Archive for the 'bottled water' Category

Long wait ahead for packaged drinking water in Chennai

Published on 05/16/2013 in bottled water, management and tap water. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Retrieved from: Get it

“For thousands of residents who depend on ‘mineral water’ for cooking and drinking, the protest by packaged drinking water manufacturers has come as a shock.

Over the past few days, many city residents have been bluntly refused canned water supply by local distributors.

According to the Tamil Nadu Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association, there are 309 manufacturers in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts.

“Though we know the public will be inconvenienced, we have no choice but to stop production and packaging. We are not polluting industries and want separate rules to govern packaged drinking water, which is an essential service,” said K. Rajaram, president of the Association.

“We cannot depend on Metrowater for drinking water. The supply is erratic. I have undergone a heart surgery and cannot use anything but safe water,” said Sriram Prasad, a senior citizen on Mahalakshmi Street in T. Nagar.

Jothi. R, a resident of Thirumangalam, said water pumped in the sump of her house is ash-coloured.

“I sometimes find snails in the water. We cleaned the sump on Thursday and removed a huge mound of black slush. We let the water stay overnight before drawing it up to the overhead tank. Otherwise, our pipeline gets clogged,” she said.”

Read more: The Hindu

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Free Market Economics Are Failing World’s Dwindling Water Resources

Published on 09/17/2012 in bottled water, policy, privatization, tap water, water shortage, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.alternet.org

“Growing water shortages in many countries are a major threat to global security and development and should be a top priority at the U.N. Security Council, a panel of experts said in a  new report .

However, that report ignores the biggest threat to water security: neoliberal policies of the free market economic system laying waste to the natural world and turning water into a commodity, activists counter.

China and India will not have enough fresh water to meet their needs before 2030, according to the “Global Water Crisis” report released this week. Well before that time, water shortages will increase conflicts and worsen instability in sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia and North Africa, it warned.”

Read more: Alternet

 

lily victoria

Bottled-Water Habit Keeps Tight Grip on Mexicans

Published on 07/17/2012 in bottled water, contaminated water, greenwashing, products and tap water. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.nytimes.com

“In Iztapalapa and in many communities across Mexico, talk of tap water is a constant — whether there is any, how it smells, what color it is, or whether it carries sand, mud or unspecified insect life.

Despite reassurances from the authorities that municipal plants pump clean water into the supply network, skepticism is widespread, even when politicians sometimes come forward to guzzle some tap water in public to make a point. “Who knows?” Mr. Montero asked.

A study released last year by the Inter-American Development Bank found that Mexicans used about 127 gallons of bottled water per person a year, more than four times the bottled-water consumption in the United States and more than any country surveyed.

“People are using this water for cooking, for bathing their babies,” said Federico Basañes, division chief for water and sanitation at the development bank.

There is a similar move toward jugs of clean water in countries like China, Indonesia and Thailand, the development bank found, as rising incomes give residents the ability to buy bottled water.”

Read more: New York Times

 

lily victoria

SF Considering Ways To Curb Plastic Water Bottles

Published on 07/16/2012 in bottled water, policy, tap water and water conservation. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.ap.org

“City officials are considering an ordinance that would require owners of new and renovated buildings with water fountains to install special bottle-filling taps. The law’s designed to encourage thirsty people to refill containers instead of reaching for another bottle of Evian or Aquafina.

“This is the appropriate next step to make it easier for San Franciscans to get out of the bad habit of using environmentally wasteful plastic water bottles and into the good habit of using reusable water containers,” said Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, who introduced the legislation in June.

Bottle-filling taps like the ones that would be required if Chiu’s measure passes already are found at San Francisco International Airport and at some city parks and schools. Installed behind a drinking fountain’s regular faucet, they dispense chilled water in a quick-streaming vertical jet that is high enough to accommodate most water containers.

Advocates say having bottle-specific spigots encourages the reuse of water bottles by eliminating long waits to fill them and removing concerns about germs. Some people squirm at the thought of drinking from a fountain exposed to so many mouths, although city officials say water fountains are no less hygienic than bottle taps.”

Read more: NPR

 

lily victoria

U.S. Bottled Water Sales Are Booming (Again) Despite Opposition

Published on 05/22/2012 in bottled water, greenwashing and privatization. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“Despite organized anti-bottled-water campaigns across the country and a noisy debate about bottled water’s environmental impact, Americans are buying more bottled water than ever.

In 2011, total bottled water sales in the U.S. hit 9.1 billion gallons — 29.2 gallons of bottled water per person, according to sales figures from Beverage Marketing Corp.

The 2011 numbers are the highest total volume of bottled water ever sold in the U.S., and also the highest per-person volume.

Translated to the handy half-liter size Americans find so appealing, that comes to 222 bottles of water for each person in the country — four bottles of water for every man, woman and child, every week.

Indeed, bottled water sales aren’t just growing — it’s fair to say they’re booming. Volume increased by 4.1 percent in 2011 — five times as fast as the 0.9 percent growth in the sales of beverages overall, according to Beverage Marketing. Bottled water sales, in fact, are growing twice as fast as the economy itself.

“Americans are drinking more bottled water because they find it convenient, appealing and also healthy,” says Gary Hemphill, who is managing director for information services at Beverage Marketing, and a longtime observer of bottled water and beverage sales in the U.S. and around the world.”

