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Water, Water, Everywhere…

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2007_08_03freewater.jpgWith Toronto in the midst of a nasty heat wave, this cooler beckoning walkers-by in Yorkville with “Free Water” seemed like a desert mirage. But sure enough, the lid pulled back to reveal perfectly-chilled bottled water care of The Body Clinic, a high-end spa and salon.
At first, the cooler seemed a sweet gesture to us sun-beaten, sweat-soaked pedestrians, bringing back memories of the refreshing Freezies given out on hot days in elementary school. But the concept of “Free Water” gave us pause. Isn’t water, which makes up two thirds of the earth’s surface and literally falls from the sky, already free?
Of course, we’re not that naive: bottled water is multi-billion dollar industry and rivals soda pop and fruit juice in popularity. There are even designer brands that have their own celebrity endorsements.
But the ludicrousness of bottled water is finally coming under scrutiny. Macleans recently published this article exposing the astonishing environmental costs of bottled water. Ignoring the sky-high markup and the pollution created by production and distribution, the bottles themselves are single-use recyclable (meaning they can only be used for food products once, and are then converted into non-recyclable materials like carpet or synthetic fabrics), and an estimated 88 percent are never recycled anyway. (We won’t even get into the allegations about the toxins that leach into the water from the plastic.)
Recent studies have shown that most of bottled water’s hyperbolic claims of superiority to tap water is complete bunk: much of it comes from the same place as the stuff in your toilet bowl, and in spite of fears of contamination created by the Walkerton E. coli tragedy, tap water is arguably safer than the bottled stuff. Toronto’s water is provided with 650 bacterial tests each month, while the testing practices of bottled water companies are self-regulating and fairly unknown.
But the ethical issues of bottled water aside, the offer of “Free Water” as an unexpected treat begs the question of why water isn’t readily available in the public realm, and why people are essentially forced to either buy water from a store or carry tap water from home to quench their thirst. Certainly we acknowledge that water fountains create their own cost, maintenance, and hygiene issues, but it’s the lack of publicly available water that feeds the impression of it being a luxury item. It doesn’t help that the bottled water in question is being given away by a spa—a symbol for many of vanity and indulgence.
As for Toronto, in spite of the water and sewer system allegedly being on the verge of collapse, our tap water is not only safe but proven to be delicious! And with the recent reopening of a number of water fountains in the city’s parks, perhaps the return to readily available drinking fountains throughout Toronto isn’t a ridiculous expectation.
To The Body Clinic: we appreciate the thought, but the next time you give away something cool and refreshing to parched passers-by, why not make it ice cream?
Please please please make it ice cream?
Photo by Beth Bohnert

Comments

  • guest

    Here’s an idea. Levy a tax on water bottles sold in Toronto and use the funds raised to build water fountains around town.

  • guest

    Isn’t water, which makes up two-thirds of the earth’s surface and literally falls from the sky, already free?
    I’d like to see you drink all that free and tasty tasty salt water straight from the ocean. Or closer to home, all that free and tasty tasty water straight from Lake Ontario.
    but it’s the lack of publicly available water that feeds the impression of it being a luxury item.
    The very important distinction to be made here is the lack of publicly availabe and clean drinking water. That stuff is a luxury. If you want to water to wash your car and flush your shit with that stuff is easy to find.
    That being said, bottled water is a load of bung. But I am interested to know, when they test Toronto water (or water anywhere for that matter) and call it clean do they test it just after it’s been all purified and whatnot? Or after it’s travelled through the pipe system? Because, it may make a huge difference, no?

  • redjenny

    Bottled water is one of the great corporate successes of modern capitalism – and one of the great consumer scams. Create the fear, then provide a product to soothe the fear.
    But until we can ensure at minimum that all Canadians have safe drinking water (specifically, I’m thinking of the 89 First Nations communities), I feel it is unethical to choose bottled water. Unfortunately sometimes there is no alternative, as mentioned in this article – not enough public fountains and free water sources outside the home. Kind of a sad state of affairs in a city that is in proximity to 20% of the world’s fresh water supply.

  • Marc Lostracco

    Ice cream makes me immensely thirsty.
    Guest #2: The water delivery system should be pretty sterile, so theoretically, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about once it comes out your tap. Or, at least, to your home’s plumbing demarcation point.

  • guest

    “to beg the question” is a logical fallacy in which the conclusion of an argument is assumed in one of the premises; i.e. “He must be stupid because he’s so unintelligent.”
    What it does not mean is “to raise the question” as used here.

  • Dermanus

    TANSTAASFL
    There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
    There ain’t no such thing as free water either. We pay for it no matter how it comes to us, through taxes or buying it directly.
    That said, the evidence does seem to indicate that tap water is better than bottled, if only because they have more people making sure nobody screws up along the line.
    My favourite demonstration of the psychology of bottled water comes via Penn and Teller’s Bullsh!t, where they tell people they’re drinking “glacier water from the mountains of Fiji” or “water from the Amazon river” and it all comes from the same bloody hose in the back of the restaurant. Of course, people are praising the water, noticing the subtle differences, and proclaiming it much better than tap water.

  • guest

    hey toronto, you’re lucky you even have clean tap water to drink, most people on this planet DO NOT. hell, here in shanghai, the water comes out with a yellow tinge and smells, and a glass of it is an invitation to the toilet for 24 hours.

  • guest

    free water in toronto eh!
    http://www.beagoodbuzz.com/node/408

  • guest

    Bottled water is simply acting as a substitute for the convient suger filled drinks which we consumed in the past. Is it that horrible that we are drinking less pop then in the past? With the amount of NA adults and children over weight and bordering on being diabetic I think we should be thankful we have the opportunity to have a healty beverage which we can take with us. Or should we install a fountain in our cars, on our bikes and in our backpacks?!?!