Written by SCOTT STANFIELD
Citizen staff
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Sunday, 24 August 2008 |
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Canadian municipalities, mindful of the environment, are partial to the latter as they push toward a ban on the sale of plastic water bottles. Many consumers, on the other hand, believe the former is safer, not to mention more convenient than what comes out of the tap.
In Prince George, the quality of tap water is "very good," says Marco Fornari, the city's manager of utilities.
"It is highly regulated. We do up to 100 samples a month -- send them to the centres for disease control in Vancouver, as well as continuous chlorine residual monitoring. We have experienced and certified operators that have to maintain a constant educational component in order to keep their certification." said Fornari.
"To me, tap water is great. It's inexpensive and it's safe."
Prince George water, he added, is often used as a "negative blank" when experts compare other ground water systems.
"We've never had any outbreaks of cryptosporidium or things of that nature," Fornari said.
Still, a significant number of Canadians only drink water that comes from a bottle.
According to a Statistics Canada report released this summer, three out of 10 households used bottled water in 2006. The report also found those in high-income homes drank more bottled water than people with lower incomes.
Nearly 1.5 billion litres of bottled water were produced for Canadians in 2003, compared to 820 million litres in 2000.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 24 August 2008 )
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