Ipswich City Council staff members have participated in a pilot program titled ‘Love your reusable water bottle’.
This campaign was delivered by Healthy Waterways and Ipswich City Council and was used to promote using reusable water bottles and drinking tap water.
“Many staff signed a pledge to drink tap water from a reusable bottle, and the Council water bottles were supplied to support all the staff’s pledge,” said Ellie Pobjoy, Environmental Education Officer.
“It was a great pilot and proved very successful to the change of [staff’s] behaviour from bottled water to tap water.
“Other departments are now taking the initiative and are looking at taking part in this campaign.
“It is great to see the large number of Ipswich City Council staff reducing plastic waste.”
In South East Queensland (SEQ), drinking water is tested 700,000 times every year by Seqwater and the SEQ Water Service Providers; Unitywater, Queensland Urban Utilities, Redland City Council, Logan City Council and City of Gold Coast.
Water bottles on the shelves are typically not sterile, and bottled water is not free from microorganisms.
Outbreaks of cholera, typhoid fever, and traveller’s diarrhoea have been linked to drinking water from water bottling plants where contamination of the
water occurred.
Quality of Bottled Water is part of the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, section 2.6.2 Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Brewed Soft Drinks.
This Standard covers additives to packaged water and maximum limits of certain chemicals. It does not cover testing for water quality. Council has encouraged others to make a pledge to this campaign.
