The College of St. Benedict used to like bottled water enough to affix its logo to the plastic and hand it out at alumni events. Macalester College did the same.

But bottled water isn’t welcome anymore.

This fall, the Minnesota schools are joining a national movement to ban disposable Dasani and its ilk from campus cafeterias and admissions offices. St. Ben’s recently became the first school in the state — and the ninth in the nation — to ban the sale and purchase of plain bottled water on campus. Macalester will start a similar policy Sept. 1.

No bottled water sold at soccer games or in vending machines. No bottled water given out at staff picnics or on campus tours.

These campus bans are part of a broader eco-unease with the $11-billion U.S. bottled water industry. Dozens of cities, including San Francisco and New York, have banned bottles of water from being bought with city money. Others have considered banning it from being sold within city limits.

Today’s college students believe that the water is costly and wasteful. As Macalester senior Clare Pillsbury put it: “We don’t buy bottled water.”

For the College of St. Benedict, the decision was based as much on Catholic Benedictine values as environmental concerns.

“Most people jump right to the environment,” said Judy Purman, director of sustainability. “More importantly, though, I think (more…)

Our friends at the International Bottled Water Association recently released their 2010 bottled water sales report, showing a 3.5% increase in overall bottled water consumption. Although there was a slight increase, efforts to curb the use and sale of bottled water continue to increase as more consumers become aware of the costs, environmental impacts, and health dangers associated with bottled water.

The report noted: new BMC data, released in the May 2011 issue of Bottled Water Reporter magazine, shows the overall consumption of bottled water has increased by 3.5% after slight losses in 2008 and 2009 due to poor economic conditions. It also shows the bottled water category’s overall share of the liquid refreshment beverages marketplace grew slightly to 30%, up from approximately 29.2% in 2009.

In 2010, total bottled water consumption increased to 8.75bn gallons, up from 8.45bn gallons in 2009. Per-​capita consumption is up 2.6% in 2010, with every person in America drinking an average of 28.3 gallons of bottled water last year.

Overall, in 2010, the entire US refreshment beverage category grew by 1.2%, after two years of a recession-​based downturn. Currently, carbonated soft drinks command a 23% market share, down slightly from 2009, while bottled water’s market share grew to 15% as consumer interest in healthy, calorie-​free beverages increased while recessionary impacts on them decreased.

Source: FoodBev.com

Fiji Water, the most fashionable and popular bottled water brand in the U.S. and the world, has been going through some major turmoil this week and nearly closed down its plants that draw and bottle water from an aquifer in Fiji.

Last week, the military government of Fiji ordered Ratu Epeli Ganilau to deport David Roth, Director of External Affairs at Fiji Water.  Ganilau then actually resigned from his position as Minister of Defense, National Security, and Immigration rather than go through with the order.  Instead, Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum gave the order and deported Roth for behaving “in a manner prejudicial to good governance and public order.”

Following this major blow, the Fijian government imposed an “extraction tax” of 15 cents per liter of water taken from the aquifer–an astronomical increase from the one third of a cent per liter they were paying up until now.  This tax affects companies extracting over 3.5 million liters month in Fiji… which ends up being only Fiji Water.  In response, Fiji Water announced on Monday that it would be closing it plants in it’s namesakes country.

This is the second time this tax has been proposed.  In 2008, the government tried to impose a 20 cent/liter tax and after Fiji Water temporarily closed its plants, the government backed down.  The company ships $150 million of water each year, which adds up to about 20% of Fiji’s exports.  They also spend over a million dollars each year on local projects and employ hundreds of residents.

Fiji Water President John Cochran said just days ago that “[Fiji] is increasingly unstable, and is becoming a very risky place in which to invest.”  However, in a statement issued this evening, the company declares that “Fiji Water will reopen its bottling plant, effective Wednesday morning, Dec. 1… Through our discussions, we have also agreed to comply with Fiji’s new water tax law.” They also added that their company “is committed to working with the Fijian government, and remains dedicated to helping the country’s economy and its people.”

via TapItWater.org

Bottled water is clean and pure, right? Not necessarily. Bottled water can be less pure than municipal tap water in some parts of the United States. In fact, bottled water can actually be municipal tap water.

What is bottled water?

The United State FDA describes bottled water in this way: “Bottled water is water that is intended for human consumption and that is sealed in bottles or other containers with no added ingredients except that it may optionally contain safe and suitable antimicrobial agents. Fluoride may be optionally added within the limitations established.”

Who regulates what bottled water has in it?

The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates bottled drinking water, which is classified as a “food”. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates tap water. Amazingly, the EPA guidelines for municipal water are stricter than the FDA restrictions for bottled drinking water! You might buy bottled drinking water that is acceptable to the FDA but is not acceptable for use as ordinary bathroom tap water.

The FDA’s specific regulations for bottled water are found in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR).

What are FDA standards?

Under the standard of quality (21 CFR, 165.110[b]), FDA allows certain levels of contaminants in bottled water.

Contaminants bottled water may have in it.

