Nestle is filling a gigantic demand for bottled water that comes from the same source as tap water. They make "obscene" profits because consumers are eager to piss their money away for the exact product they can get for free.

When Nestle is done there won't be any water left. Typical exploitation of our resources. Your attempt to blame the locals for buying bottled water is pathetic.

Nestles has tried this in South America and were run out of one country.

But it's rank consumer stupidity that keeps Nestle selling bottled water in this country. These poor, poor citizens consume several bottles of water a day, create massive amounts of needless waste, keep the hated corporation in business, and then whine endlessly about the corporation that doesn't even exist without their unwavering support.

Unbelievable.

And you claim to be a proponent of the people because you hate Nestle. Incredible.

In South America they talked the government into selling them the water supplies so they could sell the water to the people. The people rioted and threw them out.

In this case Nestles is taking advantage of a small community, that isn't to blame, to take their water and sell it in places that have terrible water. But you blame the community who are getting their water exploited and those that need decent drinking water.

Some areas have had their water sources contaminated by fracking and must rely on bottled water. And you blame them also.

that they "take their water and sell it in places that have terrible water."

That's pure bullshit that you just made up. It's sold locally. Period. This isn't South America -- US citizens have access to clean water from the tap at cheap prices.

Hauling water even across the state is prohibitively expensive.

You're fucking lie put an end to my conversation with you on this subject. Have the last word.

pipe leading from the city pipes to our house was old and completely corroded. It actually caused me to have some very bad symptoms. Once we replaced the pipe on our own property, our water was good. We also buy filters because we like the filtered water. We do not need water from plastic bottles. The bottles themselves are an environmental problem. City water is safer than people think.

I lived in a town near limestone quarries and that water, however safe, tasted terrible. So there may be some demand for bottled water that is legitimate.

But generally, a lot of people foolishly buy bottled water just because they think it is safer. In most cases, that is not true.

They aren't the ones drinking the bottled water.

pro corporate/anti-99% positions. goodbye

"Not their water" doesn't come close to "The water belongs to Nestle".

At the very very best, you are disingenuous. My best guess is something far worse.

Goodbye, indeed. (You'll be back)

In no instances will the water belong to the individual citizens of a community

are consumers of Nestle's bottled water.

I agree it's rank stupidity that keeps Nestle selling bottled water in this country. But I've seen that exhibited mostly by well paid people working in mega-corporations.

Poor people drink what comes out of the tap. If they go "out" to eat at McDonald's, they're still getting tap water in their ice water or soda or whatever.

And Nestle has a history of refusing to accept "no" for an answer. Numerous poor Maine villages were forced to expend precious resources on lawsuit after lawsuit filed by that scummy company, who's CEO is on record as saying all water should be "privatized."

You love Nestle so much, write to them and invite them to pump your water to sell. And please do let us know how that works out for you.

"Bullshit. I couldn't give a tinker's damn about Nestle."

And you respond with, "You love Nestle so much, write to them and invite them to pump your water to sell."

Good one.

that Nestle wants to transport 20 miles, bottle, and sell back to them.

Seeing as you're blaming them for the existence of Nestle.

I drive through Kunkeltown almost every day and today I paid attention to any yard signs and there is exactly 1 sign. There has been little about this in the media.

Also, there is less than 10 miles from Kunkletown a site where the city of Bethlehem gets it's water and they use a lot of water.

Finally the PennEast pipeline will run about 10 miles from Kunkletown, right next to where Bethlehem water authority sits, there are some but not many signs protesting that project. So all this may be a true outrage but the locals seem to be ok with it overall. Way more anger about the pipeline than the water draw.

Deer Park has a similar operation in Lehigh County near New Tripoli and no one local cares about this either.

Just reporting the news not trying to make it.

because there is nothing in my post about what the local people want.

Only asking for proof that the local people drink bottled water so cause the demand, since Buzz is blaming them for it. And what Nestle wants and what they will do to get it.

Last edited Mon May 2, 2016, 07:37 AM - Edit history (1)

those of us in NE PA drink as much bottled water as the rest of the country. Our (my) water comes from a well in our yard and it's a bit hard but the taste is fine.

I just personally think that all the handwringing over this particular issue is a bit over dramatic. Personally I don't get paying a buck for a drink of water but if people are willing to pay it then I don't blame the suppliers for charging it.

As for trying to break the town, I realize your not making the claim but this isn't going to break the town. It's not much of a town to break and to be honest the town can use the taxes. The actual town has it's own water company so the only real complaint would be the truck traffic. K-town BTW, sits right at the base of Blue Mountain in Monroe County which is in the Poconos. It's not a vacation or tourist area. Nice farmlands but the actual town isn't much to look at and it's actually kinda of dead. They closed the elementary school in Eldridge Twp just up the road a bit, population is in decline.

Blue Mountain is the mountain that extends over half of the state and where it meets the Delaware River (at the PA/NJ line) it forms the Delaware Water Gap. The Appalachian Trail runs at the top (or ridge) of Blue Mtn.

