First it was Central Florida University, which built a 45,000-seat football stadium with no (that's right, zero) water fountains. And at their very first game in September 2007, 18 people went to the hospital and another 60 were treated at the stadium for heat-related problems. I describe this remarkable story in Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water.
Then, the sports arena that hosts the Cleveland Cavaliers removed its drinking water fountains. The only way for thirsty fans to get water was to wait in line at the concessions counters for a free small cup or pay $4 for bottled water or try to drink water from the bathroom faucets.
Now the 100,000-seat Michigan Stadium, at the University of Michigan (the "Big House"), has just reopened after renovation and they've announced that no one can bring water into the stadium. Instead, fans must buy $4 bottled water at the 40 concession stands, find one of four "hydration tents" (whatever those are), wait in line for a free cup, or try to find one of only 28 water fountains (one per 4,000 fans). I've looked at the stadium website and the official stadium map: the concession stands are listed, but not the location of the water fountains. And in what seems more like a bad joke than an actual benefit, the University has announced a promotion for the Wolverines' home opener on September 4th: the first 25,000 fans through the turnstiles will receive a commemorative plastic bottle of commercial water. Oh boy.
It is time to stand up and demand that our public places and spaces have clean, working, water fountains. It used to be that no city in ancient Greece and Rome could call itself civilized unless public fountains were available for everyone. Even today, when our tap water is remarkably safe and inexpensive, we need water in our public areas.
Water fountains are perfectly safe. There are no public health recommendations to close water fountains, nor (so far as I can tell) any scientific papers with evidence of the transmission of disease from drinking water fountains. Might it happen? Sure. Though as I've said before, that sneezing, coughing guy in the arena seat next to me is likely to be a far bigger health threat. And the quality of bottled water is less well monitored and regulated than our tap water.
And as for the University of Michigan? I recommend that they drop the plan to give away commercial bottled water and offer a first-day promotion of a free, refillable/reusable, water container with the Wolverine's logo, along with a map to every water fountain in the stadium, and indeed, on campus.
Peter Gleick
Pacific Institute
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Apart from oxygen, water is our common necessity. It is now a commodity like oil. So pay up.
We've been so entranced with the mystique of bottled water these past 25 years that we've made it the "new normal" when that normal used to be drinking from a public fountain. Now it's an uphill battle as we've allowed our public fountains to degrade. The U.S. should take hard look at the success of the Manly Water Council Project in Australia that is combating bottled water by creating "designer" fountains that are clean, sleek, and well maintained. Read the report here: http://www.bottledwateralliance.com/Manly-Council-Brochure.pdf
Bottle water is selling lifestyle. If sustainability (i.e., public fountains) cannot win on conscious, it might want to fight fire with fire.
The bottled water industry has done a great job marketing their products, and many leaders of public water utilities wish they could do the same; but public agencies don't charge $5 a gallon (!), so their marketing efforts consist of little inserts with your water bills.
I agree with you wholeheartedly that public water fountains should be preserved or restored.
“National Estimate of Waterborne Disease associated with Public Drinking Water” http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/statistics/surveillance/national_estimate_waterborne_disease.html
Thus, there is a factual basis for a differential in the frequency of governmental oversight. It is also worth noting the important role that states play in augmenting FDA’s inspectional presence.
Bottled water sits in warehouses, then on market shelves for weeks before purchase. And you say that that's perfectly safe. So, what's the basis of the campaign for us not to re-use these bottles by filling them with also perfectly safe filtered water from the frig or even plain tap water, if all the minimum safety specs are the same?
Wouldn't re-using those bottles save us consumers a lot of money, as well as cut down on the amount of plastic waste floating around in our oceans, not to mention the fossil-fueled, energy cost of producing and shipping those bottles?
So, what's the skinny here, advertising man?
Business shouldn't take profit from water, period.
And, if we're running out of drinking water in so many years... why do we still allow these sugar crap soda's and alcopops on the market? Can I get some priorities up in this ** ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ3aQX1MXwE
Google bacteria in drinking fountains and you will see a variety of reputable stories on the contamination problem, including e. coli and fecal bacteria.
Until we demand they are cleaned and sanitized, bottle water is safer though we should have a safe option.
I have no doubt there can be problems, and I agree they should be regularly cleaned as part of maintenance, but bottled water is not any safer.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3293080&page=1
I am not for bottled water, just hygiene.
I'm with you public drinking fountains are a must particularly at large venues.