NEW Water refill station

Most of us are aware of the importance of drinking an adequate amount of water to maintain our health and for our body to function correctly.  Without going into the science of why water is important, the fact that our body is made up of close to 60% water (approx. 40L in an average adult) demonstrates the need to stay adequately hydrated.

On November 25th, the district installed a new water bottle refill station near our gym.  This system distributes refrigerated tap water both through a regular water fountain and also through a bottle refill spout. It is an automated system that detects when a water bottle is placed in position and fills the bottle until it is removed.  

This new system is a district sustainability pilot project initiative to address the benefits of drinking tap water over bottled water.  The bottle refill station displays a digital counter to indicate the number of disposable water bottles saved as a result of filling a reusable bottle rather than purchasing a disposable plastic water bottle.  We have now had this system for 1 week, and we have already used the equivalent of 843 water bottles without adding any waste to our landfill.  I will continue to keep you updated on our usage to see if the high-use pattern continues.

Here are some interesting facts about bottled water:

• Bottled water is between 240 and 10,000 times more expensive than tap water
• In Canada, more than 25% of bottled water originates from municipal tap water
• In the US, every year it takes more than17 million barrels of oil to produce and ship the 31.2 billion litres of bottled water consumed, which is enough oil to fuel 1 million cars for a whole year 
• The government of Canada spent $8.5 million on bottled water between 2004 and 2008
• It takes 3 litres of water to produce 1 litre of bottled water
• Recycling rates vary by location, but it is estimated that only 1 in 5 water bottles ever gets recycled. Instead, 4 go to the trash dump to create about 3 billion pounds of waste just from all of the discarded plastic.

I googled bottle water vs. tap water and was led to the Health Canada website.  Here is their answer to this debated question:

16. Is bottled water safer than tap water?

Quality standards for bottled water and tap water are similar. Both bottled water and municipally distributed tap water that meet or exceed their required health and safety standards, are considered to be safe.

If you are interested in finding out more information about the story of bottled water, check out this video.  It is taken from the website "The Story of Stuff Project" and provides some interesting information about bottled water.