Bottled Water Act of the 21st Century for the United States

Let me know if the following proposal is too extreme:
I am laying down my proposal as a response to Water Wars: Corporations Begin To Lay Claim To the World's H20 brought to our attention by liveandlearn.

No private company may utilize any natural fresh water resource for the purpose of individually packaging and selling for profit serving sizes of water. This would exclude any company which offers refill services for water coolers that utilize large jugs, such that must use a third party container by the consumer to dispense the water into.

Instead, any company which wishes to bottle, package, market, distribute and sell water in individual servings for profit may only be permitted to utilize water sourced from desalination water treatment plants which pump salt water into a filtration system to produce drinkable fresh water.

That is the basis for my proposed legislation to assist in the water wars for the people. I thought about adding a stipulation that would allow for the bottling, and packaging of fresh water sources in individual servings only if it were to be given away for free. However, I then realized that the tricky lawyers would simply setup a non-profit or third party company to receive the free water. It would then be re-sold under whatever cause they make up for profit since that company or NP which received the water for free did not themselves pump the water and package it for resale. Of course there is also the issue on how to regulate an artificially created reservoir for instance from the Hoover Dam, and whether that falls under Natural fresh water source. But that is why collective input from the community is desired.

In this way, we are not restricting capitalism because private entities are still allowed to sell bottled water to the public on a for-profit business model. At the same time, local communities and states will not have their precious resources abused and depleted by greedy shareholders who have no vested interest in the health and well being of that community. In fact this would actually create more specialized well paying jobs, as well as create a national technology race to make desalination tech more efficient and cheaper in an effort to minimize the increased price of the bottled water.

Does any of this sound reasonable?? Is there a way to make it better, tone it down?? Let me know.

Some other related AT threads:

Blue Gold, World Water Wars. Interesting Documentary!
The Ten Biggest American Cities That Are Running Out Of Water
Town BANS selling bottled water... Welcome to Amerika, land of the free!
Bad News America: You No Longer Have Any Water! The UN owns you now

I drink Ozarka Water! Is that good???

Well if you are referring to the Ozarka I have just cited, its clean and fairly safe. But that is not really the point, as most bottled water is. The individual, such as yourself, should be moving away from for-profit bottled water that is not any more or less safe than traditional tap water in most municipalities. It isn't necessary, and only leads to eventual increased costs for your water bill at home over time, and quicker depletion of natural local water sources.

Also, they are owned by nestle, so you are still supporting a greedy multinational that is putting profits and shareholders first with little regard to your local community's natural resources and environment. Just click on "About Us" in the companies link I provided you to see that yourself. Most local brands are in fact owned by Nestle, it is not a secret. Just most people don't care enough to find out.

Also wanted add, most of the bottled water sold ANYWHERE by ANY brand is not actually directly sourced from the springs it claim. They simply select a municipality which sources its water from said spring, and tap into that water distribution system. So essentially, the bottled water you drink is still in fact Tap water. They just did what any reasonable citizen can easily do at home, run it through their own filters. After which they pay someone or an agency to create a clever marketing strategy that convinces people they swear they are drinking water directly from a spring which is somehow "better" than the spring water that comes out of their home tap.

Many rivers originate at a Spring. So bottlers can actually use a municipal water supply which is taken from a river, and as long as that river originates at a spring they can market it as "Spring Water". See technically, they have not lied, they just left out some of the truth. Pictures of ice capped mountains surrounded by forests is usually all that is needed to satisfy a consumers curiosity though, and mot do not even know the difference.

reply to post by DYepes


We've got to take on the whole complex, OP.

www.youtube.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

And a million other stories of drinking water being systematically poisoned by industry.

Industry is driven by necessity. You will always buy what you NEED before what you WANT. If private water becomes something we all NEED, because the rest is poisoned, its a trillion dollar industry. That's why the folks who sat atop the intel agencies, who know what's up want a piece:

www.bibliotecapleyades.net...

Oh, and both the Moonie and Bush land is located at what Paraguay’s drug czar called an,

“enormously strategic point in both the narcotics and arms trades.”

