Movie depicts bitterness toward bottled water industry

By Kathryn Reed

Water might be something people in the Lake Tahoe area take for granted considering the amount of snow that falls each winter and the big lake that’s out there.

But predictions are that by 2030 two-thirds of the world will lack access to clean drinking water.

Even though 75 percent of the world is covered in water, only 1 percent is drinkable.

These and other startling facts come from the move “Tapped,” which was shown Thursday night to an audience of nearly 50 at Lake Tahoe Community College. It was sponsored by the college’s Geology Club and provided by Tahoe Water Suppliers Association.

Before and after the movie people could test their taste buds by trying three unmarked sources of water. One was bottled, one was from South Tahoe Public Utility District which gets its water from wells, and the other was from Incline Village which gets its water from Lake Tahoe.

The movie shows how the bottled water industry is unregulated. Groundwater is regulated by each state. The Food and Drug Administration was made out to look super foolish in the movie, with its half person devoted to bottle water issues and its reliance on industry reports regarding what’s in the bottles of water instead of using independent studies.

In 2007, it was an $11.5 billion dollar industry. Pepsi, Coke and Nestle are three of the biggest companies to bottle water. Part of the reason they got into water is because soda sales were declining. Now their ads are all about the benefits of drinking water, with subtle implications tap water is unsafe.

The movie said 80 million bottles of water are consumed in the United States each year. As water becomes a commodity, moral issues come into play. The debate becomes are water rights private or public?

People are paying big bucks for water at stores. One gallon ranges from more than $1 to $8, where as tap costs one-tenth of 1 cent. Much of the cost of bottled water is the plastic container its in.

The movie showed the negative affects of companies tapping into community water supplies.

The movie also delved into the hazards of these bottles made with petroleum products. Not only are the areas near the plants prone to having an abundance of residents with health issues, but the bottles also can be dangerous to drink from.

That was another troubling thing about the movie – learning some of the chemicals that have been found in bottled water and there being little or no oversight of the industry.

On top of that, the litter issue was also talked about and how recycling isn’t working when only half of the people in the United States have curbside recycling.

The movie will be shown on March 31 at 6pm for free at the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, Sierra Nevada College Campus, 291 Country Club Drive, Incline Village.

For more information about the movie, click here.