Archive for February, 2010
The Beauty of Tap Water
I just returned from California where there is a state-wide campaign to promote the beauty of tap water. This really got me to thinking.
The bottom line is this; single use plastic bottles are bad. They fill up landfills, remove water from water sheds, perpetuate our dependence on oil, and are mostly municipal tap water in a fancy bottle with a large marketing budget to back them…AND the bottled water industry has very little regulation to assure the consumer that what they are buying and drinking is actually safe.
| Some Key Differences Between EPA Tap Water and FDA Bottled Water Rules | ||||||
| Water Type | Dis-infection Required? | ConfirmedE. Coli & Fecal Coliform Banned? | Testing Frequency for Bacteria | Must Filter to Remove Pathogens, or Have Strictly Protected Source? | Must Test for Crypto-sporidium, Giardia,Viruses? | Testing Frequency for Most Synthetic Organic Chemicals |
| Bottled Water | No | No | 1/week | No | No | 1/year |
| Carbonated or Seltzer Water | No | No | None | No | No | None |
| Big City Tap Water (using surface water) | Yes | Yes | Hundreds/ month | Yes | Yes | 1/quarter (limited waivers available if clean source) |
| See Table 1 of NRDC’s bottled water report for further comparisons and explanations. | ||||||
The City of Vancouver has also made the promotion of tap water a top priority. By the end of 2010, the city hopes to have curtailed its bottled water use by 20%.
Here in Pagosa, we are blessed with a pristine and pure source of drinking water. The bottle of water bought in a store for $1 can be filled from the tap for about a penny.
Think about it.
Smart Water Audits begin
We have begun our community Smart Water Audits! 10 local businesses have been selected to undergo an audit and retro-fit program to help save water. This phenomenal program has been funded by a $48,700 grant we received from the State of CO (CWCB). More info to come…
P.O. Drawer 4610 · 100 Lyn Avenue · Pagosa Springs, Colorado 81157 · (970) 731-2691