In our view: Bottled water should be removed from city buildings

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A century ago, a good, cold drink of water was found at a pristine brook or a spring.

A half-century ago, that same drink of water was poured at the kitchen tap.

A decade ago, we embraced a decidedly European trend and began reaching for, and paying for, a bottle of spring water to quench our thirst.

But today, there is a small but growing move afoot to leave the plastic bottle on the store shelf and once again return to the tap.

The City of Fredericton is contemplating the removal of bottled water from its vending machines and facilities, forcing employees and building users to bring their own or use taps and fountains. This comes in the wake of the city council of London, Ont. voting to rid all municipal buildings of the bottled variety where water fountains are available.

London cites the environment as the reason for the ban, saying it takes 150 times more greenhouse gases to produce bottled water than tap water. Several other Canadian cities are considering the same ban.

It seems we are starting to see bottled water in a different light - as a user of energy to treat the water and manufacture, sanitize, fill, crate and transport the bottles.

Then there are all those plastic bottles to deal with, which surely tugs at the ethics of those with a green conscience. And this city administration challenges citizens and itself daily to live a "green" life.

Imagine the financial and environmental impact: in the United States, according to the International Bottled Water Association, the industry grew from sales of 354 million gallons in 1974, to a predicted 9.4 billion gallons this year.

And a 2006 StatsCan report showed 30 per cent of households said bottled water was their main source of home drinking water, with sales of over $650 million in the same year. That's a lot of wasted money on a product whose necessity is in question, and a lot of plastic bottles that eventually end up in the landfill.

There is certainly a place and a need for bottled water. Take the spring flood of the St. John River, for example. Wells were compromised and bottled water was an absolute necessity.

But for everyday use, Fredericton tap water will do just fine. Consumers have simply been successfully conditioned to believe tap water is bad and bottled water is good, when in fact, city water goes through a rigorous, multi-step process to ensure its safety.

As long as those processes are in place - and it would be ludicrous to suggest the future holds less scrutiny than what currently exists - we can be confident in the integrity of our tap water.

We encourage the city to provide leadership on this environmental issue, and proceed with a ban on the sale of bottled water in its facilities.