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.

I walk past Toronto City Hall every day. From now on I will make a point of littering at least one plastic water bottle per day on City Hall property - just to be a prick.

I'd like to see a ban on bans!

Posted by: Edward Teach at March 9, 2009 4:45 PM

My head almost exploded trying to square that logical circle. ;)

To be clear: I have nothing against plastic containers or bottles per se. Resusable plastic carboys, or refillable juice bottles, for examples, are ok with me. It is the single-use waste of a non-renewable hydrocarbon resource that troubles me.

Considering the following case: I needed a new headset for my desk telephone (I often spend hours on the phone in design meetings and I need both hands free for the keyboard and mouse). Fine, those headsets tend to last for many years, they don't use much plastic, and they don't cost too much, but they wear out faster than the phone itself because of the dynamics of their deployment. However, there was more plastic in the packaging of the new headset than there was in the headset itself! Why wasn't that headset packaged in a light cardboard box made from a renewable (tree) resource?

Anyway, I always thought that conservatives were opposed to gratuitous waste, the religious among them going so far as to declare it sinful. Perhaps I'm at the wrong site?

Boiled water? BOILED water? A friend living in in Sudbury, Ontario, has to DISTIL her water.

As for tap water in St. John's, it may be safe, but it sure looks like piss if you get a gallon or so of it in a clear container.

And then there is Walkerton ....

".....despite being recyclable about half of the bottles sold end up in landfills — at a direct cost to local governments."

Last time I checked, the cost to local government was levied on the local taxpayer. So if we want to toss the empty bottles in landfill, it is our dime.

Just like it will be our dime to wash and clean reusable containers for tap water. All that soap, energy and wash water, but I digress.

Now if the cost of bottle disposal in landfill could be quantified, and the local government was prepared to rebate that cost back to taxpayers by eliminating bottles, then I could be persuaded.

Experience tells me any saving, real or imagined, attributed to landfill would find its way into another valuable government service, real or imagined.

There also appears to be a clean water crisis in our First Nation and rural retirement communities. But I doubt that the FCM and the unions representing those municipal employees have any concern for those issues. Racism by omission.

Ontario at least has taken a significant step to suppress any water quality information from the public eye. We do want to spare Dalton any embarrassment when he steps up to the microphone to announce another province wide ban. The possession or consumption of any bottled fluid product in a vehicle with passengers under the age of 16 must be outlawed. "For the children", of course.

Diclaimer: I am not the Angry John, the low flush john, the procuring john, or any other john previously listed in local police reports. I once considered suing for the pain and humiliation I have suffered with the abuse of the name blessed by my good parents, until I realized they could have called me Sue.

I drink no tap water at home. I drink city water filtered in my own filtration system at the sink and also at the fridge. Room temperature, and chilled.

Once, at a customer's home in a Vancouver suburb, they offered me a glass of water. From the tap. From 10 feet away it smelled like a rotten egg. It's not a safety issue, but a taste issue.

I always buy bottled water when I'm on big motorcycle rides. I know Aqua Fina is from municipal water BUT it is seriously filtered. It ain't a hoax; it ain't like drinking water outa your garden hose. I carry a stainless steel French Press, my own seriously expensive coffee, and a infusion coil to boil the bottled water. I take great pleasure in drinking superb coffee in cheap motel rooms while reading Proust, in the morning. I call it my revenge on the road. And, oh, DON'T use motel mugs or glasses!

I've noticed, that there's a touch of reverse snobbery about bottled water. Very often it's the $5.00 lattee crowd who sneer at bottled water.
Anybody who puts milk or cream in coffee is guilty of a truly heinous offence.

"Because bottled water is so much different from bottled diet Pepsi."

Actually, it is. I can tolerate the taste of Diet Pepsi. Bottled water, not so much.

Due to the natural weather cycle that exists in this country, I shut off and drain the water tap in my unheated garage for the season.

