Bottled water

Tonight a representative of a bottled water company gave a powerpoint presentation to the Pohopoco-Aquashicola Watershed group.  The water company, a subsidiary of the international food giant Nestle, proposes to take tankers of water from springs that flow into the Buckwha Creek, that flows into the Aquashicola, that flows into the Lehigh, that flows into the Delaware, that flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

One time at a conference in California, I heard the poet Gary Snyder propose that we should draw our political boundaries according to the watersheds in which we live, and ever since that I’ve paid attention.

The water would be captured near Kunkletown, Pennsylvania  It would not be drawn from the springs, which might have surface contamination, but rather from wells dug near the springs.

I am opposed to this on a number of levels.  First of all, the bottled water industry is a completely superfluous industry.  Fifty years ago the idea of selling people water that they could get for free from the tap would have seemed ludicrous.  It still seems completely ridiculous to me.  In the U.S. the water is safe to drink.  It might not taste very good in some towns, but it won’t make you sick.

Secondly, the bottled water industry is an environmental disaster.  Plastic bottles fill our dumps and float in our rivers and oceans.  Electricity is used to cool the water, adding to environmental costs.

Finally, if water comes out of a spring and flows into the Buckwha Creek, why should an international food conglomerate be able to tap into that resource for private profit?  Screw that.  

Unfortunately, I was not able to stay until the end of the presentation, made by a hydrological engineer who has sold his soul to a multinational company.  I will try to learn more about the plans and what I can do to thwart this water grab.  You’ll hear more about this.