got a food hold in the first place, safety?

it is hard not the buy bottled water when my local store sells it for 2$ for 24 bottles, or about 8 cents a 500 ML bottle.

put a well in your backyard and it has none of the chemicals mentioned above. Filter the heck out of it and you will be better off. Send it in for testing 4 times a year and you will be OK.

Well,

i know it's late but...

i can't believe the thread went this far without anyone pointing out that the mayors are NOT banning anyone from producing, selling, buying or drinking bottled water, EXCEPT specifically blocking their own city governments from procuring bottled water for use at official functions or in municipal offices.

That said, i agree that water-for-profit SHOULD be banned. But that's not what these mayors are doing.

Isn't there some sort of theory as to the fall of the Roman Empire, something about lead pipes in the homes of the aristocracy... Hmmm.

Who are the "Mayors" kidding here? Municipal water is only potable at the water treatment plant. After the municipal water travels several miles to your house via old cracked and leaking black steel pipes pipes thriving with bacteria, not to mention the PVC pipes and the leaching of chemicals into the water, it isn't fit to drink. This is especially true in San Francisco and Los Angeles where the levels of chlorine used to ensure safe water to your house from an outdated infrastructure is offensive.

Bottled water has always been a joke. Most suppliers buy municipal water and filter it and package it in a toxic bottle. Now that we all know the plastic bottles are toxic its time to go back to the municipal water we were getting away from.

Take the time to investigate water filtration systems and spend the money to buy the best (RO - reverse osmosis - water is okay but it takes a lot of water to make 1 gallon of RO filtered water).

For those who've been duped by the scumbag American Dental Association and in all likelihood, your dentist member, flouride is fuckin' byproduct (waste) of lethal radium mining...lovely :(

If you get sick from your tap water then rebuild your fucking plumbing idiot!! I did and my water tests and tastes EXCELLENT. You gotta be a few braincells short to keep your rusty lead pipes in disrepair while paying Coca Cola bottling company to sell you the ingredient of life- packaged at an out-of-state source with poor regulation. Most bottled water doesn't even have to pass half the tests that municiple sources do because the corp-porks skirt the local laws through outsourcing!!!!

Give up the commodity lifestyle! Life does not come wrapped in a plastic!

Reverse osmosis must be through as ceramic flter, otherwise contaminents will enter the clean water. The question is whether reverse osmosis or even distillation takes out the mind-conrol, carcinogenic, bone-crumbling fluoride, which is so tightly bound to the water molecule. Just maybe this whole program has a more sinister intent, that is forced mind control through stealthy fluoridation. Also, if the water supply has been chlorinated with Chlorox laundry bleach, then you have a cancer time bomb with the introduced radioactivity, grease, and heavy metals etc. See The Cure and Prevention of All Cancers 2007, H R Clark PhD ND.

It's time to put a stop to the privatization juggernaut and reaffirm the global commons. "We the people", the concept of public space and public ownership is like garlic and holy water to the vampire corporatocracy, which has been systematically swindling the public of its lands, our atmosphere, our water, our airways, our parks, our public transportation.

And the reason they have been so successful is because they have successfully undermined the foundation of the public trust by perverting the Jeffersonian message of limited government and turning the people against the very concept of a people's government.

The result is a guy like Rich Griffin, the first poster, whose reaction to an antiquated public water system is to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Why not campaign to invest in the system and bring it up to date?

Privatization is just another corporate scam to bilk the public treasury. We need to build community and faith in our local governments and when the privatizers come along, send them packing. With renewed faith at the local level we can eventually take back the national government and drive a stake through the heart of the corporatocracy.

Plastic leaches biphenol-A, a highly carcinogenic chemical into whatever is in it. Also there's plenty of ongoing lawsuits against coke, pepsi and others who are selling tap water as bottled spring water.

