CWQA Position Statement Bottled Water
CWQA Position: Bottled water is, under many circumstances, a readily available, economical alternative to central treatment. CWQA has long maintained that treatment of water to drinking water quality standards is not and should not be the only method of providing safe drinking water. Accordingly, CWQA has consistently supported efforts by the private sector to supply safe drinking water to individual consumer households at a reasonable cost. Bottled water along with an increasingly broad range of point-of-use water quality improvement equipment fits the criteria. Comment: Water used for human consumption, for drinking and cooking, amounts to only 1/2 of 1% of the total used in a typical household. It doesn’t make sense, economically or otherwise, to require that 100% of all water be treated to drinking water quality. Many thousands of consumers rely on bottled water. It is growing in acceptance as a viable alternative to central treatment and furthers CWQA’s policy of intensively treating only the water which is used for drinking and cooking. Bottled water is particularly suited for use as a temporary solution to water quality problems during intermediate period while permanent point-of-use solutions are being devised. Bottled water is useful in providing an emergency source of potable water (such as following an earthquake, hurricane or flood). Finally, bottled water can serve a specialized purpose relating to particularly sensitive population groups, such as infants who require nitrate-free water. Click the links below for more information: Canadian Bottled Water Association
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