Bundanoon, a town in New South Wales, Australia has decided to ban bottled water over concerns about its environmental impacts. It is believed that this is the first town in the world that has put a complete ban in place, but it might not be the last.

Less drastic, but equally important actions are being taken in the city of Venice, Italy. The famous city without roads has been struggling to deal with its trash collections on boats. Italians are known to drink a lot of bottled water and the discarded bottles contribute a huge amount of plastic waste. This has prompted the government to start actively promoting tap water. They say it has many advantages, including its strict quality control, low price and the fact that it’s delivered right to your tap! The city has now even branded the municipal tap water Acqua Veritas, water of truth. It is hoped that this campaign will increase Venetians’ use of tap water, and reduce the costs and environmental impact of plastic waste.

Similar actions were taken at this year’s Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee, USA. The organisers of this event promoted a stainless steel water bottle that visitors could refill at the water tap stations on the festival site. Because the stainless steel bottle is durable visitors used it throughout the festival and less plastic bottles were used, reducing waste and environmental impact of the festival. The organisers were hoping to raise awareness of water issues and to support the Global Water Challenge.

Of course the global market for bottled water is still growing, and there are more reasons behind this than just rational ones. The convenience and fashion statement of carrying a bottle water around, but also the brand image of certain ‘makes’ of water appeal to modern consumers. However, with growing environmental consciousness and the increased availability of reliable tap water and point of use treatment systems this might soon change!

The ceremony, held in the local school, was attended by regional leaders and government representatives, as well as many of the local families. In a fully packed school hall speeches by the various guests were combined with exhilarating Zulu dancing and singing by the children. The entire day was a remarkable event that underlined the importance of the safe water provided by the project to the local population. Particular appreciation was shown for the donors who provided the funds and Patti Joshua of CBO Network - without whom the project would not have been possible. Mrs Joshua and the CBO Network have been invaluable partners for QuaWater on both the Elomoya 1 and 2 projects, and we look forward to a continued cooperation and more successful projects in the future! After the ceremony QuaWater presented Patti Joshua with an AquaDoc UV device, to provide safe drinking water to the people in the office of the CBO Network in Eshowe.
The Village Solution of Elomoya 2 has now been providing safe drinking water to the village for over 6 months. The project site has been finished beautifully, and vegetable gardens have been planted around it.

Patti Joshua is presented with an AquaDoc UV

Nkosi Sam Zulu and the other guests sample the water from the Village Solution

The finished Elomoya 2 Village Solution

Click here to view more pictures of Elomoya 2.

The whole controversy aroused from water filters becoming breeding grounds for harmful micro-organisms after a couple of months of use. With our lives busy as they are nowadays people sometimes forget to replace their water filter on time; it’s just one of those things people tend to forget like taking out the trash. A water filter should be a convenience and not a constant worry in the back of your mind. But when water filters are not maintained properly, they can pose a health risk by actually reducing the quality of your drinking water, instead of improving it.
The answer to this is having a filter with a UV light, like the AquaDoc UV, which disinfects the water after it passes through the filter, thus giving you the same excellent taste with adequate protection all in one. The AquaDoc UV lamp has an effective lifespan of 18 months which gives you more than enough time to enjoy life without having to constantly worry about the quality of your drinking water!