Water Quality Issues for Cities In and Out of the Bottle
So today I got an email from Corporate Accountability International asking me to send off an email to my state’s governor asking him to cancel state contracts for bottled water service. Good idea, right? I thought so, too, and sent the email. It is amazing what a little bitching can do…
But then I thought about bottled water. And how bottled water is more often than not, bottled city tap water. While staying at my aunt’s in Brighton, Michigan (around the same area as Hell, Michigan — no lie), I drank bottled water. It’s what you do in unenlightened areas of the country — oh, gee, that makes me sound really smug, doesn’t it?
Ok, it is not fair to call people who drink bottled water unenlightened. You see, my aunt spent 14 years in Southern California, and everyone was forced to buy bottled water as the LA Megasprawl’s water sucks. She is a creature of habit, and after moving to Michigan against her will, she did what she always did. She signed up with a bottled water distributor that brings those big bluish bottles to her house. She inverts the bottle in a stand and viola, she has drinking water.
However, while staying with her over the holidays, I changed one of those bottles. I read the little tiny label that peels off when you open the bottle. It said “City of Cleveland” and municipal drinking water. My aunt is buying Cleveland city water.
Looks can be deceiving...
I brought this interesting little tidbit up to her, and she was not aware that the water came from Cleveland, which may be highly ranked for its sustainability due to its water source being Lake Erie, but does not rank highly when it comes to water quality. She said she didn’t care. She answered that it was better than well water.
Is it though?
I did not have the heart to ask her how much she pays for Cleveland water.
If you do buy bottled water, read the label. Find the source. You may be paying for water that is lower quality than the water that comes from your tap.
Corporate Accountability International, water, quality, bottled water, tap water, Cleveland, Brighton, Hell, Michigan, sustainability
January 8th, 2009 at 6:22 am
There’s a lot of controversy regarding tap and bottled water.
I read an interesting article on Yahoo about 4 Reasons why you should drink tap water so you may want to check that one too…