So just last week I found myself using a bottle of water to find the leaks on my truck flat tire. Thanks to Presidents Choice Pure Spring, I now drive with the assurance that my spare remains inflated.

And thanks be to Rev. Gore, I can look forward to the time when my taps will no longer freeze and my bottle of Pure Spring will be consigned to the landfill of history.

I bet most of these advisories exist because someone dug a well next to a leaky septic tank.

All septic tanks leak by design.

I was involved in water and waste water treatment from 2002 until last year. I Know a thing or two about municipal water systems, wells, purification and bottled water to boot.

As with all things 99.9% of what the MSM says about any issues related to water is pure bullcrap.

As with all things the people who are going to take that bullcrap and run with it are leftards. Maude Barlow

The Maude Barlow everyone mentions, is she the same M.B. who is some sort of Big Noise on the Council of Comedians ?

Vit, we may not always agree on the definition of gratuitous. As a conservative, I endeavour not to define for you what is waste, nor limit your or my ability to create or eliminate it.

I agree with you that much packaging is wasteful. Large bulky packaging on small items appears designed to promote its value, as if the consumer believes the size of the box denote more value. As a consumer and conservative, I would rather make my concerns known by my chioices rather than
government guidelines.

I do not always agree with the auto offerings from the Big Three, but I think your and my ability to choose is preferable to a Designed in Washington approach. In actuality, that is where we have been for the last quarter century.

I have a 'yard' down in the back of my property where I squirrel away everything: farm equipment and leftover building material. To me, it is a goldmine of stuff just waiting for the next project. Essential Stuff. To my wife, this corner is an eyesore full of junk and garbage. Gratuitous Waste.

We have our own well, so we are acutely conciuos

Damn laptop, always hitting the wrong button.

We have our own well, so we are acutely aware of water consumption and quality. And we do purchase bottled water, as there are times and places where the convenience of prepackaged water beats the the tap.

Understood and generally agreed, john. On the one hand, de gustibus non disputandum est; on the other hand, axiology is indeed an interesting philosophical topic in its own right (one of the top three, I'd say).

Just announced today in Vancouver that the old asbestos water mains used in B.C. are breaking down putting asbestos fibres in the water. Asbestos fibres apparently are implicated in colon cancer. So muni's are replacing the pipes with -you guessed it- pvc pipes. And what does pvc contain and leach-right on.

I happen to sell bottle water(dasani). Opps, the price just went up. LOL

Horny toad

"Bottled water? Only 1-4 litres per litre. So bottled water is significantly more environmentally friendly than most other beverages.:"

If you ever listen to the "academics" that are interviewed on bottled water among all the reasons for banning it is "cost". And why? Because the major producers of bottle water are Coke and Pepsi. These are big multinational American-based companies. And they make a profit. And profit is a bad word.

I listened to a Burnaby alderman condemn the use of bottle water. When a caller phoned in to inform him that the muni water pipes were shedding asbestos he stuttered and stamered and said that he thought Vancouver probably had asbestos pipes but was sure Burnaby didn't. Both cities are in the Metro Vancouver area which controls the water supply for the whole region.

A pox on all thier houses.

Horny Toad

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the problem with
asbestos breathing some forms of it, not drinking it?

Water for sale or rent;
jug to let: fifty cents.

Vit:

Airborne it has been linked to lung cancer. Waterborne to colon cancer. Different pipes you see?

Now, then, back to the Newfoundland Railway...

Bottled water is for wankers plain and simple. The same kind of hysteric that compulsively purges with ludicrously expensive "detoxification" snake oil.

There's asbestos in your water!, PVC leach-ate is mutating you while we speak and every body has a 30 foot booger of undigested goop in their guts,

It's all crap. The only thing to believe in is the cleansing nature of a good Scotch, often applied and never to excess.

Understood and generally agreed, Nick. Speaking only
personally, of course, the only liquid I drink is Pilsner beer,
so I probably shouldn't be in this discussion in the first place.

