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Open your taps for safe water; no need for bottles: documentary

Red Deer tap water is a safe alternative to water bottled in plastic, a World Water Day event was told on Thursday.

Red Deer tap water is a safe alternative to water bottled in plastic, a World Water Day event was told on Thursday.

In partnership with Red Deer College, the city hosted a viewing of the documentary Tapped at Red Deer College’s Margaret Parson Theatre.

“It is about World Water Day and about water conservation,” said Nathalie Viau, environmental services, performance reporting co-ordinator with the City of Red Deer. “What we wanted to show is that there are other options than bottled water,” Viau said on Thursday.

“Our water is safe and people can save money by filling up their own bottles with our tap water, instead of paying two dollars per bottle.”

Bottled water in Canada, unlike that in the U.S., is managed by Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

But municipal tap water is just as regulated, if not more so, according to Viau.

“Tap water is regulated by Alberta Environment and we have very strict regulations to abide by and the water is constantly tested,” she said, adding that analyzers take data from the city’s water every 30 seconds.

“We also have independent labs to corroborate this as a control,” Viau said.

Tapped is a detailed examination of the big business of bottled water. The documentary details the effects of an unregulated industry that aims to privatize and sell water — in bottles containing Bisphenol-A, more commonly known as BPA.

In September 2010, Canada became the first country to declare BPA a toxic substance, and its use is banned in baby bottles.

Bisphenol-A is a building block molecule used to make plastic hard and clear.

Tapped claims that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains that low doses of BPA are harmless but that those findings are based on studies funded by the chemical industry that profits from BPA.

The chemical is found in many things, including baby bottles, cans, dental sealants and large water cooler jugs.

Its detractors have linked it to such things as obesity, prostate cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, brain disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, liver disease, ovarian disease, uterine disease and low sperm count.

Meanwhile, the province is considering widening water marketing to companies. Almost a year ago, a Nestle Corp. official said that he was in discussions with the Alberta government on water marketing.

“We haven’t been approached by them yet to use our municipal water,” Viau said to an attentive crowd.

In celebration of Canada Water Week, a series of events are being held at the Red Deer Public Library, Kerry Wood Nature Centre and Red Deer College. For more information on these events, contact 403-342-8750.

jjones@www.reddeeradvocate.com