The tap vs. bottled water debate is nothing new, but I came across an article on the Granville website which made me think municipalities may have the wrong idea when it comes to promoting it. Turns out Vancouver has recently upgraded the facilities that treat the already excellent tap water that comes from our spectacular North Shore watersheds. With this $600 million upgrade, officials in the region say they can now boast to having the highest quality tap water in the world.

“No doubt about it,” says Bill Morrell, media relations manager at Metro Vancouver, ”I would put our drinking water up against any other tap water source in the world.”

The article goes on to point out several myths in the bottled water world.

Myth: Bottled water is safer.

Fact: Bottled water can be from any source and treated in any manner. The two largest brands of bottled water in Canada, Coca-Cola’s Dasani and Pepsi’s Aquafina brands use filtered municipal tap water from Brampton, Ontario, and Calgary, Alberta.  NRDC testing also found bacteria and chemicals (including arsenic and methylene chloride) in some other brands of bottled water.

Myth: Bottled water is always strictly monitored and tested.

Fact: Metro Vancouver tests tap water everyday from hundreds of sources, up to 25,000 times per year. Bottled water plants may only be  inspected only once every three years.

With these kinds of advantages on tap, maybe it’s time to take the gloves off when it comes to marketing our own sweet mountain water. And let’s ditch the ‘tap’ reference. We have mountain water delivered to our homes, pure and simple.

Mr. Morrell, if you ever want to go up against the bottle cartel, just let me know.