Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008 - (Page 30)

in the Nation” award. They hand-bottled a quantity of water in celebration, which prompted a few local investors to look into a start-up bottling business. “After we had a chance to do the research and evaluate challenges in marketing,” Sam Atherton, district 4 manager and KRWA board member, explained, “we decided against doing anything other than not-for-proﬁt promotion for the district and making donations to disaster areas here in Kansas. We distributed 500 bottles to the farm areas north of Greensburg, Kansas, after the tornado and sent another 500 bottles to Independence, Kansas, after the July ﬂood.” Origins of PepsiCo’s Aquaﬁ na in 1994 actually had a Kansas connection when they produced and test-marketed the then-new bottled water brand in Wichita. As revelations this summer conﬁ rmed, Aquaﬁ na bottled water in that test wasn’t the babbling brook or mountain stream water suggested by the product’s logo, but was city of Wichi- ta tap water from Cheney Lake or the Aquus Beds well ﬁeld. Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi today have hundreds of water bottling locations around the country to save on transportation costs. Who’s in charge of quality? Kansas water bottlers that market within the state are regulated by KDHE and EPA under the original Clean Water Act. Regulations for bottlers are the same as all municipal water systems and rural water districts in the state. The EPA rules require public water systems to run their required tests and to make their ﬁ ndings available to the public. The bottled water industry is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which requires many of the same tests – but requires less frequent testing, and FDA reports are hidden away in the Washington bureaucracy. Kansas water bottlers producing product in Kansas and selling it outside the state are governed by the FDA with regulations administered locally by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. A study conducted nearly 14 years ago by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and reported on by KRWA writer Scott Hoober involved 80 samples of bottled water from retailers and producers from across the state. In violation of federal limits, nine contaminants were found in the samples. “Although municipal system managers have to pay a certiﬁed lab to test samples weekly, monthly and quarterly for a long list of contaminants, water bottlers can use any lab they choose to perform tests as infrequently as once a year. Unlike utilities, which must publish their lab results in a public record, bottlers don’t have to notify anyone of their ﬁ ndings, including consumers who inquire. The FDA has the authority to ask for a company’s data, although test results can be destroyed after two years,” Hoober explained. It looks as if this issue of contention from the KRWA past has gotten some real legs nationally. We will continue to follow the action and hopefully report more good news in the future. Reprinted with permission from The Kansas Lifeline, Nov. 2007 issue. Big, Tough FTSAS All Stainless Steel Tapping Sleeves Up to 36" with 4" - 24" Flanges The Ford Meter Box Co., Inc. www.fordmeterbox.com 260-563-3171 30 • Fourth Quarter 2008 http://www.fordmeterbox.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008

Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008 Contents From the President Rural Water: Where are We Headed? The Future of Water in America Bank Collateral Controls in Nervous Times Bottle of Water or Billion Dollar Bully? Aqua Chocolate No Mas Why Even Small Water Systems Should Have Personnel Policy Manuals Safe Drinking Water Regulatory Update 2008 NRWA Industry Event Throwing My Loop Advertisers.com Index to Advertisers From the CEO

Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008

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