What Would We Do Without Municipal Federations?

What the **** does Maude know about water? Maybe my memory is failing, but I think she was one of the ones who opposed the Oldman Dam back in the late eighties and early ninties - which supplies much of Southern Alberta with water.

At a conference last year, the Mayor of Lethbridge bragged about how they have banned water bottles at Silly Hall - he walked away when one of my colleagues asked if they have also banned pop bottles, Tim's coffee cups, and printing the City Council agenda on trees. But then, the Mayor did run for the NDP once, so I'm not surprised.

But there can't be any boil water advisories in Ontario. After Walkerton the government began running everything themselves again.
/sarc

I'd like to see a ban on bans!
That's the liberal socialist ninny approach to everything...ban something!

Last week's Economist had an interesting article on how many litres of water are required to produce one litre of a beverage. The leader was, in a surprise to me, coffee. They estimated it takes 1,200 litres of water to produce one litre of coffee. (Water used to grow and process the beans, etc.) Beer was much lower, only 250 litres per litre. Bottled water? Only 1-4 litres per litre. So bottled water is significantly more environmentally friendly than most other beverages.

But no, let's not let people choose a natural, no calorie way to slake their thirst; let's force them to choose between sugar-laden juices and pop, and then we can all pay their health costs when they develop diabetes.

Brilliant!

If you take a quick look at the water advisories, the vast majority are on reserves.

Hmmmm.......

With the economy tanking, there's hope that these people will become more concerned with making a living, and less concerned with symbolic attacks on branches of society they dislike.

If their local water is so healthy and delicious, they should bottle it, sell it nationwide, and use the profit to fund research aimed at turning sewage into lunch.

Now that's recycling.

Actually, doug, if the vast majority of boil water advisories are on reserves, it means that the water infrastructure there isn't properly built. Or maintained. And this is done by federal funding and workers.

I spent quite a few years working in the province of Quebec. Every year, in the medium size town I was in - there were regular boil-water advisories that could last for several weeks. And in the small villages, the boil-water advisory was almost year-round. And these most certainly weren't reserves.

I personally don't like bottled water. Partly because it's in a plastic bottle; partly because it seems to me expensive when the tap is right in front of you.

In many, many countries in the world - you never use tap water for drinking. I had to persuade some visitors from China that our water here was safe.

Between Metering water and banning bottled water there's going to a lot of smelly, thirsty people.
Guess they'll be providing water fountains in all public places, offices and schools.

What's it going to be, ban water, drink Pop?

If there are any more meters added to our homes, water, gas, hydro etc. we'll need a special support wall for them.

In our town our metered water isn't netting enough money so they're going to hike the price to the consumer. Punishment for doing what it's supposed to do, reduce consumption.

Kate, water shortages are not likely to occur in the winter.

Most water systems are designed to meet peak hour demand or maximum day demand in the summer season when irrigation (residential and agricultural) puts the most strain on delivery. Comparatively speaking, getting through the winter in most places is gravy relative to the summer.

Also, one of the reasons BC has a really high level of boil water advisories is more stringent regulation and geography. The use of surface sources and GUDI (Ground water under the direct influence of surface water) water now requires UV secondary treatment in a lot of cases. Alberta water in comparison would often be drawn from contained aquifers.

It's not really an issue of municipal governance structure in a lot of cases.

Municipal employees don't care if the economy tanks they get paid anyway.

The point about the left is that pointless symbolic gestures are more important that actually doing anything. It reminds them of thier time at school studying pointless liberal arts courses.

Consider how stupid it is to buy a bottle of water when you can get it for free at any tap.

Soda pop and sugar juices are just bad shit and shit-heads buy that stuff. Don't be one yourself. I think Bill O'Reilly really means shit-head when he says pin-head.

It makes sense to sell bottle water where there is not much good drinking water and don't sell it where there is. However, if idiots want to pay a couple of bucks for a drink of water why shouldn't they be allowed to do just that?

To be fair the ban-everything people should simply try to convince enough Canadians to not support the plastic bottled water industry. Then we will know whether or not most Canadians even care about this issue. That would be democratic wouldn't it? We are a democracy aren't we? If the majority thinks it's a bad idea, they will bankrupt the bottled water business. In other words, let the market decide. That is always the best way to determine anything.

I think the banning of incandescent light bulbs is a worthier issue to protest. That is a big problem for those who don't like mercury in their house, or harsh light, or overly expensive lighting, or ugly lighting, or lighting that doesn't fit into some lamp fixtures, or lighting that is make exclusively in China, or lighting that big brother is forcing you to buy.