F L U O R I D E and other POISONS is what these S.o.B.'s want you to ingest. And lest you not believe fluoride IS a poison, do some research. It's being used to kill possums and other 'pests' for real. Call a poison control center and tell them a small child has eaten a tube of toothpaste. Listen to their CONCERN THEN! (Wouldn't do this from a trackable phone though....) I like my WELL water and drink bottled water. They can take their toxins and shove them!

There is a difference between a water filter and a water purifier. We have a Multi-Pure in the kitchen with a carbon filtration system that removes 98-99% of two or three pages worth of polysyllabic chemicals. Makes the water taste great, too. We also have a purifier in our emergency kit that removes chemicals plus bacteria and virii. We live in earthquake country, so when the big one comes and FEMA is doing it's usual dithering, we can suck water up from foetid puddles and drink it. (I hope. Now if they would only devise a Blackwater filter, to keep that particular virus out of our nation, I'd be very happy.) I also have a stainless steel water bottle which I found, but they cost maybe $15. Not cheap, but that's the cost of, what, a week and a half of bottled water? T'aint rocket surgery, gang.

I use a berkey light p-2 black filter element gravity fed unit and I have my own well,, it is one of the best filter systems out there, I also get purified water from health food markets--25cents a gallon, these systems use well or municipal sources---one can refill the bottles over and over again

most of the machines I have seen have a 4--to 5 stage filter process---the end result is very pure good tasting water--these mayors should at least buy some of these machines to give the workers the choice to bring there own bottle to work, and pay the buy the gallon, hell maybe these cities could even make a honest buck .and lower taxes---NOT
thats better than drinking the CRAP_ from the TAP.

Some people also do not like to be medically fluoridated by their tap water, which is also absorbed by the skin in the bath. It is absolutely against the Constitution to restrict us from buying what we choose to buy. No one has the right to tell us we cannot buy bottled water, especially if we object to being mass-medicated by a HAZMAT chemical (fluoride).

I know there are some folks who don't have access to clean water, bottled works for them. Where I live we are fortunate to have one of the most modern municipal waterworks departments, our water is as clean and fresh as it gets - and it is out of Lake Ontario. Every test result done shows it to be superior to bottled water.

We can reduce stress on the public water supplies immediately through simple rainwater catchment. Reclaimed water from rain, air conditioners and refrigerators is great for watering plants. All it takes is some hose or tubing and a container and, depending on where you are, in the summer you might get a gallon a day from your window air conditioner, if you use one. Some refrigerators actually reclaim water from the air and then it is plumbed right into the waste stream...perfectly good water.

http://www.youtube.com/user/earthactivistas

Thank you merwan for a valuable post adding credence to what I previously posted. We cannot let private corporations control our water supply and must stop it with direct action if necessary. Thanks.

Rich Griffin is very short-sighted. Sure, there are some public water supplies that carry toxins. But let's work to clean them up, not to increase the growing water shortage by depending on expensive water in toxic bottles. It is far more responsible to purify our water than to avoid it!

RE: the post by MichaelPDA:

Read this: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_25/b4089040017753.htm and be very, very afraid.

On June 25th, 2008 12:03 pm Rich Griffin wrote: >>
I got incredibly sick & almost died due to contaminated tap water - how does one go about phasing out bottled water?? Do they mean from government buildings?? I'm FOR bottled water.<<

I have been getting my clean water from my tap by way of a 5 stage reverse osmosis filter. That's the way the bottled water companies do it to. The filtration system I use cost me about $200.00 when I installed it myself 8 years ago.

Some of these bottled water companies will, additionally bombard the water with UV light to kill pathogens. Then they mark it up tenfold. Most bottled water though will not be any better than what you can filter at home. My dad would always test my water and it always came up 5 ppm sediments as opposed to 200 ppm from my tap.

So save you money and and kick the bottle. Buy one of these filtration systems. They're probably around $160.00 now.

Rich Griffin wonders:

"I got incredibly sick & almost died due to contaminated tap water - how does one go about phasing out bottled water?? Do they mean from government buildings?? I'm FOR bottled water."