And it sits atop the one of the world’s largest fresh-water aquifers.

Clean water may be one of the largest issues in coming decades. But does all the water have to be polluted in the first place?

reply to post by DYepes


That's kind of funny I was thinking the same thing the other day but I was also thinking they could process the sea salt and sell that too and double their money and better pr for themselves

I agree, but everything we do has to be done a step at a time. Even as a united organization, we cannot simultaneously tackle fracking, water rights, land acquisition and everything else head on at the same time. It would pull too many people apart in too many direction with too much differing opinions.

That is why we start with a single issue, work towards a victory, and move on to the next. I only recently found out about the fracking pollution, but am I still fairly ignorant on the topic. More research will be done on that, but I want to focus on what I believe is an achievable and reasonable goal that a lot more people can relate too. For instance, I live in Florida, and Floridians will not really pay attention to fracking. But we do have local water resources being raped by bottlers, which is also a common problem in states where there is ALSO fracking. Imagine if multiple states were able to reach a goal that satisfied all sides. At that point, having such a common goal (clean Water) and a victory the locals may become aware and more helpful to a cause that does not directly affect them here (Florida for example) and contribute time and resources to raise the topic of fracking on a national level.

As shady as lawyers can be, the good guys need them too. I have always said that many of the issues we need to address are being held back by three things "A lack of a united front of motivated businesses and organizations, and good lawyers to represent them". See we need the united organizations to raise the level of awareness and do the educating on the street level. We need the businesses to assist in financing, and we need the lawyers to handle all the paperwork and drafting the legislation for our side, the people.

ironically these all exist now in great numbers, but as separate parts of the equation. We need to unite three into a mega NGO of some sort, and begin tackling the issues one by one. Only then can all the problems we have raged about for decades begin to see solutions.

So having said all that, what does everyone think about the actual legislation I drafted? I honest to God want to revise that into legalise and figure out how to begin setting it into motion, even if it begins only city by city, and then state by state. EVERY victory is a good victory, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. because with victory, comes hope. And hope brings ACTION. Action brings VICTORY!!

reply to post by automata


yes exactly, and by selling the salt that could actually help to offset the increased production cost. See that is thinking outside the box, exactly the ideas and actions we need more of. What else?? Solar power to further bring down the cost?? Renewable energy tax credits right? The more we analyze it, it would actually make more sense for bottlers to switch their business model to this system.

Hope this is on tôpic but can I ask if there are problems with tap water in the US? I wonder if you choose to buy it or if it is a necessity ?

They are currently studying the use of Krypton 81 to map underground water ways.

About a fifth of people on Earth drink water drawn from underground, and crops around the world depend on it; experts believe that aquifer depletion contributed to the worldwide food drought this year. Underground water is less prone to pollution and is the only source of water in many dry areas where surface water quickly evaporates.
Water accumulates in aquifers only after filtering slowly through sand and cracks in rocks, which can take millennia in some areas. In order to manage this resource fairly and effectively, consumers need to know how fast the water is replenished.


Read more at: phys.org...

The most common problem from the conspiracy angle is Fluoridation. Some places simply have aging pipes that leave unwanted flavors in the water. But these same issues occur in every developed nation.

Its simply propaganda. America is a corporate whore state, and the people are the clients. Always paying for whatever they are told will make them happy. Like when a whore says "you don't know what your missing baby " Same concept, except for the sake of this discussion, the corporate whore is selling water, and what you don't know you are missing is the illusion that the bottled water is somehow cleaner, tastes better, and safer to drink. In many places however, the exact opposite has been factually documented to be true.

In Albuquerque I decided to purchase a bottle of local brand "Spring Water" (probably owned by Nestle anyways) on a trip to some nice hills I was climbing with the boys. Had a weird funky taste to it. I was the only one to actually drink this water one time the entire trip. I happened to be the only one that came down with horrible stomach pains and diarrhea for a few days after I got back. This bottled water was the one and only thing I consumed at between my family and my girls family the entire time I was there. The rest of the time I drank her fathers tap water, which tasted great btw and came out quite cold. For petes sake the house is a trailer on blocks connected to the local water supply (their well water ran out years ago when she was a child). Everyone else drinks the faucet water.

