UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 7 May 2008 -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors recently convened a meeting in New York City that involved participation of the Mayors Water Council and the Municipal Waste Management Association.

The purpose of the meeting – to examine new information available about the economic and public health benefits of local government investment when it comes to municipal water and sewer infrastructure projects and services. 

The meeting also reviewed the impact of bottled water on a given municipal community.

The meeting included a number of panels that were comprised of environmental, sanitation, and water commissioners from several U.S. cities as well as water experts and representatives from the bottled water industry.

The meeting was held in response to a municipal water resolution that was adopted almost a year ago (June 2007) at the US Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.  

According to the resolution, entitled “The Importance of Municipal Water”, the US Conference of Mayors was instructed to compile data that focused on the importance of local government investment within the municipal water and sewer infrastructure and service arena.  

The resolution also required the compilation of data focused on the impact of the bottled water industry’s contribution to solid waste.

The Cadmus Group Inc, a leading environmental and energy consulting firm, has been working with Mayors Water Council on municipal water issues.  

According to their own research, investing in drinking water and sewer systems yield only positive returns.  

While the returns vary depending on the state of the existing local infrastructure, a single dollar investment on water and sewer infrastructure generally yield a savings of as much as US$2.62.  

The Cadmus’ research also indicated that the addition of one job in water and sewer services on the local level can actually lead to the addition of 3.68 jobs within the national economy (in support of that one water or sewer related job).

On the topic of bottled water, the meeting noted that a number of cities including San Francisco, Albuquerque, Minneapolis, and Seattle have banned the purchase of single-served bottled water by the city departments within the last twelve months. 

The bans were enacted as a result of financial concerns relating to the actual cost of bottled water and its impact on tightening city budgets along with concerns about the bottled water industry’s adverse contribution to the environment. 

Noted observations voiced at the meeting included the following:

• Even the cheapest bottled water from city retailers and grocery stores can cost from 1,000 to 4,000 more times per unit volume than municipal water. For example, in New York City, the cost of a single-serve bottled water ($ per ounce) is .116 while the cost of tap water ($ per 1000 gallons) is $2.70 or .000021 ($ per ounce). In San Diego, the cost of a single-serve bottled water ($ per ounce) is .030 while the cost of tap water ($ per 1000 gallons) is $3.14 or .000025 ($ per ounce).

• Recycling rates of PET plastic, the petroleum-based material used to produce most water bottles, has declined over the past decade while bottled water consumption has risen considerably.

• While water bottles represent a relatively small proportion of the entire solid waste stream in the U.S., water bottles still contributed over 827,000 tons of scrap PET in 2006.

In response to the information and figures about bottled water, representatives from the American Beverage Association and the International Bottled Water Association presented updated information that detailed industry pro-active efforts to reduce the amount of materials used in plastic water bottles and improve the water conservation efforts connected with the bottled water production processes.

In closing, it is interesting to note that U.S. cities are not the only urban governmental bodies seeking to halt the purchase of single-served bottled water by city departments (for both financial and environmental reasons).  

Efforts are also underway in select cities around the world. For example, the city councils in Windsor, Canada and Edinburgh, Scotland are two of the latest examples where the availability of bottled water for municipal employees is in the process of being curtailed.

Labels: United Nations, U.N., MaximsNews WATER, water, bottled water, U.S. Conference of Mayors, United States, U.S.A., drinking water, water supply, Kathy Shandling, international development, environment, water news, water sustainability, water resource, water management, global water crisis, sustainable development

 

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