The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) issued the following statement regarding legislation expected to be introduced by San Francisco Board of Supervisors Chairman, David Chiu, to ban the sale of bottled water in plastic bottles of 21 fluid ounces or less, on public property including parks, concerts, large public events and mobile food trucks:
“The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) supports the right of San Franciscans to choose clean, refreshing, reliable zero-calorie bottled water when making their beverage decisions. Efforts to eliminate or reduce access to bottled water will force consumers to choose less healthy drink options that have more packaging, more additives (e.g., sugar, caffeine) and greater environmental impacts than bottled water.
In fact, research shows that if bottled water isn’t available, 63 percent of people will choose soda or another sugared drink – not tap water. We expect the same consumer response if access to bottled water is restricted in San Francisco, certainly during events where consumers are seeking convenience, reliability, and portability.
The bottled water industry also supports a strong public water system, which is important for providing citizens with clean and safe drinking water. In fact, many bottled water companies use public water sources for their products. This source water is then treated using a multi-barrier approach which may include one or more of the following: source protection, source monitoring, reverse osmosis, distillation, micro-filtration, carbon filtration, ozonation, and ultraviolet (UV) light and bottled under sanitary conditions.”
