Bottle Your Water
by Randy Theilmeir, CRWA
If your water tastes better than bottled water, why not market it? I ran across an interesting article,last week, which I would like to share. I believe that there are water systems in Colorado that could benefit from it. The following article is posted on the Kansas Rural Water web site.
More water utilities start bottling municipal product by John Hartzell, Associated Press from the Duluth News Tribune www.duluthsuperior.com
MILWAUKEE - A growing number of municipal water utilities are tapping into the bottled water market to fight the flood of competition from profit-making companies. The utilities' message to consumers is that their product is as good as what's found on store shelves and less expensive. They hope to make a few bucks and help their ratepayers in the process.
"People should not have to spend an exorbitant amount for quality water," said Ken Blomberg, executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Water Association, which promotes the sale of bottled municipal water as a less-expensive alternative to the commercially bottled product. Blomberg said consumers often buy bottled water thinking it is safer or better than tap water, when up to 70 percent of bottled water sold commercially comes from a municipal tap.
"However, water is a very local thing," said Greg Kail, senior public affairs manager for the American Water Works Association, which includes water treatment plant operators, scientists, environmentalists, regulators and others interested in the nation's water supply and public health. Kail said there are thousands of water utilities around the country using many different sources and types of treatments for their product, although there is no organized national effort to promote bottled tap water over commercially bottled water.
Louisville, Ky., has given away empty reusable sports bottles for eight years with the message: "If you want really great bottled water in our community, all you need is the bottle." It also has given away smaller bottles filled with its municipal tap water to community groups and at events. And some other major cities have started selling bottled water, including Kansas City, Mo., and San Francisco.
Blomberg's Wisconsin group, which represents rural water utilities, began pushing bottled municipal water about two years ago after hearing of a successful effort in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek. That effort is at the front end of the trend nationally, said Mike Keegan, an analyst for the National Rural Water Association. "I think a lot of others will follow," he said.
The public thirsts for bottled water. Beverage Marketing Corp., an industry consultant, said bottled water consumption in the nation increased from 10.5 gallons per capita in 1993 to 24 gallons in 2004.
Twig's Beverage Inc. in Shawano, which has bottled soft drinks for more than 50 years, has joined with Wausau, Oconto, Wabeno, Marshfield and Hixton as well as Shawano, Wis., and the state rural water association to bottle water. As well as pushing people to drink municipal water, Steve Yttri, general manager of the Oak Creek Water and Sewer Utility, and Andy Onesti, general manager of Shawano Municipal Utilities, said they hoped to make money to keep rates down.
But both said the sales have not yet produced much profit. Yttri said his water system made about $27,000 on bottled water last year.