Legislative Action

US: Policy has city turn to tap

Burbank Leader. By Jeremy Oberstein -

City workers asked to wean themselves from bottled water for environmental and cost reasons.

BURBANK — Tapping into its own water supply, the city plans to rid itself of bottled water at official government functions in an effort to be more environmentally and economically friendly.

The city’s new bottled-water policy calls for city employees to use tap water during official meetings and City Hall proceedings.

In 2006, about 64 million gallons of bottled water was imported to California through the Port of Los Angeles, according to officials with the National Resource Defense Council.

Those bottles account for 9,700 tons of greenhouse gases, the equivalent to annual emissions from about 1,700 cars, spokeswoman Jenny Powers said.

“That’s a whole lot of energy, a whole lot of pollution and a whole lot of waste that could all be avoided with the turn of a faucet,” she said.

Instead of water bottles, some city officials have instead been using larger, longer-lasting plastic containers filled with the city’s water.

“It’s hard to wean people off of bottled water,” City Manager Mary Alvord said. “But it’s time to leave those bottles at home.”

Burbank has not completely rid itself of bottled water.

Burbank Water and Power keeps about 12,000 bottles in its warehouse for private functions and in case of emergency.

In addition, city staff working in the field still use bottled water, as it remains the most convenient option, Alvord said.

“The use of bottled water from city inventory is intended to provide an adequate turn in stock so that the emergency supply of bottled water remains fresh,” the city’s bottled-water policy reads.

Burbank’s decision to eschew bottled water follows a similar policy directive from other cities.

In June, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order banning city departments, agencies and contractors from using city funds to purchase bottled water when tap water was available.

Part of Newsom’s motivation lies in his belief that bottled water is often of lesser quality than San Francisco’s tap water.

The same can be said of Burbank’s supply, Public Works Director Bonnie Teaford said.

“A fundamental belief of mine is that we have an effective and established infrastructure for delivering clean water to the city,” she said.

According to the National Resources Defense Council, bottled water may not even be as clean as tap water.

A recent study from the council found that the Food and Drug Administration tests for frequency of bacteria in bottled water once a week, while the Environmental Protection Agency checks tap water hundreds of times a month. “Bottled-water regulations are inadequate to assure consumers of either purity or safety,” Powers said.

“This is not to say that bottled water is dangerous. But there’s no reason to assume it is any better for you either.”

Burbank checks its municipal water supply every day, Burbank Water and Power marketing manager Jeanette Meyer said.

“We are constantly checking,” she said.

“Water-quality checking is far more rigorous for municipal water [than bottled water].”

In addition to cleanliness, Burbank is also mindful of economics.

“We have perfectly clean water available at fractions of pennies per gallon, but we pay $1.50 per bottle of water,” Teaford said. “It’s a cost issue.”

The city plans to hand out more durable, longer-lasting bottles to city employees.

“We’ll try to get them to as many of our 1,400 employees as we can,” Alvord said, adding that they cost about $1.50 each.

The policy is not legally binding, but more of a suggestion for city employees to mind their environmental surroundings, City Atty. Dennis Barlow said.

“It’s not a law, but more of a way to encourage recycling and sustainability,” he said.