Legislative Action

Canada: No more 'water-cooler chat' for Manitoba town's employees

CBC News.

Tap water 'excellent'; bottles not needed, says mayor

The town of Altona, Man., has decided to get rid of water coolers and bottled water in its offices.

The water coming out of the taps in municipal offices is good and safe, so there's no need to bring in outside water, Mayor Mel Klassen told CBC News on Monday.

"We have an excellent source of potable water, which we buy from the Pembina Valley Water Co-op, and then we resell it to our citizens," he said.

"I guess we, as a council, felt that if the water is good for the community — in fact, so good that we sell it to our citizens — why would we as a municipality feel the need to provide an alternate source within our own public buildings?"

While some people consider bottled water safer, Klassen pointed out that the municipality doesn't monitor the quality of water purchased in bottles.

"The water source we have from the Pembina Valley Water Co-op, that would be monitored by our town staff, and so we know that's in there. Bottled water, we just don't know."

Another concern is the environmental effects of all those bottles, Klassen said.

"We have a lot of plastics … ending up in our landfill site, and we thought this was one way we could also curb that."

The move will save the town about $500 to $600 a year, Klassen estimated.

Employees will still be allowed to bring their own bottled beverages to work.

The municipal resolution also allows the municipality to supply bottled water in emergencies and for its volunteer firefighters when they're at a fire, Klassen said.

About 3,700 people live in Altona, 90 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.