1. Coliform. Coliform are rod-shaped bacteria, such as E. coli, that are normally present in the human intestine. The FDA says that bottled water may have up to 9.2 coliform organisms per 100 milliliters. See 21 CFR 165.110[b]. (more…)

Wait a minute: free drinking water ISN’T available in all of our school cafeterias?? We have to pass a LAW requiring that free water be made available to children in lunchrooms?

Article by Dr. Peter Gleick from SFGate.com

One of the reasons for the explosive growth in the sales of bottled water in the past two decades (the average American now drinks nearly 30 gallons of commercial bottled water per year, up from 1 gallon in 1980), is the disappearance of public drinking water fountains.

In a recent Huffington Post piece and in the book Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water, I recount the disappearance of public water from major sports venues, such as the new stadium at Central Florida University (built with no water fountains at all), the removal of water fountains by the sports arena that hosts the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the efforts by the University of Michigan at their 100,000 seat stadium to restrict water to a small number of fountains and sales of bottled water from their own commercial vendors.

It is time for a revival of our public drinking water fountains. And some people are getting the message:

A fancy new water fountain has just been installed in London’s Hyde Park as part of a revival there. (more…)

A recent “grassroots” campaign, funded by The International Bottled Water Association, has popped up on the internet charging consumers to fight for their rights to drink, carry and purchase bottled water anytime, anywhere. With a website, YouTube channel, Twitter feed and Facebook page they present themselves as concerned citizens and good, honest bottled water enthusiasts.

This is yet another example of large corporations and trade groups attempting to influence public policy and opinion by sponsoring “grassroots” movements to fight for their agenda.

Check out this awkward spot produced by the group:

Brian Merchant notes: “But the strangest thing about this particular “grassroots” movement to me is just how out of touch and overextended it is — it seems like a pretty big stretch for the industry to assume it can make people think they’re fighting to defend their freedom of choice by asking their congressman to protect bottled water. I can’t imagine even the most diehard libertarian getting fired up over their right to drink bottled water.

Also interesting is the claim employed here, that we’ve grown well-accustomed to hearing — that moving to limit wasteful consumption or institute environmental protections amount to assaults on American freedoms. Which is more often than not, ridiculous. Bottled water, for instance, is wasteful, pointless, and requires a ton of petroleum to manufacture and recycle. Americans have the option to fill their reusable bottles with perfectly good tap water, at 1% of the cost. That’s what I call freedom.

[via TreeHugger]

Bill would tell state how much of its water goes to bottlers

Does the state have a right to know where its water is going?

Major multinational corporations such as Nestle are allowed to siphon it up for free—only to sell it back to Californians and others in energy-guzzling plastic bottles likely to end up in landfills or floating off our lovely coastlines. Profit margin: Up to 10,000 percent.

Bottled water is increasingly controversial for these reasons. And while you may not believe that the occasional Dasani or Aquafina is a Class A environmental felony, it would certainly make sense to have companies pay the state something for the millions of gallons of water they remove from the public’s groundwater supply.

A state bill sponsored by Felipe Fuentes (D-San Fernando) will soon get a floor vote to eliminate on part of the scandal: It would require water bottlers to report how much water they take from public aquifers. The governor vetoed the bill last year in a skirmish over the budget.

Also last summer, the City of Sacramento made a deal with Nestle that is stricter than most: It charges the company 65 centers per 100 cubic feet of water, instead of giving it up for free. But the city didn’t limit the Nestle’s total draw, even as local residents faced water restrictions. And the 65 cent price is 10 cents lower than the generic commercial rate, although Nestle will make a 10,000 percent profit on the water.

Fuentes’ bill wouldn’t undo sweetheart deals like this one, but it would force water bottlers like Nestle to report their water use to the state — which would empower officials to consider this significant source of commercial use in determining how best to handle California’s contentious water issues.

Ask your representatives to support the bill by signing this petition.

A recent report by USA Today noted filtered tap water makes up an increasing share of bottled water — rising from 32.7% in 2000 to 47.8% in 2009 — as the share of spring-sourced water declines, according to analysis of industry data by the non-profit consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch.

Nearly half of those in PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles now come from municipal tap water! I can’t say I’m particularly surprised by this figure. Remember the whole Aquafina controversy? Of course you do. Pepsi, the conglomerate behind Aquafina, even admitted Aquafina comes from the tap.

“These are the numbers the bottled water industry doesn’t want you to see,” says Wenonah Hauter, the group’s executive director in a statement. She adds: “More and more bottled water is basically the same product the flows from consumer taps, subsidized by taxpayer dollars—then poured into an environmentally destructive package, and sold for thousands of times its actual value.”

The data, which come from the Beverage Marketing Corporation’s annual report on bottled water, attribute the increase in tap-sourced water to Nestle Pure Life’s switch from spring water to tap water in 2005. They also show that U.S. sales of bottled water increased sharply from 2002 to 2007 but have since fallen.

Report: Bottled water increasingly comes from the tap [via USA Today]