"$700-million-plus cleanup that could last decades"

A great retrospective from the Berkshire Eagle on the long term financial and environmental cost of severe river pollution:

Nine years into an estimated $700-million-plus cleanup that could last decades, the river is both adored and dreaded: Anglers catch fish that they dare not eat; boaters canoe and kayak in the water but never swim; and farmers raise crops and animals near it, just outside the polluted floodplain.

This is a part of the legacy of industrial western Mass. How are China's rivers doing? How much will they cost to clean? Can experience here become a business there?

Walmart - 11 cents for a bottle of water

Walmart not helping the situation:

In a piece examining the value shoppers get at dollar stores, 7online finds:

Nestle bottled water
If it's not environmental concerns that are stopping you from drinking a lot of bottled water, it's the price. You used to be able to get bottled water everywhere for much less than a dollar, but now prices have gone up so much that it's hard to justify the purchase. So it's easy to see why people would gravitate to dollar stores to find a bargain. I can get four 16.9 oz. bottles of water for $1 at the dollar store. That's great, but, if you use a lot of bottled water, it's better to buy it by the case.
Wal-Mart often has sales on this brand, selling a case of 24 bottles for $2.65, which means you're only paying 11 cents a bottle, as opposed to 25 cents at the dollar store. Costco sells Nestle bottled water in a case of 35, 16.9 oz. bottles for $4.95 or 14 cents per bottle, a significant savings over the dollar store.

11 cents a bottle. That includes the water, the bottle, the label, the packaging, the delivery, the filtering, the cost of stocking it, with some profit for both Walmart and Nestle.

Shocking.

Shapleigh Votes for Moratorium

The Boston Globe reports:

PORTLAND, Maine—Shapleigh voters, in a setback for bottler Poland Spring, imposed a six-month moratorium Saturday on the testing or large-scale extraction of water.

The vote was 204 to 38.

Maine Water Protests

Maine Today reports:

PORTLAND -- About 50 people turned out for an anti-bottled water protest in Tommy's Park in downtown Portland this afternoon.

The protest was mostly aimed at Poland Springs, which has met resistance in several York County towns this summer after proposing possible drilling on town-owned land.

Shapleigh residence vote this Saturday on the Poland Springs test drilling.

Dissension in the Ranks!

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the creation of the National Hydration council in the UK, an industry group [supply your own opinion on industry groups] for promoting bottled water.

Today, Brand Republic reports that this new group may be causing some trouble in the world of beverage industry groups.

A little drama can be good sometimes.

AP Report "How the health care industry dumps unused drugs into our water"

From Foster's Daily Democrat:

EDITOR'S NOTE — The health care industry is contributing to the contamination of our nation's drinking water supplies by dumping tons of unused drugs annually, an Associated Press investigation finds. First of a two-part series.
By JEFF DONN, MARTHA MENDOZA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD
Associated Press Writers

U.S. hospitals and long-term care facilities annually flush millions of pounds of unused pharmaceuticals down the drain, pumping contaminants into America's drinking water, according to an ongoing Associated Press investigation.

Vermont Pure - 5% increase in Profits

The bottled water industry as a whole is experienceing a slowdown with this economy. However, Vermont Pure just realeased a Statement:

RTT News:

(RTTNews) - Monday, Vermont Pure Holdings Ltd. (VPS: News ), a distributor of bottled water, reported an increase in third-quarter earnings as sales improved from last year.