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The Thieves That Are Stealing Your Water
To recap, our government is allowing multi-national company’s to buy up our water for cheap and then sell it back to us in a toxic plastic bottle for an ungodly price. Last year Americans spent $15 billion dollars on bottled water. The bottled water market has recently more than doubled in the United States, overtaking juice, milk, and beer to become the second most popular beverage after soft drinks. Coca Cola, Pepsi and Nestle are the three major players in the bottled water industry producing well known brands like Dasani, Aquafina, Poland Spring, Arrowhead and Calistoga. Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi exclusively use tap water for their bottled water products and Nestle is ruthlessly sucking communities aquifers and rivers dry. They claim to use an elaborate reverse osmosis process to purify the water that turns out to be essentially the same as a home water filtration system like a Brita water filter. Then there is the issue of the discarded plastic bottles. It takes more than 17 million barrels of oil every year to produce the bottles and another 18 million barrels to ship the water. During the production of these water bottles it takes on average 3 to 5 times more water to manufacture than is contained in the bottle itself. More than 38 billion bottles end up in our landfills every year and billions more end up in our water ways making their way to the ocean adding to the swirling mess of plastic that is contaminating our food chain. Disappointingly only 1 in 10 plastic water bottles is ever recycled. So what can you do? Well the best thing would be to not drink bottled water unless it is the only option. We have to deprogram ourselves from the onslaught of marketing and propaganda the bottled water industry has subjected us to. Its become more of a habit than anything for most. Use a home water filtration system and use tap water which provides an efficient and safe delivery system. Instead of a plastic bottle try a stainless steel, glass or aluminum container. The reasons to not drink bottled water are many…the reasons to drink are a farce created by the companies that are stealing your water as I speak. Below is a trailer for a great movie called Tapped. I’m sure you wont see this in your local theater or Netflix for that matter. Funny how valuable info that would benefit the public at large tends to get swept under the rug…? 24 comments to The Thieves That Are Stealing Your Water |
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Corporations that sell bottled water are 
This is outrageous! Next they will be bottling clean air and selling that to us. Drink the tap water!
These companies have gone from selling soda and candy to an essential source of life. They made our country fat…now they want to charge us to live healthy…BS!
Who thought that tap water would be healthier than bottled water. I’ve always known that the waste from bottled water was wrong but the water itself toxic? No more!!! Guess I’ll be making a bigger effort to lug the nalgene everywhere I go. Thanks for the info, I’ll be emailing this post to all my friends and family!
When it comes to drinking water, it shouldn’t be an either/or choice. Most consumers who drink bottled water, also drink tap water. For this reason, I believe we should focus on ensuring both sources are good for consumption. Nestlé Waters North America takes very seriously the quality of its bottled waters. As an employee of the company, I appreciate the opportunity to respond to some of the inaccuracies included in your post.
The reality is, the bottled water industry represents just 0.02% of the total groundwater used in the U.S. each year. At Nestlé Waters, we either purchase water from public suppliers as a customer, or own or lease land and its associated water rights. We only seek sources that can be managed for long-term sustainability. Such is the case in Chaffee County, Colorado, which you link to in your post. Our water use would be regulated by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. They have indicated and data from our own extensive testing shows there will be no measurable impact on the Arkansas River, even in low-flow conditions, nor on wildlife or the environment.
Public water is mostly safe to drink, but can occasionally experience a spike in pathogens or chlorine by-products. Nestlé Waters’ spring waters, such as Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water, come from groundwater sources more isolated from these risks. When we bottle from public sources (for Nestlé Pure Life), we apply additional specialized filtration most public systems cannot afford, and extract elements that most at-home filters cannot remove, before the water is bottled in hygienically-sealed containers. (I’d also like to point out that single-serve water bottles do not contain BPA.)
I encourage you to view our detailed quality water reports, available via a toll-free number on our bottles and through our Web site: http://www.nestle-watersna.com/Menu/OurBrands/Quality+Process/Quality+Reports.htm
Lastly, we are committed to recovering and recycling 60% of our PET beverage bottles by 2018, and are actively working with others to improve and expand programs that make it easier for consumers to recycle ALL types of plastic containers.
Sincerely,
Jane Lazgin
Director, Corporate Communications
Nestlé Waters North America
pretty soon we’ll be at war with what used to be our most abundant natural source.
money rules the world, but you can’t have money if you do not have a world to rule.
Thanks for the voice from Nestle Jane!
I think the real concern here is the precedent that Nestle’s permit application in Chaffee County will set. You want to withdraw 65 million gallons a year and have the upstream city of Aurora release 200 acre feet of water a year to compensate for the water Nestle would remove from the Arkansas basin. This is just the beginning…what happens in two years when you want more water? Water should be considered a public resource, rather than a for profit business. Local battles like these are just the beginning…the wars of the future will be over water not oil.
Your claim that their will be NO measurable impact on the Arkansas river, wildlife or environment is outlandish and optimistic on your part at best. And what about the amount of embodied energy required to ship this water from the source in Chaffee County to the Arrowhead bottling plant in Denver. Then the 3 to 5 times additional water and energy that is required to produce the bottle. Then the barrels of oil required to ship the water back to the consumer. The bottom line is bottled water is NOT sustainable.