And dirty fingernails: thar be a healthy immune system.

Just make sure the dirt is healthy: avoid cholera.

Me No Dhimmi -"take great pleasure in drinking superb coffee in cheap motel rooms while reading Proust...reverse snobbery about bottled water. ...Anybody who puts milk or cream in coffee is guilty of a truly heinous offence."

Me, my Melita cone, some seriously dark-roast beans and a nice light* book

*photonics

I am sick to death of all the people telling me I'm an idiot for drinking bottled water. I live in Richmond Hill, Ontario, and have a couple of meetings a week downtown near the CN Tower. It takes me about 2 hours on a good day to get there by transit. When I get to my meeting, I want something COLD to drink, not some lukewarm tap water from home. And please don't ask me to put a water bottle in the freezer; I tried that, and the result was the condensation on it ruined my magazine`and newspaper. Oh, and since they've installed those water-saving "auto shutoff" taps in the washrooms, save your "fill it from the tap" suggestions and shove them somewhere warm. First, you'd need to stand there for three or four minutes to fill a litre, but worse - you can't adjust the temperature so you end up with a bottle of WARM water.

I happily drink tap water at home and in restaurants, but when I'm stuck on the interminably slow GTA transit systems, bottled water works fine for me, thank you very much.

Dirt IS healthy (to a degree). Vit is absolutely correct. How many of us grew up around (gasp) mould?

Asbestos? Used it in science class so the beaker didn't bust while over the Bunson burner...

Drink water at the cottage? or while hunting? Ever eat chicken a tad rare?

All of this can be easily ingested over time through exposure and development of the immune system.

Too many kids and young adults these days spend all their time trying to avoid exposure to something that will ultimately make them more durable human beings.

Oh well, they can't afford to retire anyway (although, neither can I!)

Tenebris: LOL. *photonics" = photography for dummies, right? Oh, yeah, seriously dark roast is de rigeur. Were I to own a cafe, I'd advertise (but not actually carry) light and medium roasts, just for the pleasure of ejecting persons gauche enough to try that stunt!

Melitta cone? Yeah, me too -- a few decades back. It took me a long time to master it (it's too easy you see) the French Press, but when you get all the factors right, it's the thing. At home I also have a weird contraption, discontinued almost immmediately after I got it: a Krups mocha brewer. Steam instead of drip. A little bit like a espresso machine.

But back on topic, I stronly advise boiling the water.

"The point about the left is that pointless symbolic gestures are more important that actually doing anything."

Not about water, but about the mind-set that wants to ban bottled. VISION Vancouver, the municipal NDP party that now runs the city, has just announced they are going to tear up a good part of the city hall lawns and convert it to a 'community garden'.

Excellent! Civic workers, pulling weeds for $34/hr and 'free food' for the million city residents.

Well, it's the thought that counts, isn't it?

Kate: "I guess none of you have ever had to decide what to take as a convenient beverage on a 2000km drive."

Ha Ha, that's rich. Like there is any "convenient beverage" if your a wimmens on a 2000km trip. Try cracker juice!!!!

No Guff -huh? They are doing good things ... did you know that you allowed to have chickens (hens only) in your yard again?

Does anyone have a list of the most popular chicken names?

"Melitta cone? Yeah, me too -- a few decades back. It took me a long time to master it (it's too easy you see) the French Press, but when you get all the factors right, it's the thing. At home I also have a weird contraption, discontinued almost immmediately after I got it: a Krups mocha brewer. Steam instead of drip. A little bit like a espresso machine."

To all those latte sipping leftoids out there, please take note that there are neo-con SDA readers that are brew snobs too. I guess a cuppa Timmies is beneath their station. Actually, the best cup of joe is often brewed over a campfire in the boonies next to your fav fishing hole.

anybody here ever see a Commie drink a glass of water ?

i thought not....

