By Evelyn Wendel
WeTap and the Sierra Club are the perfect ‘water partners.’ Collaboration and communication are the keys to healthy communities and a clean environment.
The mission of WeTap is to:
- Bring greater awareness to the high-quality, publicly provided drinking water available throughout California,
- Improve public access to drinking water through drinking fountains or the newer hydration stations,
- Educate about the environmental and extreme health hazards posed by plastic water bottles,
- Meet public health, economic and environmental justice challenges through improved access and use of public drinking water.
Most drinking water in California provided by public utilities is safe to drink. California is a world class leader in drinking water safety regulations and enforcement with the ultimate goal of supporting public health and safety. More than 400 large, urban public water utilities supply safe drinking water to over 90% of California’s residents and nearly 2,500 smaller utilities serve more rural communities. It is imperative that more Californians trust publicly provided drinking water.
Bottled water is a very serious equity issue, rooted in the mistrust of publicly provided drinking water with connection to serious long-term health, environmental and economic problems across all strata of society. Micro — and now nano — plastics are detected in very high quantities in bottled water. 25 to 30 percent of bottled water comes straight from municipal tap water systems. Some of that water goes through additional filtering, but some does not. In California bottled water is regulated by the Department of Public Health because it is considered a packaged food. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the safety of bottled water and bases its standards on the EPA standards for tap water, which has now instituted safety standards for the processing and bottling of drinking water.
Illnesses from bottled water do occur although they are seldom reported and if you do purchase bottled water, you should pay attention to the label to see where your water came from and how it was treated. Misinformation has spread ubiquitously and dangerously about the purity and integrity of public drinking water. This has a disproportionate effect on those who can least afford to pay the unnecessary cost of single use bottled water. Consumers spent $46 Billion on bottled water in 2022, that averages out to $1460 per person per year. Even people who know better will grab a single use plastic bottle of water. Why? Because they believe it tastes better, but does it really? This common misconception is easily challenged in blind taste tests of bottled water vs. tap water. People can’t tell the difference and think the tap water is the bottled water.
Tap Water Day can help address these miscommunications. On May 4, 2023, Senator Portantino and WeTap.org sponsored a resolution establishing Tap Water Day in California which was unanimously passed by the Legislature. The mission of the Tap Water Day campaign is to improve public access to drinking water by promoting the placement of community drinking fountains and filling stations in schools, parks and other public spaces. Public drinking fountains and hydration stations provide accessible drinking water in public environments. Many cities are making improvements to expand access, including Los Angeles which installed 200 new outdoor fountains and has assessed existing fountains for repair or replacement to continue to improve access.
Bringing awareness to public fountains, the safety of tap water and the issues with single use plastic bottles is a key to a healthy and environmentally sound future. The WeTap Drinking Fountain Finder App puts the locations of clean drinking water information at the fingertips of residents and visitors. With site specific data and information about water access, the WeTap App makes drinking water more accessible to our communities. The WeTap App helps build public confidence in our water supplies and demonstrates the generosity of spirit from public utilities. When more people have better access to hydration stations where they can refill reusable water canteens for free, our dependence on single use plastic waste is reduced! We, in the US throw away 60,000,000 plastic water bottles per day, which takes 450 years to decompose and costs an average of $1.11 per gallon, while tap water costs less than half a penny per gallon . It’s time to ditch the plastic water bottle. Save money, save water and savor your tap water!
Download the WeTap App to your mobile device today.
The City of Los Angeles is proud to host the 2028 Olympics. WeTap’s project, 2028 for 2028, identifies 2000+ cites using scientific analysis and mapping, as well as common sense to improve access to public drinking fountains in Los Angeles, focusing on outdoor public locations with high value to communities. Please send us your suggestions and use the reference 2028for2028.
Evelyn Wendell is a member of the Angeles Chapter Water Committee and the Founding Director of WeTap.