Student Action

Canada: The water bottle debate uncapped

Ubyssey Online. By Sarah Chung -

The AMS’s effort to ban bottled water is moving forward. Coun­cil approved just over $11,000 last month to install and retrofit fountains in the SUB. The foun­tains would reduce the need for students to purchase bottled water and limit the building’s waste. At the same time, it raises questions about the safety of tap water and sanitation concerns with foun­tains, particularly in a building that sees up to 6000 students pass through it every day.

While some of the concerns have factual foundations, most are problems of perception. “A prop­erly maintained water fountain shouldn’t have any problems… as long it is regularly used,” said Dr Ray Copes, clinical associ­ate professor of health care and epidemiology.

“The problem with infrequently used water fountains [is that the lack of flow] can cause a build-up of chlorine residue inside the pipes, which can be a problem,” Copes said. These problems often occur in heavy industrial areas where drinking fountains are rarely used, but are less common in a heavily trafficked university building.

The University Department of Health, Safety and Environ­ment does water testing every six months. The most recent test in November 2008 found the water quality to be within acceptable health parameters. The depart­ment tests for a variety of heavy metals including lead and mercu­ry. While trace amounts are in the source water, the levels are well below the guidelines established by Health Canada.

However, these tests are based on the water quality after it has been flushed out for some pe­riod of time. The University’s Department of Health, Safety and Environment recommends stu­dents flush the water for 30 sec­onds prior to use, which prevents the contamination that leads to the metal taste in water.

The fountains’ exteriors get cleaned once a week. Although no specialized cleaning for the fountain’s mouthpieces is neces­sary, Copes says that it would be “reasonable” to clean them daily, as they do with toilets and sinks.

There will be three new foun­tains fitted in the basement of the SUB. Though the source water for SUB fountains has been given a clean bill of health, these foun­tains will be fitted with filters as an added precaution.

To overcome negative percep­tions about using fountains, the AMS will launch a campaign encouraging students to use refill­able steel bottles—which the AMS would sell at cost—and to raise awareness about the merits of us­ing tap water in favour of dispos­able bottles.
Banning bottled water would be exclusive to AMS facilities, in­cluding the AMS food services in the SUB. The ban would not affect operations managed directly by the university, including Pacific Spirit Place.

Other universities across the nation have already made the transition from plastic bottles to refillable bottle stations. Fleming College, an Ontario university, equipped its stations with reverse-osmosis water filtration systems to overcome students’ fears and encourage the use of refillable water bottles. The initiative was so successful that they began marketing their approach to other schools.

—with files from Albertina Wong, Alec Young, Alison Bailey, Joanna Chiu, Joyce Wan, Karen Cheung and Shirazeh Gutezon