Oops, sorry, Tim. I thought this was a blog. And by the way, I am diametrically opposed to your assertion that there does not need to be diametric opposites.

"The point about the left is that pointless symbolic gestures are more important that actually doing anything."

End quote:-------------------------------

That sums it up nicely, do gooders who want to busy body us to death. Their policies are pie in the sky fluffy nonsense but they feel so superior to the rest of us when they impose their stupid ideology on the rest uf us.

As I travel extensively, it is tap water at home, bottled water on the road.

I have had way too many bouts of an activity that the "sheryl crow one square" toilet paper system would not cover due to substandard small town water.

precious bodily fluids.

BTW...even though Kingston's water system is in the top 5% in Ontario, it is quite amazing what is actually picked up by the filtering system on my fridge.

Nutbush Niagara Falls just last week banned the sale of plastic bottles on municipal property, such as soccer fields, a major source of revenue for the soccer organizations by the way, and within municipal buildings. They were bragging that they were the first to do so in Canada. For those who think that's the end of the banning process, I recall within the last year talk of banning the sale of plastic water bottles ANYWHERE withing municipalities, whether on municipal property or in grocery stores. Think for a moment about how smoking bans started and how they grew in extent.

It is time for these simple minded municipal parasites to stop playing Sim City and get down to the business of just running the munipalities as efficient entities rather than becoming fascists and telling everybody how they should live.

The TRUTH in this matter is...that municpal water is tested by technicians several times in a day. Bottled water is spot checked and only on rare occaisions. There are only a handful of federal laws that regulate bottled water.
In any event, most bottled water comes from a municipal water supply before it is bottled. The bottler usually treats the water with a reverse osmosis unit and a series of filters. How reliable are they?? Check it out on the net!

"Maude Barlow, Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly"

It's like we've all been dropped into a Stooges 15 minute short.

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

I dare you to drink the brown tap water where I work.

I think if John wants to post an address I could send him some....

Why would the government care about this at all? Its so trivial to waste energy on. The economy is collapsing but lets worry about water in a vending machine. If they want the bottles recycled put a 20 cent deposit on them.

If I'm driving somewhere and want some water am I supposed to stop at every gas station to get a mouthful of water? Thousands of years ago people used animal skins and ceramics to cart water. Now socialists want to bring back the days before the ice ages ended. Don't they know that when the ice ages ended it was climate change!

as your can tell , the problem for the most part isnt at the outlet of the water plant, its in the miles of pipe between the plant and your tap . asbestos and old iron.

and miles of leaking sewage pipes running nearby makes drilling your own source "not so great"

Just looking at those boil water adviseries and I have to say, a lot of them are seriously out of date. My parent's home town was subject to one in 2000 due to serious flooding (septic fields and all that) and it still shows as valid.

I noticed that the bottle water market took off about 15 years ago. Back then drinking bottled water slaked the imbiber's thirst and also showed the rest of us mere earthlings that they were 'hip and with it'. These people are the same ones who nowadays are very likely to buy into 'global warming/climate change' and they have given their children dreadfully long hyphenated last names. I just call them smug-A-holes.Two hyphens for extra smugness.But I digress. The assertion by CCPA is not that far-fetched. I am one of those fools who quite regularily ruin a perfectly good walk during the warmer months. All the courses in my area have taken out the water fountains.But they will sell you a $2 dollar bottle of water. The removal of the fountains was done after there was an incident in Arizona where a jug of water was left overnight on the course and someone tampered with it. That is crap. The courses did it because it would lower costs and increase sales . Cheers

Take a look at most bottles of water, and you will see that the source of that 'pure, uncontaminated' liquid, is the municipal water system for the city that the water is bottled in. All they do is run it through a filter. Not even reverse osmosis. No different than drinking the water from the tap, once you have run it through a Brita filter or similar contraption at home.

