WHAT DO YOU PAY FOR WATER?
More than $1000.00 per kilolitre?
Less than $1.85 per kilolitre?
Bottled water from a retail outlet (e.g. supermarket or garage) typically costs upwards of $1000.00 per kilolitre (1000 litres). For example Franklins® spring water was 'on special' at Woolworths in January for $5.48 for a 6 x 600ml pack. This is equivalent to $1,522.22 per kilolitre. Noble Water Pureau® sells at $2.68 for 2 litres, that is $1.34 per litre or $1,340.00 per kilolitre.
Drinking water from your tap will cost between $1.20 and $1.85 per kilolitre until 2009 depending on how much you use.
Is bottled water worth more than a thousand times the cost of tap water?
If you know people who buy bottled spring/bore water, tell them about the price differential. Then suggest they consider the environmental costs not included in the bottled-water price. For example, the damage inflicted on creeks, swamps and their dependent ecosystems due to commercial bottling of spring/bore water, and the pollution and resource consumption linked to the manufacture and disposal of plastic bottles.
Still unconvinced?
Suggest that they do a blind taste test and see if they can distinguish between bottled water and tap water.
Clue?
The bottled water should be the one that leaves a sour taste in their mouths through a hole in the hip pocket!
Ian Ernst,
Groundwater Subcommittee,
Blue Mountains Conservation Society