I don't like Nanny State directives but I have to say that buying bottled water annoys me unless you live in the Third World with filty water. What's so hard about using a Brita filter and pouring water into a reusable water container when you go need water away from the house. Down here in Florida we are awash in throwaway water bottles. But, then, this recession I'm betting is going to change that parttern of spending.

My immigrant grandfather once remarked that he'd never pay for sex, water or a dog.

Do you guys walk around being perpetually angry at everything? Is there a way to hook you up to a generator, cuz if there is... energy problem solved.

Look. Drinking bottled water if you have perfectly clean tap water is STUPID. (That said, I buy them myself in a pinch)

If we can easily cut back on creating more waste and using loads of energy just to deliver stupid little bottles of water, than this is a good thing.

Nobody is saying it should be illegal, or that we should ban the effening things. Just that municipalities should not offer bottled water as a choice when clean tap water is available. You can still run down to the Quick-E-mart and buy as many as you want if you please.

End of story. Go get mad about something else.

You sound pretty angry John.

Have you tried posting a rant over at Daily Kos?

What's that? It's not insane enough?

I agree with john. I'm tired of these constant Big Government directives.

With regard to bottled water, as John says, let the market decide. BUT, you have to educate the public that tap water is safe, because the bottled water producers are marketing it as 'pure and clean' and maintaining that tap water is the opposite.

I'm fed up with Big Government and their directives, including which light bulbs I can use.

I guess none of you have ever had to decide what to take as a convenient beverage on a 2000km drive. While bottled water is expensive out of the 7-11 cooler, it's pretty damned cheap in the 24 packs at Walmart.

It's not the bottled water producers who are responsible for public education - it's the same leftie moonbats who scream about flouride and chlorine who can take credit for creating the market.

I'm assuming that Ms Barlow understands how vital bottled water is, when it comes to disaster relief. There have been thousands of lives saved by bottled water. What's the very first thing that hits the ground, after any disaster? You guessed it, truckloads of bottled water.

How do they expect to keep a good supply of bottled water on hand, for emergencies, when companies aren't allowed to market the product? Disasters aren't always confined to third world countries, either. The boil water map is proof enough of that.

I'm going to give Maude the benefit of the doubt, and assume she's not specifically talking about bottled water. She may be referring to possible future scenarios, where entire communities may be deprived of drinking water by some sort of industrial activity.

Cowboy- Technically, the Oldman Dam supplies irrigation water to southern Alberta, not drinking water. I get your drift, just the same.

John, we're not angry about a potential bottled water ban.
What we are angry about is the plethora of ninnies who presume to think that they can tell the rest of us how to live our lives!

I buy bottled water all the time, but have enough sense to get them in the 20L size. :P

off topic but...

mope and wail, Canada's nationalist deadtree paper, is asking the question.

Would you support making assisted suicide a choice available to terminally ill patients?

Yes

No

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Please vote no

Hey Kate, I agree with John and others. Does there have to diametric opposites here; certain groups that are wholly at fault, arguing that bottled water is good or bad? Or can we just acknowledge that it has it's place and the reason it exists is a product of a combination of reasons..like strong marketing, people who fear chlorine, and yes, practical necessity in cases.

You're trying to twist something into a ridiculous partisan issue. Not that certain people on the left haven't done the same, but rise above it all and avoid the circular 'they started it!' antics.

I think that using hydrocarbons for non-recyclable
disposable packaging when there are alternatives is
generally a bad idea. That is, it's not the bottled
water I have a problem with, it's the plastic bottles.

I live in the Vancouver area. When you see the water coming out of the tap in brown sludgy goo for some reason you buy it in a bottle. Go Figure.

I live in the Vancouver area. When you see the water coming out of the tap in brown sludgy goo for some reason you buy it in a bottle. Go Figure.

What Kate points out is a fact of life. When on the road the treated water has different levels of minerals. I know of some towns with treated water that will clean you out quicker than a three card monte player. Combine that with a herd of dogs that do not need the trots. Besides Kate is going to recycle and knit a motorcycle cover.

OMG Kate! Don't you know buying bottled water at Walmart not only pollutes the planet, it also oppresses the working poor. They could have been at home waiting for their entitlements to be direct deposited!

Free - I think that you can inform us of the vote at the Globe and Mail but please don't suggest to us how to vote. That is our individual right. I happen to agree with assisted suicide for terminally ill people.

I agree with vitruvius; the problem is the plastic bottles.

The idea of banning bottled water is utterly stupid.

The USE of bottled water is beyond utterly stupid. It comes out of the tap for a minute fraction of the cost.

I buy bottled water because it tastes better than what comes out Of the tap via the red deer river.