**********************

While it is true that most bottled water comes from the same tap that goes into your home, it's what happens after the water comes out of the tap that matters. There is no way to distribute water from a cenbtralized point without using massive doses of chlorine to kill the germs and viruses that cause dysentary, cholera and other water born illnsses.

For the cost of some glass or ceramic jugs, (those cutesy plastic bottles are embedded with toxic chemicals that leech into the water inside them) and a fairly inexpensive filtration system that can attach to the tap in your home, you can obtain your own quality bottled water at much less than the outrageous costs being charged by bottling companies for exactly the same product.

Don't be a corporate-dependant wuss, use your own head to become more self-reliant.

Americans have been pissing down their wells for many years now. And...........they have the balls to complain about getting deathly ill from drinking the product of their own stupidity. Just wait to hear what your grandchildren will have to say about youse.

The multinational water corporations are working tirelessly to make water no longer a public commodity but instead a private concern. Go rent the movie "Thirst" and learn more about what is happening to what they call "the next oil" and why they want to get their greedy hooks on water supply and take it from the public sphere. Dee here for the movie:
http://www.thirstthemovie.org/

The movie will show you just why bottled water is so bad. Also, you should learn about how these multinationals are trying to buy up public water works, and the terrible results. Read about Atlanta and Stockton CA to see what I am talking about. Also check out how Bolivians kicked out Halliburton after they made public water supplies private. At least in Bolivia the people don't take it lying down. They do something about it. A few years ago I trekked in Nepal, and they are having a terrible time with debris in the mountains from bottled water. I used chemicals and carried a container to mix local water and then purify it.

In our fair city, Akron, Ohio, the Democratic Mayor, after being lobbied hard by these multi-national corporations at the mayor conferences is now trying to privatize our sewer system. There aren't many here who don't think that our public water system isn't next. Get informed, and at the first hint that your local government is trying to privatize, take action. We have formed a coalition, Citizens Save Our Sewers (Citizens SOS) that will not allow the sale of public infrastructure without a vote of the people rather than have a mayor and half of a city council make a decision not in the interest of the public.

People who have access to a municipal water supply are lucky. Many people have to get their water from a well. In some areas well water is so bad that a filter doesn't help.
Imagine having to carry all drinking and cooking water in after purchasing it from a store. Life in the USA...

just because something is possible, doesn't mean it's preferable...when do we begin making specific business models illegal? Bottled water would seem a logical start...

http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-You-Know-What-Bottled-Water-Has-in-It?&id=4...

"buy a fucking canteen and fill it from your safe, cheap tap."

That's funny, "carry a canteen"....but it's true. That's where it is heading. Isn't that what a re-usable container is anyway?

Just filter the tap water first. There's stuff in there you don't want to drink and I'm not talking about just bacteria.

Maybe the city offices should hand out canteens with the city logo or slogan on them or maybe a slogan about the quality of the water. They would be a great statement about the city.

Like,..."Come on in, the water's fine", or "I drink tap water and I like it", or "I drink (city name) water because it's the best there is", or "I don't just bath in it, I drink it too".

Ok, I'm not copywriter. Any creative writers out there?

How about a canteen with a built in filter....a Brita canteen?

wow I'm gonna miss seein candyass pencilneck apathetic posers in public without their bottled water

its not gonna happen.....makes too much sense

There is a place for bottled water – emergencies or contamination are a good examples.

The problem is not bottled water per se, but us. The common attitude, prevalent in but not limited to the USA, is that if something is good then more is better.

We've seen this before with DDT, CFCs, Halon fire extinguishants, and many other useful products (especially household chemicals) – we simply overuse them or use them where they are not appropriate, until they become a problem.

We are lazy, unimaginative, and at times downright stupid – paying exorbitant prices for essentially tap water while trashing our environment and wasting fuel trucking it around the country. With a little thought or planning we could bring our own water in a rinsed out juice bottle, and save money.

But it's too easy to just buy water (perhaps some of us have too much money). You really can't blame the beverage companies for cashing in on our foolishness.