As well it shocks me how I can go to Culligan or similar company and fill a 20 litre jug of their water for $5.00 tops. To buy the bottled water brand from a soft drink company, to get a similar amount, you are looking at roughly $22.50.

I think that if the cities of this country want to eliminate the sale of bottled water at their events and facilities, that is entirely within their rights. You don't have to drink the water they provide there. Why not bring your own bottled water in if you do not trust the water in your city.

wallyj:

We had exactly the opposite problem at my course. The water was from a well, and while the club assured us it was safe, it had a definite funk to it. A few years back, we were finally hooked up to municipal water, and we began to drink the water from the jugs spaced out around the course - in fact, we drank so much, that the jugs were constantly running dry! The club finally installed extra jugs around the course to stop the complaints. And, to repeat part of my earlier rant, filling up a bottle at the clubhouse is not an option; after two hours in your bag in 90 degree heat, you're not drinking COLD water, which is what you and your body want. (Nor, when you're trying to drain a 40 foot snake, do you want caffeine or extra sugar coursing through your veins!)

Heh, with all the near fights that just about broke out on this thread, it reminded me of what that Alberta Muse Ralph Klein, used to say:

'Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting over.'

I woke up this morning to a boil water advisory, in my city of 50,000. It's a good thing we keep a case of bottled water in the basement.

I'd almost forgotten an experience I had in Grande Prairie AB, in 1981. The river flooded out the water treatment plant, and most of the city was on water rationing for an entire summer. That was long before bottled water was readily available. We had trouble even taking a shower during that event.

I was lucky, because we had built a house in a new subdivision, and we were at the bottom end of the water main. People in the older areas of the city had to fill every container they owned, including the bathtub, whenever the city opened the valves.

I am one of the researchers responsible for updating the Water Chronicles map shown on this page, and take it very seriously. The maps are updated daily. We have good sources in most provinces but in Ontario and Alberta there is no public information available. We have to rely on media advisories. Although Ontario still posts advisories on its water site, they have not been updated since October 2008

Please email us at armstrong.water@gmail.com to let us know of any incorrect boil water advisory on our maps. Our aim is to provide a valuable service.

The Water Chronicles also offers daily water news roundups, reports on water issues in Canada and the US, and live interviews.

Anyone ever drink the tap water in Toronto? Want us to stop drinking bottle water? Supply us with tap water that doesn't taste almost - but not completely - unlike water should taste (to sort of paraphrase Douglas Adams).

"The point about the left is that pointless symbolic gestures are more important that actually doing anything."

BINGO! Why? Because typically the left is all about feel-goodism, appearing to be "doing something" and holding onto power. As long as the wet tissue paper charade holds (they've learned that controlling the message via the MSM is a key) another constructed issue can be foisted.

In all cases, minimize, cloud and squelch topics that the proles REALLY care about, for they are common, unenlightened and dangerous.

Toronto water is glop at the best of times. In the spring, it used to be that the water purification plant would pump so much chlorine into it that it all but frothed with chlorine.

A few organochlorine compounds probably won't hurt you, but on a regular basis?

My granddad, who was a physician trained at the U of T and the Toronto General, told me that around 1910 Toronto's water supply was not treated, and the public wards of the old Toronto General would fill up with hundreds of typhoid cases. Didn't phase Toronto City Council at all.

I do regard people who come to meetings brandishing their bottles of water to be affected. They should drink coffee, like the rest of us :-) But they have a point: it is much easier to control quality at a bottling plant than it is throughout a system of pipes, large and small. Even if the water is OK when it enters a building, who knows what it's like when it reaches a water fountain? After passing though old, old pipes? Of course the public health authorities are on the watch for outbreaks of water-borne disease; but they wouldn't pick up chronic toxicity from inorganic or even organic solutes.

Europe drank beer before they figured out what was contaminating the water.

a convenient result of this , you can still get beer for breakfast in Germany.

the german purity laws werent about the water.