National municipal group tosses bottles

Joe Cressey of the Polaris Institute, part of the ‘Turn on the Taps and Ditch the Bottle’ coalition in Nova Scotia, describes the FCM resolution as “a resounding victory and the latest indication that bottled water's 15 minutes are up and the tap is back.”

Cressey argues that Coca-Cola doesn’t provide Pepsi in its buildings and so municipalities, which are in the business of purifying and providing water, shouldn’t be buying a product that competes with their own, is 240 times more expensive, and has a negative impact on the environment.

In many cases, bottled water is a recycled version of municipal water. Aquafina water—bottled by Pepsi—has a picture on the label implying a mountain source, but is drawn from a public reservoir in Mississauga, Ont. Coca Cola, bottler of Dasani, has acknowledged its water originates from public water sources in Calgary and Brampton, Ont.

Environmentalists say the reverse osmosis process used by bottling companies wastes two litres of water for every litre produced. Plastic bottles are then filled and shipped in trucks across the county leaving behind a significant carbon footprint.

The bottled water issue hasn’t yet made it way onto Digby town council’s agenda, although it did appear on the Municipality of Digby’s agenda earlier this year when a motion by Coun. Linda Gregory to ‘can the bottle’ didn’t receive a seconder.

The Municipality of Digby doesn’t have its own water system, but the town does, and it’s Digby water that pours out of the taps at the municipality’s Seabrook office.

Digby’s municipal water is drawn from nine deep artesian wells in the Mount Pleasant area. “The water is tested several times a week at several locations,” says deputy town clerk Matthew Raymond. He says the result is drinking water that’s safe, odorless, and tasteless. And yes, he drinks it.