And in fact, there are many bottled water recalls every year all over the country, but it rarely if ever makes any real public announcement.

Originally posted by DYepes
That is why we start with a single issue, work towards a victory,

Then it seems reasonable to start with removal of Flouride from the water
supply...then make sure they dont add other drugs.

Bottled water is a nessecary 21st century product.
Water only bottled from desalination plants?

Ludicrous I say! Ludicrous!

reply to post by DYepes


Water and access to it is a human right. Without it no one has life let alone liberty nor able to begin the pursuit of happyness. The same can be said for food, shelter and education.

Why dont we put that into writing and recognize it nationally.

I don't see why not. Consumer Bottled water as you know it today is a wasteful concept entirely. Local and regional water resources are better put to use when not individually packaged and shipped away from that community across state lines. If you have foul water, purchase a filtration system. it will end up saving you more money than buying bottled water and taste just as good.

When you buy bottled water, and most people do simply because marketing has manipulated their mind to thinking it is somehow better, all you do is making greedy people who don't care for your local water resources or your own well being more wealthy. Desalinated bottled water would make for a killer new industry and create many more jobs. Add renewable solar systems to help power them, and you create yet more jobs.

Then maybe the idiot consumer can stop wasting money on bottled water, which btw still has fluoride as it is still tapped from the same source as your own sink. Unless it is Reverse Osmosis water, it will have fluoride if the municipality it came from treats their water supply with it.

.

Originally posted by Nephalim
reply to post by DYepes

 

Water and access to it is a human right. Without it no one has life let alone liberty nor able to begin the pursuit of happyness. The same can be said for food, shelter and education.

Why dont we put that into writing and recognize it nationally.

edit on 12-8-2013 by Nephalim because: (no reason given)

Because the right and the big companies would lable you a communist.

Originally posted by MrSpad

Originally posted by Nephalim
reply to post by DYepes

 

Water and access to it is a human right. Without it no one has life let alone liberty nor able to begin the pursuit of happyness. The same can be said for food, shelter and education.

Why dont we put that into writing and recognize it nationally.

edit on 12-8-2013 by Nephalim because: (no reason given)

Because the right and the big companies would lable you a communist.

Ok hey, that's right I agree it is a universal right. And I support putting it into writing. But corporate institutes are not human beings. They are composed of them, and all of the humans that compose a corporate entity have the right to water and no one is denying them. But a corporate entity more closely resembles a machine and not a human being.

Everyone may have their bottled water, and to be fair if all bottled water simply disappeared by an act of God, or aliens, nearly every Western Bloc citizen would still have regular access to safe drinkable and great tasting water with no extra effort required. It takes effort and resources to actually consume bottled water. It takes much less effort and resources to consume the water already granted as a right that is not bottled and still safe and great tasting.

I think we have to admit, as a human being, drinking bottled water in our society is being a bit spoiled. I mean come on, lets just make the observation from an unbiased perspective. I drink from the tap, sometimes I use my filter, sometimes straight from the tap. I don't want to take away your reusable bottles. I don't want you to drink toilet water.

But how will your life be in danger by drinking the water from your tap during normal operating life (excluding disasters, war, and geological events) and not drinking bottled water. Can anyone add anything to that?

Rebuttal???

This is the water I buy at the supermarket occasionally.

Contains pure H2O..

www.noblebeverages.com...

I kid you not. It is more-ish and refreshing compared to normal tap water, and our normal tap water where I am in Australia is quite of a high standard.

ok the primary benefit to that company is the reverse osmosis filtration. I assume you drink it for its lack of fluoride and trace chlorine. That is the primary method of desalinating sea water into drinkable water. Hopefully this company you buy from is sourcing the water from the sea, because a lot of water is also discharged as waste in the R/O process. If it were near the bay they could just dump it back in, so no net loss.

I would hate to find out R/O was being used from a spring water source, would be kind of wasteful.