I also drink whiskey and coke and coffee and even doctor pepper when the mood strikes and I could care less what john et al think. It may be "stupid" to some but I think it falls under the pursuit of happiness right that sadly we in Canada are too uppity to enshrine in our constitution because we might be accused of (horrors) copying the Americans.

And anyone who's trying to ban me from aspects
Of the pursuit is an enemy infringeing on a basic right.

I'm with Edward, let's stop the banning fanatics. What's next?

Big Maude say,

"CRCA warning public to stay away from ice, fast-moving water"

Maybe some clarification is needed.

These municipalities are talking about banning bottled water within their building, not the entire municipality.

Pretty easy to put out a few jugs and glasses for meetings, no?

Paying for bottled water is silly in Canada. But you are free to do so.

Now, as to whether we need as many municipalities is a debate I'd enjoy.........

ET you can frill it up with names like assisted suicide or abortion but murder is still MURDER.

And my inlaws like many ABns have sulphury well water that they used to love the taste of while it nearly made me gag. They have switched to completely bottled water after they had it tested and they were made aware that the extremely high sodium content threatened to make their HBP problems much worse.

I defy Atlantic jim - someone who presumably drinks water from that region which is usually rainwater from a lake or pond with an igneous rock base to drink my inlaws sedimentary-based highly mineralized sulfur-infused yet 100% potable aquifer water and say it's no big deal. People need to realize that generalizations particularly when applied to lifestyle choices often are void because of regional differences that make those differences perfectly reasonable.

always interesting , Canaduh and water.

we import far more water from the US than visa versa. via fresh produce. import beer, wine, juice, etc etc. etc.

we demand lettuce and fresh tomatoes from california and critic them for their water use.

Maybe some clarification is needed.

These municipalities are talking about banning bottled water within their building, not the entire municipality.~ Klondike Mike at March 9, 2009 6:14 PM

When reading a CBC article, clarification is always needed. What's the issue here? Plastic bottles? Safe drinking water? The need for municipal politicians to set an example by drinking the tap water? Or is it the need for the FCM to purport that it's actually doing something?

Now, as to whether we need as many municipalities is a debate I'd enjoy.........

I'd be glad to debate you Klondike Mike but, if you believe we have too many municipalities, we'll have to pick a different subject.

Now, as to whether we need as many municipalities is a debate I'd enjoy.........

In some cases, yes and in others, no. The lack of competition caused by the creation of the GTA has seen services decline for example.

FREE, you neglect the fact that assisted suicide is an informed decision of the "victim" who is probably terminally ill and would prefer to leave this earth on their terms and with some semblance of dignity. I don't believe any abortion victims have any say in the matter.

With regards to bottled water, there is a lot of places with potable water that I wouldn't touch, let alone let my dog drink. Like everything else in the world, frikkin' common sense in usage, disposal and recycling of the containers can prevent or minimize any problems without the nanny state involved.

I am the first 'john' commenter. I will change my name so I am not mistaken for the other angry John.

I will be Momar. Okay.

To get through university, I was a waitress, and after seeing what glasses are "cleaned" in, I choose bottled water at every opportunity. Knowing how my water glass was cleaned was was like learning how sausage is made. I'm only drinking it out of my glasses at home, at least I know those are clean.

Now I'm in an office with no bottled water cause it wants to go green and frankly, I'm making a killing selling black market costco water out of my filing cabinet. Keep the bans coming, I'll be forming my own smuggling ring if this continues!

It's the plastic bottles that make bottled water so attractive. I refill them from the tap until they wear out. If they were made of glass or aluminum, they'd be even harder on the environment.

They can be tossed around in the back of a pickup truck, or thrown into a backpack. They rarely leak, and you can keep track of your reserves. For people who need to carry water with them to survive, plastic bottles are a godsend.

I've had a couple of experiences with co-workers forgetting to fill a water cooler in 35 degree weather. When you're 20 miles from the nearest drinkable liquid, you never forget those little screwups.

Like so many useful products, it takes a lot of customers who don't need them to make them viable to produce. Without those consumers, the product would not be available to those who really need them.

ATVs have been the greatest invention of the 20th century for people who work in the oilpatch, but they'd never have been available without a demand from hunters and hobby riders.

I constantly refill plastic water bottles with tap water. It's a very convenient way top slake my thirst.

Will I be arrested if I go into a municipal building with my bottled water?

John: "To be fair the ban-everything people should simply try to convince enough Canadians to not support the plastic bottled water industry."

If they tried that, they'd be wasting their time. It's much easier to convince 8 at Calgary City Hall, or 45 at the Alberta Legislature or 155 on Parliament Hill. They're also a lot more likely to be successful - none of us will ever run for re-election and so don't have to be afraid of offending the squeaky wheels.

