SVN3M - Water

Bottled Water vs. Tap Water Assignment

Articles:

“Canada: Debate flows over bottled water; Is it really any better for you?” (The Hamilton Spectator)

“Ever wonder what ELSE is inside the bottle?” (Polaris Institute’s Inside the Bottle Campaign)

Task: In pairs or small groups, read the article and brochure, and answer the following questions.

  1. According to a survey by Statistics Canada, what proportion of Canadian households say they drink primarily bottled water? What percent of households in Kitchener-Waterloo said they drank primarily bottled water? What percent of households in Saskatoon said they drank primarily tap water?

Close to 3 in 10 (i.e. 30%);46% in Kitchener-Waterloo drink bottled; 77% in Saskatoon drink primarily tap water;

  1. According to the Canadian Bottled Water Association, how much bottled water was consumed by Canadians in 2005? About how many litres was this per Canadian? (Assume Canada’s population is about 30 million.)

1.9 billion litres (1,900,000,000 litres) = 63 litres per Canadian

  1. What are 3 possible reasons people drink bottled water?

Taste, convenience (portability), health, perception of quality

  1. What percentage of bottled water comes from “municipal sources” (i.e. city water supplies)? What further processing might bottled water companies do?

25% comes from municipal sources

Further processing: distillation, reverse osmosis, micro-filtration, ozonation

  1. What kind of water quality testing is required for tap water? For bottled water?

Tap water – daily (in Toronto, up to 6 times a day, over 3000 times a year)

Bottled water – unannounced inspection once a year

  1. Compare the cost per litre of water if you pay $1.50 for a 500 millilitre bottle, and if you pay the City of Toronto $1.57 for 240,000 litres.

$1.50/0.5 litres = $3.00/litre

$1.57/240,000 litres = 0.0006.54 cents a litre

  1. What environmental/sustainability or health issues are associated with bottled water? What are 3 possible problems with PET plastic water bottles?

PET bottles – petroleum product, 1 kg uses 17 kg water, greenhouse gases released in manufacturing; only about 55% are recycled in Ontario

Fossil fuel use and GHG production when transporting water;

  1. According to the Polaris Institute’s brochure, what are 3 possible issues with the role of large bottled water companies? What potential dangers or problems do you see with large private companies taking what is essentially a free public resource and selling it for profit?

Water privatization – (including marketing) erodes confidence in public water system

Water takings – take water resources from communities

School contracting – aggressive marketing, exclusive contracts with schools to turn students into lifelong consumers