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Water, water, everywhere—even at the convenience store
Water, water, everywhere— even at the convenience store CH&S Netways
I
Frankie Wood-Black is Quality Assurance Team Leader for the Phillips Petroleum Borger Business Unit, and Tim Pasquarelli is a managing partner for International Peril Mitigation Services, Mining and Petroleum Security Consultants, Golden, CO. 38
t’s July and it is hot. By the time this hits your desk, it will be September and probably still will be hot. Summer brings about numerous contemplations, like why does one water the lawn only to have to mow it? And, why does it cost four times as much to buy a gallon of that special drinking water at the convenience store than it does to buy a gallon of gasoline? Yes, complain about gasoline or fuel prices all you want to, but then do you pay that extra little something for that cold liter of water? So, what is so special about that liter of water that people are willing to pay so much for it? Is it better than the tap water in your house? Is it better with or without those little gas bubbles? How is it regulated? Where can you go to get information about bottled water? Is there a standard?? As it turns out, yes, Virginia there is a standard. You expected nothing else. In fact, not only is there a standard, but there are several organizations that focus on bottled water. There is the International Bottled Water Association,1 the Canada Bottled Water Association,2 and the Water Quality Association.3 Of course here in the United States, one would expect to find the usual suspects interested in bottled water quality: the Environmental Protection Agency,4 the Food and Drug Administration,5 and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).6 In fact, if you do a search using the key words “bottled,” “water,” and “quality;” you get over 26,000 hits (using Yahoo!7). These hits range from the commercial distributors of bottled water to local consumer groups focusing on consumer facts. You see a very broad range of education resources, advertisements and the usual hype. But exactly where does one start? If you are looking for a good overview of the issue confronting the bottled water industry, try the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA). This site has a news center, bottled water facts, codes, calendars, and trade show information. The site is well-organized and easy to use. You might even want to check out the bottled water regulations; there is a great graphic of the “Bottled Water’s Path to Market” which shows where the different regulations apply.8 This site is not a one-stop shop but it does provide you with an excellent start. The Canadian Bottled Water Association does not provide as much information as the IBWA site but it does try to provide the public information about bottled water. The May 8, 2001 press release, which can be reached through the home page, provides a nice overview of the mission of the CBWA and what they are trying to do with their website. And as you might have anticipated, the site is accessible in French or in English.
© Division of Chemical Health and Safety of the American Chemical Society Published by Elsevier Science Inc.
The Water Quality Association is a great site. There are numerous consumer links from the home page. There is a side navigation bar, which provides the user with a quick search, information about the association, tools, and resources. If you are interested in any water quality issues, this would be a good site to have bookmarked in your favorites section of your web-browser. As mentioned previously, the usual suspects are also involved. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the primary regulatory agency for bottled water, but the water has to be clean before it reaches the bottling plant, thus the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). If you start at the FDA site and do a site search on the words “bottled,” “water,” and “quality,” you get over 400 hits. So be sure to narrow your search when working at this site. As for the EPA, you might start with the ground water and drinking water home page.9 The site has improved greatly if you have not been there in a while. (There is a Kid’s Stuff section if you are looking for some general fun information.) If you happen to be looking for some quick overview information on drinking water quality and health, try the CDC site. There is an excellent overview document that can be reached through the National Ag Safety Database (NASD)10 written by Pat Kendall. (If you haven’t checked out NASD, it is worth a glance, it is a compendium of agricultural safety and health education and information resources.11) Finally, the Natural Resources Defense Council12 is another source of information on water issues. There is a nice brief on “Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?”13 that you may want to check out. It gives an overview and it compares EPA and FDA rules. There are other briefs at the site worth looking at. So, closing as was started, water, water everywhere, but now you can be informed.