Pogo was right – "we have met the enemy and he is us."

We need to take personal responsibility for our actions – don't buy the stuff when it's inappropriate.

Peace.

FUCK BOTTLED WATER. The cost in both $$$ and the environment is nuts. The first poster (Rich Griffin) is either an moron or CEO of fucking pepsi. You want bottled water, buy a fucking canteen and fill it from your safe, cheap tap.

...and then let's phase out PLASTIC BAGS for pete's sake!

It would be great if cities did improve drinking water and the public demand clean water. However, the US is a hyper-capitalistic, hyper-individualistic country where 'nanny government' is frowned upon and private sector or DIY solutions encouraged.

I think phasing out bottled water is a GREAT idea. This gives cities the incentive to improve drinking water in cities, and for the public to demand cleaner water and efficient use of drinking water. How many ppl actually recycle these bottles? Not enough. Soon there will be wars over water, and we need to start seriously considering where and how we use our water. I think bottled water and tanks should be used during a natural disaster provided by the national gaurd/government. However, the average person does not need bottled water. That's what water purifiers are for. See a gross water fountain? Take action instead of being lazy and get that fountain fixed!

This seems to me very suspicious. IMO, cutting off bottled water could be disastrous in some localities. I agree with the first poster. Bad tap water in old lead pipes in the slums of Holyoke, Mass made me so sick in the mid 90s that I absolutely HAD TO USE BOTTLED WATER.

I understand the big filter-craze, but I think bottled water has its practical, life-saving uses and we should not simply put an end to it. Bottles should be redesigned so that they can be reused over and over again and/or easily recycled.

Check this idea out:

http://ts-variant.net/blog/miscl/concept-101.html

"While some mayors oppose the use of bottled water by city governments, most mayors across America gladly welcome bottled water when disaster strikes," the industry group said in a statement.

"Our beverage companies continually come to the aid of communities ravaged by floods, fires, hurricanes, other natural disasters and compromised municipal water systems."

We used to have the National Guard supply water trucks to disaster stricken areas, and if those were in short supply, the Guard would decontaminate rancid water with chemicals, and if that wasn't available, people used to boil their water, but since 70% of Government services are now being run by Private Corporations, what choice do we have?

Hell, the bottled water is coming from a tap anyway.

Probably the best filter is a reverse osmosis device. It takes out virtually everything. Also it is cheaper to run that a distiller. A real distiller must use energy to vaporize the water to be condensed later. Reverse osmosis uses that pressure in the water line.

Bear in mind, this device uses more water than it supplies. The water containing the contaminates is discharged.

Maine will be the next "Dry State" Nestle who own Poland Springs sucks millions of gallons out of our aquifer daily with the latest the Kennebunkport water district about to "give" them 250 thousand gallons a day so they can waist fuel to ship it to who knows where!
I say the Mayors have to tax every drop coming out and tax every plastic bottle sold in their towns.
Get a filter system and that $1.39 sport bottle will cost you 3cents!!!

We live in a city where we don't necessarily believe what local governmnet says about the quality of water. And even if the city water supply is clean -- what about all the pipes it must travel to reach the tap? Filter at the end point.

If you filter your drinking water at the tap (real, quality filters) -- issues of contamination are not an issue. Simply repeatedly re-fill reusable containers you need to take.

Bythe way, most of the bottled water sold is simply out of a tap. It's all dollar motivated -- B.S.

Get a water filter, you can hook it right up to your tap. I use a distiller, it makes a gallon at a time, is cheaper than buying it in gallon jugs, I'm not wasting tons of plastic, and I KNOW there is nothing in there but H20.

it takes three quarts of water to bottle one quart. clean water is not an unlimited natural resource. clean water should be a right for everyone, and not for capitalist profit. check out Maude Barlow's writings; also an interview here:
http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2005/01/maude_barlow.html

I got incredibly sick & almost died due to contaminated tap water - how does one go about phasing out bottled water?? Do they mean from government buildings?? I'm FOR bottled water.