You are correct in your statement that “single serve” bottles are BPA free as required by law in many areas of the country. The FDA has unfortunately not acted to ban plastics containing BPA. Another clear sign that the FDA is more concerned with industries health than human health. The problem is the larger bottles are not like the 5 gallon bottles do contain BPA. Its very likely that the 5 gallon bottle on your water cooler contains BPA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_E1yPeD7Ng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5c4efnsCCc
Given the fact that you work for Nestle and responded to this shows the full tilt PR blitz that Nestle is full court pressing to convince the public that this is OK and will benefit them in some way….when in reality the one that benefits is Nestle.
So happy that this subject is getting out there for discussion. Thank you Shane for taking the time to put the truth out there. To Nestle Jane, I’m so happy to see your response because it means that the industry is concerned that the truth is getting out there to the people. This is a new era in which it is more difficult to pull the wool over the consumers eyes. People no longer just believe what they hear, pro or con they do their own research and find the “truth”. Rather than continue the old status quo, how about the industry becoming a partner with the people to create and maintain a healthier more sustainable earth instead of destroying it bit by bit for profit. I am in schools K-12 and I will making sure that all of my students understand the consequences of buying that bottle of water from the vending machine. Get on Board with the truth or get off the train.
its good to see discussion being brought to the table. I agree with sandy. Finally people are coming to and digging deep on reality. It is not hard now’a days with all the information at your fingertips. Nestle may have some great input on how to solve a problem, from a marketing stand point. Tweeking the Green to coe-inside in our future needs and giving hope. Jane, how much of this is actually coming from the heart to take part in saving our earth and our water? or are you just taking advantage of a rising market in a fallen economy?
I thought the slogan was REDUCE, reuse, recycle. Not RECYCLE, reuse, reduce. We have it backwards. I don’t think recycling is the only go to answer. We have live within our means.
Nice response to Nestle Jane Shane.
Jane’s response is certainly reasonable. However, as Shane correctly points out, it takes a narrow and simple view of the environmental impact of water extraction for commercial bottle sales. While the Colorado Division of Wildlife may sign-off on your water operations, our regulatory systems fail to take into account the effect on water and wildlife system-wide, especially the surrounding states.
Until we have an integrated approach to water rights, private actors will be able to lobby for lucrative water contracts through state agencies which may hurt entire regions.
Is bottled water any worse than soda? Soda is made primarily of water. Are they getting the water from the same sources? Are there they same concerns with soda as bottled water?
very impressive petersen! keep up the good fight. i’ll be passing this along for sure. its interesting how you can’t find this well made, very informative important doc on netflix. surprising when you can find every other movie ever made. billions at stake. i would be worried too if i was ‘Director, Corporate Communications’ from one of the largest corporate stakeholders.
These are apples and oranges really. Soda is likely made from tap water. The bottled water sham is that you can get the same product for a fraction of the cost from your tap and avoid contributing to the mess of plastic bottles that end up in the ocean or landfills.
Not only billions of dollars at stake but the welfare of billions of people needing access to reliable, clean and affordable water in the future.
daaaang…
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7065205277695921912
The link you posted is an eye opening follow up to the first Zeitgeist movie….scary stuff that we the people need to be aware of. We are being manipulated in ways we never allow if we knew the truth. Share the info and the people can take the power back!
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
heey! you know i never knew that tap water was better for people then bottled water:) its just so amazing that nestle wold deside to take our water just for the money;P its just b.s i cant stand it:) anyway thx for making this website i learned a lot:) thanks again peace
Thanks for writing, I truly enjoyed reading your most recent post. I think you should post more frequently, you obviously have natural ability for blogging!
NO MORE BOTTLED WATER FOR PROFIT!
USE THE TAP!
Jane, Quit your job.
Hi, Congratulations to the site owner for this marvelous work you’ve done. It has lots of useful and interesting data.
**** i hate those stupid *** holes that are stealing our ****** water for money its bull **** oh, ****
The Division of Wildlife is just one of many referral agencies with input to Nestle’s application to extract water in Chaffee County. Those with decision making authority over this project include the County Board of Commissioners, the state engineer’s office and water court. Local county commissioners, Gov. Bill Ritter and former CO Senator-now Interior Secretary Ken Salazar have all spoken out on the importance of managing water resources for future generations, especially as water supply is strained by unprecedented population growth in the West as well as climate change. Now we’ll see who, if anyone, is willing to put any action behind their rhetoric and find a way to stop this project and any future such water grab attempts by the makers and marketers of bottled water. Ritter himself said today at the Western Governor’s Association conference that the region needs to do more to protect the water that’s already available. And as a signer of the UN”s CEO Water Mandate, Nestle itself pledged to “exercise business statesmanship by being an advocate for water sustainability in global and local policy discussion, clearly presenting the role and responsibility of the private sector in supporting integrated water resource management.” In Chaffee County, I have seen no evidence by Nestle of positive contribution to local policy discussions on water sustainability or support for integrated water resource management. In fact, to the contrary, they have shown evidence of taking every advantage of those gaps in policy and management in their effort to reap maximum profitability for their shareholders at the expense of the future welfare and sustainability of this small, rural county.