Inner Art – September 2007
Water is a Human Right, Not a Commodity
by Randa Solick and Joyce McLean for the Santa Cruz WILPF Water Committee
We’re killing ourselves and the Earth with every bottle of water we buy. Chemicals such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET #1, which leaches phthalates) and the harder polycarbonate plastics (PET #7, which leaches Bisphenol A) have been linked to cancer. And these substances are not only found in our water bottles. Phthalates, for example, are also found in PVC and are used for products like medical equipment, children’s toys, and plastic wrap. Tests of human blood, urine and hair performed by countless scientists in recent years have found many types of industrial chemicals, including flame-retardants, Teflon, pesticides, arsenic, and plastics, within our bodies. The cumulative impact of these chemicals over a lifetime puts us at increased risk for long-term health problems including abnormal fetal development, dementia and Parkinson-like diseases, disruption of hormone functions, thyroid problems, insulin resistance, low sperm counts and prostate and breast cancer.
The Food and Drug Administration regulates bottled water in the United States. However, the FDA has weaker regulations than those of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For example, the FDA allows a certain amount of coliform bacteria to exist in bottled water and has no standard requirements to test bottled water for parasites that can cause intestinal problems. Ironically, standards to test for these things do exist for tap water. In addition, there are no federal filtration or disinfection requirements for bottled water as there are for city water, nor does bottled water have to meet standards for important toxic or cancer-causing chemicals such as phthalates. As evidence of the contaminant dangers that exist, cancer patients who have undergone stem cell or bone marrow transplants and people with HIV/AIDS are often cautioned to avoid bottled water.
Forty percent of bottled water comes from a city tap, but under present laws, consumers have no way of knowing about the specifics of this source or of determining which chemicals are contaminating it. In a recent survey of 103 bottled water brands conducted by the Natural Resource Defense Council, at least one third of the 1000 bottles sampled had contamination levels beyond allowable limits, and included synthetic organics, bacteria and arsenic.
Another factor in this issue is economics. The Sierra Club estimates that tap water costs $0.0015 - $0.0030/gallon. Filtered water costs between $0.13 -$0.24/gallon. In April 2007, a 20-ounce bottle of Aquafina water cost $1.57, which translates to almost $10/gallon. That is more than 3,000 - 6,000 times the cost of tap water. And yet, Americans consumed about 8.3 billion gallons of bottled water in 2006–approximately 26 gallons/person. The American Water Works Association estimates that one year’s worth of bottled water sales in the United States could finance 60 percent of the cost of upgrading the nation’s drinking water infrastructure and treatment. The world spends more than $100 billion a year on bottled water. The UN estimates it would only take $13 billion, invested in infrastructure and treatment, to meet the UN Millennial Goal of giving everyone in the world access to clean drinking water.
More than five million people, mostly children, die every year from water-borne disease. This level of disease and deprivation is unacceptable. At the same time, big business interests want us to think of water as a product that we have to buy. However, water should be a shared public resource. Privatization of water is a corporate move to take away people’s authority over the most important substance to life. Local political control is the best way to assure that all issues are considered in decisions about water, for urban and non-urban areas alike.
WILPF, the oldest women’s peace organization in the world, is an international, non-governmental organization with national sections in 37 countries, covering all continents. Visit www.wilpf.org to find your local branch.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
1. Don’t buy bottled water! Use a stainless steel water bottle. At public events, provide a pitcher of water.
2. If you’re unsure of your tap water, use a water filter. Better yet, work with your local government to improve water quality and protect water sources. Advocate for water conservation.
3. Oppose companies trying to set up bottling plants in your watershed or region; support efforts to keep public control of water.
4. Talk with your family and friends about the impact on public health regarding the production and discarding of plastics.
5. Find out about your community’s environmental problems at: www.scorecard.org.
Research the quality of your public drinking water at: www.epa.gov/safewater/ccrl.html