Washington state takes bold step to restrict companies from bottling local water

Washington has taken a major step toward becoming the first US state to restrict companies looking to extract, bottle and sell local water supplies. On Monday night the state senate passed a bill that would ban new permits for water bottling operations. SB 6278 states “any use of water for the commercial production of bottled water is deemed to be detrimental to the public welfare and the public interest” and would apply retroactively to new permits filed after 1 January 2019. The move was hailed by water campaigners, who declared it a breakthrough moment in the fight against the privatization of such a valuable public asset. “Washington State is carving the path towards a groundbreaking solution,” said Mary Grant, the director of Food & Water Action’s public water for all campaign, in a statement. “This legislation … would ban one of the worst corporate water abuses – the extraction of local water supplies in plastic bottles shipped out of watersheds and around the country.” Bottled water is the most popular packaged beverage in America by volume. But in the places where that water is sourced, the industry has enjoyed far less approval. Residents of Lewis county , in the […]

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