Drinking water rules 'schizophrenic,' advocacy group says

There is a policy failure in the way the federal government regulates — or doesn't — the water Canadians drink, the head of the Polaris Institute advocacy group said Wednesday.

"We've got a schizophrenic situation" with tap water required to meet high standards and tested regularly, while bottled water is tested infrequently and there are no required standards, said Tony Clarke, executive director of the institute.

There are federal guidelines for tap water, the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water, which many provinces and municipalities have adopted and made law, according to a report called Murky Waters, published Thursday by Polaris.

But bottled water, the key water source for 20 per cent of Canadians,  is virtually unregulated, the report said.

"Bottled water plants are inspected on average once every three years," whereas municipal water is often inspected daily, Polaris said.

Bottled water, regulated as a food by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), does not have to meet maximum allowable concentrations of chemicals, and manufacturers do not have to reveal the chemical contents on the label.

The government issued a discussion paper on bottled water in 2002, proposing further regulation, but no action was taken, the report said. The federal paper, Making It Clear, "became stalled in 2003, and as of 2009, no new or modified federal regulations on bottled waters have occurred."

"We were never given a straight-up answer" on why the report disappeared, Clarke said. Even the auditor general's office couldn't explain why it hadn't been implemented, he added.

Can't find the recalls

Polaris also investigated bottled water recalls, turning to access to information requests to find out when the CFIA had issued recalls. But even when bottled water was found to contain bacteria or other contaminants, the government appears to have an inconsistent policy.

According to the Polaris report, the CFIA has issued 29 recalls covering 49 bottled water products since 2000. 

Yet it could only find five of the recalls on the CFIA website. The agency claims that all of the recalls were published in various ways, but despite trying several times, Polaris could only find five, Clarke said.

But CFIA spokesman Tim O'Connor said all the recalls that CFIA published are on the website. He did not immediately know how many of the recalls were published, and CFIA refused to make a spokesperson available to discuss its recall policy.

"You're not going to get that," O'Connor said.

In an emailed statement, the agency said it "immediately" issues a recall "when  any product is a threat to the health and safety of Canadian families."

It also said "the CFIA is now reviewing recall communication policies to make sure Canadians can get the information they need about all levels of recalls."

Use tap water

Polaris advocates drinking tap water, and wants tougher environmental regulations covering water bottles and the extraction of water from natural sources. It also claims bottled water is more energy-intensive than tap water, and much more costly.

A consumer will pay less than a cent for more than 50 glasses of tap water, Polaris said.

"People often associate bottled waters with a health-conscious lifestyle and are generally willing to pay more for the supposed health benefits," the report said, although a 2004 survey found that nearly three-quarters of drinkers used bottled water because it is convenient.

Ironically, several of the most popular brands of bottled water "are essentially municipal tap water," filtered, bottled and sold, the report said.