Read more: National Geographic

 

lily victoria

Valley water agencies look at farming contamination

Published on 05/05/2012 in agriculture, bottled water, contaminated water, groundwater and water filtering. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Retrieved from: carbon-based-ghg.blogspot.com

“California failed to protect the San Joaquin Valley from fertilizer, dairy and septic contamination now threatening drinking water from thousands of wells, says the leader of the responsible state agency.

“But Pamela Creedon, executive officer of the Central Valley Regional Water Control Board, says her agency is working on ways to make up for the past.

” ‘We have more than 50% of our resources focused in groundwater programs, and we’re expanding our efforts,’ said Creedon.

“Creedon spoke in Clovis on Thursday after a University of California at Davis researcher described his study on the Valley’s vast water contamination from nitrates, which he linked mostly to farm fertilizing and dairy practices in the past.

“The study says the problem coming from millions of farming acres is getting worse. It suggests many changes, including added fertilizer fees to raise money for water cleanups in many communities. Most rural Valley towns are completely dependent on wells for tap water.

“Many people in small Tulare County towns and other places in the Valley buy bottled water, fearing the nitrate-laced water from their taps will harm their children.”

Read More: Chicago Tribune

Chippie Kislik

Mass. town bans sale of plastic water bottles

Published on 04/26/2012 in bottled water, contaminated water and policy. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.sustainabilityresourcecenter.ucsd

“Residents of the historic Massachusetts town of Concord (CON’-curd) have voted to ban the sale of single-serve plastic water bottles at local stores.

The ban on sales of bottles of a liter or less passed at Wednesday’s town meeting 403-364.

Supporters say it’s the most sweeping water bottle ban passed by any municipality in the nation and will cut down on pollution and limit exposure to toxic chemicals.

Opponents say singling out one form of plastic is ridiculous and the ban will harm local businesses. Opponents also point out that recycled plastic bottles can be used to make dozens of useful items.

Stores could be fined up to $50 for violating the ban.

The ban is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, pending approval from the state attorney general’s office.”

Read more: boston.com

lily victoria

Bottled Water Industry Launches Marketing Battle Against Tap Water

Published on 04/09/2012 in bottled water, greenwashing and tap water. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.triplepundit.com

“Many people are finally waking up to the fact that pre-packaged bottled water is just not necessary. It has even been banned in places like Grand Canyon National Park. Over 90 U.S. universities have either banned or plan to ban bottled water on their campuses, according to the Ecologist, and over 100 U.S. towns and cities have also banned most forms of bottled water.

The bottled water industry is not taking this backlash lying down. Instead it has launched a marketing battle “to turn the public back onto plastic bottled water,” as the Ecologist puts it. In the U.S., the battle is being waged by the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) trade association. The IBWA even launched a YouTube video against what it terms the “anti-bottled water activism on college campuses.” The video, titled, Student Activism: 101, paints college campus bottled water bans as a matter of “freedom of choice.”

Read more: Triple Pundit

 

lily victoria

Mexico’s Water War

Published on 02/23/2012 in bottled water, greenwashing, policy, products and tap water. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.petrecycling.com

“It isn’t just tourists who won’t drink the water in Mexico. It’s nearly everyone, making the country one of the most valuable markets in the world for beverage companies. Mexicans are the world’s biggest drinkers of soda, putting away 166 liters of the bubbly stuff per person in 2010, and of bottled water, chugging down 248 liters per capita in 2011, according to preliminary estimates from the Beverage ­Marketing Corp. The latter figure is more than double Americans’ annual consumption of 110 liters.

With growth in the soda segment flattening out, in part due to government antiobesity campaigns (soda sales have been banned in schools), the growth and competition are in water, where market leader Danone is fighting it out with Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

“Soft drinks are no longer such a great business in Mexico,” says Ana Trulin, an analyst in Mexico City with Euromonitor. “Water is the big profitmaker.”

Analysts project Mexican bottled-water sales will grow to $13 billion by 2015, up from $9 billion in 2011, surpassing the U.S. to become the world’s largest market.”

Read more: Forbes

 

lily victoria

Can Coca-Cola Keep Growing?

Published on 02/09/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, bottled water, contaminated water, displacement of people, glaciers, greenwashing, groundwater, management, privatization and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Wikipedia

“Coca-Cola is a $156 billion nonalcoholic-beverage kingpin that sold more than $46 billion worth of drinks around the world in 2011. As if it needs underscoring, that’shuge. So when it comes to the future for Coca-Cola, is growth still possible?

“If you tuned into Coke’s fourth-quarter earnings release yesterday, you know that there was still growth to be had in the past year, at least. Comparable earnings per share — which adjusts the tally mainly for oddball adjustments from its bottler acquisition — increased 10% for the year to $3.84.

“There’s been no recession for Coke. In the chart below, you can see that earnings did dip in 2008, but when we consider the total earnings growth over the past five years, it’s clear that the Coca-Cola juggernaut is one that’s not easily knocked off course. 

anImageSource: S&P Capital IQ. 2010 earnings adjusted for gains from bottler acquisition. 

“If we break that total growth down to an average annual figure, we can say that Coke is still growing earnings at a clip of better than 11% per year. To deliver that kind of growth on a relatively consistent basis is no small matter no matter who you are, but it’s even more impressive when you’re a company the size of Coke.

“The company hasn’t been shy about deploying some of its ample cash flow to grow through acquisitions. Of note, in 2007 the company ponied up $4.2 billion to buy Vitaminwater maker Glaceau. More recently, the company took over the North American operations of bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises.”
Read more: Daily Finance
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