Read the back of an Aquafina bottle of water, it says it is from the Mississauga municipal water system.

Maybe I should start bottling my well water...

This reminds me of a story I heard, City of Calgary Water Services department got a new manager. He asked if there was a problem with the drinking water, everyone said no, Calgary has the some of the best drinking water in Canada they responded. The manager then asked why they had bottled water in the office. What I heard is the room went dead, and the next day the bottled water was removed.

First off personal use potable water is never "consumed" it can only be rented and transformed, trust me on that.

Second, pet bottled water containers are just the latest nonsense by the left to have a reason to send out compliance orders to their sheep. When Consumers glass folded their Toronto operation somebody let slip that all the years of glass bottle recycling and separation propaganda in Ontario with the exception of the immediate GTA had been bull---- because it wasn't economic to haul in glass from greater distances. So big secret, it all went to landfill anyway.

The Ecomienist is run by poser cool nerds. Coffee must be grown on frost free cool highland plateaux and mountainsides above a surrounding tropical climate. It's damp and rains a lot on top of tropical mountains where coffee berry growth conditions are ideal. Of course if there was no reason for tending coffee bushes all of the other stuff on mountains would be cut down and sold for charcoal to provide a bit of cash. The soil would head down to the lowlands as well. Great for fertility on lowland farms but unfortunately the water of the mountains would then only last for a few months or weeks after the rainy season.
The four litres of water to make one litre of non spring bottled water or water for pop is cute too. I wonder if they are including the bypass and backflush at the reverse osmosis membrane. Mississauga is installing one of the largest reverse osmosis membrane water purity systems in the world to cover the entire city. If the Luddites hear about that...........

All the same couldn't we all be presented with wooden cups by our city fathers to drink the great city water shoulder to shoulder at communal taps scattered around the perimeters of city properties. When the word is city drinking water is "the best water (where it enters the city distribution system and then runs for miles in close proximity to the sewer lines) there is available", I would also like to hear " Anyone concerned can obtain a free test kit and a "bill to the city" lab test voucher from us at city hall and send a water sample from their taps to a lab of their choice which will return the results to them directly and confidentially. This test can be repeated every three years if desired".

As to the city fathers, they should budget for the following:

that those in charge of the city water supply should complete a survey showing the longest least used city water delivery pipes on dead ends,

that a contractor be hired to draw water on a continuous basis from a selection of said pipes and to deliver said liquid to bulk tanks located at city hall and other city government facilities,

that said tanks and their associated systems be configured to be the sole source for all potable water in said buildings,

that any official or employee who refuses to partake of his normal daily requirement of water consumption from this source as per Canada health guidelines be dismissed or called upon to resign if that person was elected to office.

That would be so cool!

First it was the municiple garbage nazis digging through my trash lest I place a tampon in said garbage. Now it's the water police, sure they are talking about municiple buildings for now but we know how these zealots expand their socialist ideals on the rest of us eventually.

For the record my water has so much bleach in it it stinks, it's not drinkable. The neighbours pool water is more palatable than what comes out of my tap. Tick tock the do gooders and meddlesome busy bodies are the HRC future employees.

I think it could be a trust issue. People think bottled water is tamper proof, and impervious to other people's poor hygiene. That's a myth, of course. The bottling factories aren't all that well supervised.

The plastic they use is not always up to food grade either. If it has a 1 on the bottom, it wasn't meant for food storage. Since water isn't food, they get away with it.

The town of Drayton Valley AB recently stopped adding flouride to its water supply. There'd been a long battle with town council to ban flouride. That sort of paranoia is not uncommon when it comes to water supplies. When you think about it, it's a natural human emotion to worry about what's upstream from your watering hole.

It's usually better if you don't have all the facts. I drink to stay alive. If I'm near a tap. I drink from it, if not, I prefer bottled water.

My great uncle was in the First World War, on the front lines. He told a story once, about drinking from a pond for 3 days, until a dead German floated to the surface. Kind of puts our petty little issues into perspective, eh?

Kathryn,

I hear you on the dictatorial manner in which our leader decree our next inconvenience.

The world is falling apart around us and we are debating plastic bottles. What was it the other day somewhere, a debate about the CHRC deeming red ink to be offensive to Indians. I think they also banned red makers in classrooms because it offended students who were too dumb to get a pass on their work.

I am surprised the government doesn't ban red ink entirely so the ledgers will appear to be in the black.

Rome is burning and we are passing out fiddles. Oh well, I suppose enjoying entertainment is the next best thing to taking action against our dictators.