References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
http://www.bottledwater.org http://www.cbwa-bottlewater.org http://www.wqa.org http://www.epa.gov http://www.fda.gov http://www.cdc.gov http://www.yahoo.com http://www.bottledwater.org/public/ibwp _facts_reg.htm http://www.epa.gov/safewater http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nasd/docs/ as29000.html http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nasd/ nasdhome.html http://www/nrdc.org http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp
1074-9098/01/$20.00 PII S1074-9098(01)00249-0
I
Frankie Wood-Black is Quality Assurance Team Leader for the Phillips Petroleum Borger Business Unit, and Tim Pasquarelli is a managing partner for International Peril Mitigation Services, Mining and Petroleum Security Consultants, Golden, CO. 38
t’s July and it is hot. By the time this hits your desk, it will be September and probably still will be hot. Summer brings about numerous contemplations, like why does one water the lawn only to have to mow it? And, why does it cost four times as much to buy a gallon of that special drinking water at the convenience store than it does to buy a gallon of gasoline? Yes, complain about gasoline or fuel prices all you want to, but then do you pay that extra little something for that cold liter of water? So, what is so special about that liter of water that people are willing to pay so much for it? Is it better than the tap water in your house? Is it better with or without those little gas bubbles? How is it regulated? Where can you go to get information about bottled water? Is there a standard?? As it turns out, yes, Virginia there is a standard. You expected nothing else. In fact, not only is there a standard, but there are several organizations that focus on bottled water. There is the International Bottled Water Association,1 the Canada Bottled Water Association,2 and the Water Quality Association.3 Of course here in the United States, one would expect to find the usual suspects interested in bottled water quality: the Environmental Protection Agency,4 the Food and Drug Administration,5 and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).6 In fact, if you do a search using the key words “bottled,” “water,” and “quality;” you get over 26,000 hits (using Yahoo!7). These hits range from the commercial distributors of bottled water to local consumer groups focusing on consumer facts. You see a very broad range of education resources, advertisements and the usual hype. But exactly where does one start? If you are looking for a good overview of the issue confronting the bottled water industry, try the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA). This site has a news center, bottled water facts, codes, calendars, and trade show information. The site is well-organized and easy to use. You might even want to check out the bottled water regulations; there is a great graphic of the “Bottled Water’s Path to Market” which shows where the different regulations apply.8 This site is not a one-stop shop but it does provide you with an excellent start. The Canadian Bottled Water Association does not provide as much information as the IBWA site but it does try to provide the public information about bottled water. The May 8, 2001 press release, which can be reached through the home page, provides a nice overview of the mission of the CBWA and what they are trying to do with their website. And as you might have anticipated, the site is accessible in French or in English.
© Division of Chemical Health and Safety of the American Chemical Society Published by Elsevier Science Inc.
The Water Quality Association is a great site. There are numerous consumer links from the home page. There is a side navigation bar, which provides the user with a quick search, information about the association, tools, and resources. If you are interested in any water quality issues, this would be a good site to have bookmarked in your favorites section of your web-browser. As mentioned previously, the usual suspects are also involved. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the primary regulatory agency for bottled water, but the water has to be clean before it reaches the bottling plant, thus the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). If you start at the FDA site and do a site search on the words “bottled,” “water,” and “quality,” you get over 400 hits. So be sure to narrow your search when working at this site. As for the EPA, you might start with the ground water and drinking water home page.9 The site has improved greatly if you have not been there in a while. (There is a Kid’s Stuff section if you are looking for some general fun information.) If you happen to be looking for some quick overview information on drinking water quality and health, try the CDC site. There is an excellent overview document that can be reached through the National Ag Safety Database (NASD)10 written by Pat Kendall. (If you haven’t checked out NASD, it is worth a glance, it is a compendium of agricultural safety and health education and information resources.11) Finally, the Natural Resources Defense Council12 is another source of information on water issues. There is a nice brief on “Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?”13 that you may want to check out. It gives an overview and it compares EPA and FDA rules. There are other briefs at the site worth looking at. So, closing as was started, water, water everywhere, but now you can be informed.
References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
http://www.bottledwater.org http://www.cbwa-bottlewater.org http://www.wqa.org http://www.epa.gov http://www.fda.gov http://www.cdc.gov http://www.yahoo.com http://www.bottledwater.org/public/ibwp _facts_reg.htm http://www.epa.gov/safewater http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nasd/docs/ as29000.html http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nasd/ nasdhome.html http://www/nrdc.org http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp
1074-9098/01/$20.00 PII S1074-9098(01)00249-0