County council has endorsed a staff-recommended implementation strategy for banning the provision and/or sale of single-use bottled water at all facilities under its direct control.

Simply stated, water jugs and glass cups would be provided in meeting rooms in place of the present supply of bottles. The $300 cost of those would be offset by a savings to the county of $240 annually.

The resolution does not prohibit people bringing their own bottles to meetings, but staff are "encouraged" to drink tap water instead of bringing bottles to work.

In a news release announcing the approval of strategy, county CAO Linda Dean says 1,000 litres of bottled water can cost $1,780 whereas the same quantity of tap water would cost 26 cents. She says the council is encouraging other organizations to get on board with similar bans.

Meantime, Nestle Waters Canada has begun floating arguments against municipal bans. In a letter to East Luther Grand Valley, Nestle president Gail Cosman touts bottled water as "particularly helpful at a time when the incidence of obesity and diabetes are on a significant increase amongst Canadians."

Ms. Cosman says "any possibility of a ban of this most healthful product is troubling to us. We believe Canadians have the right to select and consume the beverage of their choice," she says in an obvious plea for a continuation of the availability of bottled water in vending machines.

Referring to the concerns about recycling, Ms. Cosman says the industry has entered a three-year, $7.2-million agreement with Quebec and its municipalities to collect and recycle the bottles. She says similar arrangements could be made here.

The Dufferin ban does not, however, prohibit the sale of bottled water in retail stores nor in facilities not under direct county control.

The county rationale is expressed in a November 2008 motion by Allen Taylor/Ed Crewson, is manifold:

First, the motion states that "there is no scientific data that bottled water is more pure than that provided in municipal systems;"

Second, "much of the bottled water sold in Dufferin County comes from municipal water systems;"

Third, "resource extraction, packaging and distribution of single use bottled water creates unnecessary environmental impacts and consumes unnecessary resources such as oil in the manufacture of plas- tic bottles and in the fuel used in the transportation of bottled water to consumers;" as well as the quality of tap water in Dufferin, and county council's desire to "set a positive example on this environmental issue," among other things.

The ban applies at these locations within the county: County offices at 51 and 53 Zina Street, Orangeville except the courts and cafe; Community Services, 229 Broadway; Dufferin Ambulance stations; Jean Hamlyn Day Care Centre; Dufferin Oaks; Dufferin County Museum and Archives (except the tuck shop and one vending machine); Early Years Centres, 229 Broadway, Orangeville; 167 Centre Street, Shelburne; 90 Main Street N., Grand Valley; and Primrose Operations Centre.

To obviate the need for bottled water, coolers would be placed in the ambulance stations and other facilities were water is not potable.

Pitchers and glasses would be provided at county council and other county meetings - filled with tap water.

According to a Health Canada report, "demineralised water or distilled water, is simply tap water that has undergone a process to lower the mineral content and to remove chemicals such as chlorine."

The county study says it takes three litres of water in manufacturing to produce a

single litre of bottled water from tap water. Nestle says it takes 1.5 litres of spring water to make one litre of bottled.

The other problem, according to the county report, is that the plastic bottles are not fully recyclable.

"An estimated 2.4 million tonnes of plastic is used to bottle water around the world every year.

"In Canada, nearly 90% of plastic water bottles are not recycled.

"In a landfill, water bottles will take as much as 1,000 years to break down."