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Mobile water station proposed to reduce use of plastic bottles

A mobile water station is being proposed to council at its committee of the whole meeting Thursday to provide an environmentally-friendly alternative to bottled water at festivals, community and sporting events.

Robin Lunn and Lynn Rochon, of the Council of Canadians Quinte, propose the County follow the lead of neighbouring communities of Belleville, Quinte West and Kingston to purchase a mobile water station (or Quench Buggy as a popular model is called) to provide drinking fountains and refilling stations for refillable containers.

“One of the greatest threats to our water resources is the proliferation of plastic and one of the worst examples of this is the one-use plastic water bottle,” their deputation states. “Billions of these bottles are clogging the world’s lakes, rivers and oceans. Even In Ontario where we have recycling programs, it’s estimated that 65 million bottles still end up annually in landfills where they can sit for a century or more.”

The mobile station, they note, is also an educational tool to promote tap water over the use of plastic.

Last year Prince Edward Hastings health launched a program to install hydration stations in schools and gave each child a reusable drink container and provided workshops to show how chopped fruit could be added for flavoured drinks.

Kingston charges $350 for its Quench Buggy to arrive at an all-day event with a 1,400-litre tank pre-filled with municipal tap water and $150 for each additional day at the same event. Utilities Kingston notes one full tank diverts 2,800 plastic bottles from waste. Each unit has eight water fountains and eight bottle fill stations.

The Quench Buggy at Guelph cost about $42,000. That city had been hiring external water haulers at an average cost of $7,750 a year to provide free drinking water at some community events.

Committee of the Whole meets at Shire Hall, Thursday at 1 p.m.

Filed Under: Local News

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  1. Dave H. says:

    Municipal tap water may be clean and pure but have you every tasted it—yuck

  2. Dennis Fox says:

    I have to admit that I am not up to speed on all the facts with this idea of a “Mobile Water Station.” (MWS) It would also help to know the cost of such a station. However I do strongly support the elimination of plastic water bottles – but surely this can be done without having to buy a MWS!! Why can’t people just bring their own tap water in a container to whatever event they are taking part in? It has been shown on many occasions that municipal tap water is as clean and as pure as any bottled water. Personally, I would support a boycott against the sale of plastic bottled water. I think this would do a lot more to protect the environment, than what buying a Mobile Water Station would ever do.

  3. wevil says:

    why not let a private company buy it instead of the tax payer

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