Take care.
SA

and everything to do with other posts.

I'm sure it will be at least double that amount. Don't you love the free market.

Because they believe their tap water is bad and plastic covered water is good. Who makes them believe that myth? Maybe those are the people you should blame for buying crappy bottled water and not the citizens who are trying to protect their water from vulture capitalists.


Just because someone can make a profit off it and our distorted and corrupted laws allow it, doesn't make it right to do so.

They are flooded with solid scientific information that their water is clean and safe, but they pay huge prices for water from the same source that is essentially free and without waste.

Yes, let's enable the stupidity of the citizenry by blaming the company. Holy shit.

Do I want Nestle in business? Well, if not drinking bottled water puts them out of business, then fantastic.

SO QUIT DRINKING THE FUCKING BOTTLED WATER, AND NESTLE GOES AWAY.

in other corporations and sell a ton of baby food, medical food, cereal, coffee and tea. They also will live forever because that's what corporations can do, unlike you and I. So, they just get richer and richer every year.

But I hate to break the bad news to you that advertisement does work. Especially the lying that America allows in advertisement. It's not that they are stupid, it's that they are carefully manipulated into thinking something and they don't challenge that thought unless someone challenges them on it. Advertisement is based on very strong scientific studies, experiments and research. It frequently crosses the line between outright lying, propaganda and manipulation.

I do not agree with you that people are flooded with solid scientific information. I tried to get an analysis of my public drinking water after the Flint issue came out and no one had a record of it. I'm sure the water is being tested but no one would tell me the actual results of a test. And Flint clearly shows that tap water is not always safe.

But have you notice the disappearance of drinking fountains? You can no longer find a place that will give you free water. I have bought bottled water just because there was no other drinking water around.

Anyhow, who cares if Nestle goes away? There will be hundreds of others who could easily fill the void. That's how capitalism rolls.

This is bullshit: "I tried to get an analysis of my public drinking water after the Flint issue came out and no one had a record of it." It is federal law that your water treatment plant must analyze their water constantly and keep public records. You request it, you get it. Period.

water quality. I've seen such reports with my own eyes.

That issue is public safety. A nasty drinking fountain like the one picture can harbor all sorts of pesky critters.

I am all for drinking tap water. But nasty drinking fountains are another issue entirely, at least for me. You can drink all you want. I would walk right past that fountain and look for a clean one.

Peace

Where did you dig that out of? Some junk yard?

Give me a break. Yes, water fountains are disappearing but some of them should go for safety reasons. And some of them went away because they compete with bottled water. It's a fact live with it.

But if you are sooooo sure we can all get data on the our municipal water tests. Provide a link. I may have been looking in the wrong places. Maybe you know soooo much more than all the world. Well, provide a link to this wonderful fountain of scientific information.

And since you think you know soooo much, explain to me why the people in Flint didn't know there was lead in their water and allowed their children to drink it, if that scientific info is so easily available they should have known there was lead in their water.

And I noticed that you never answered why we should care if Nestle goes away.

I have collected the drinking water analysis directly from the treatment plant in my community. Give me the name of your community, and I will give you the water quality report. BUT, you must agree to initiate a thread in General Discussion apologizing to me.

If you are convinced that the reports don't exist, you have nothing to lose.

WELL?

You are some total yahoo on a board. Do you think I would really give you personal info? Besides You are sounding more and more angry and threatening. I think I'm safer if you, and everyone reading this board, doesn't know exactly where I live.

But there has to be some master site that has the location of the reports. And why didn't the Flint folks know about this?

I alerted on you for asking for personal info. But the DU members think it is fine to ask for personal info so give me your address and I will mail you my info.

The demand is what made Nestle ask for the access.

Seems some of the township leaders got paid for that ordinance change.

Don't boycott Nestle in favor of a store brand bottled water or any other bottled water. Nestle is probably providing them with that water, too.

Just quit drinking bottled water.

destroying countries’ natural resources before forcing its people to buy their own water back.

Now Nestlé is moving into Pakistan and sucking up the local water supply, rendering entire areas uninhabitable in order to sell mineral-enriched water to the upper class as well as people in the US and EU. Meanwhile the poor watch their wells run dry and their children fall ill from dirty water."

That's your friend Nestles.

I am on a well. Our area has what is best described as Iron water. It turns everything yellow, my dishes are yellow my shower and toilet are yellow...my undershorts are even yellow! This water tastes like crap. I buy bottled water at my local Safeway.

Most folks in my neighborhood have expensive heavily filtered water systems for their wells but i can't afford that. Like many folks in our country, i rent and my landlady (my sister), can not afford to add that filter either. Where should i get my water?

This brings to mind all those folks who live in regions where fracking has ruined their drinking water. You hear stories where the frackers wind up bringing in water tanks for them but as we are well aware here at DU, big corporations usually find ways to wiggle out of any responsibilities they should have to the 'little people' they screw over. I would not be surprised to learn that these folks have to buy their drinking water in bottles too.

While i agree that consumerism fuels the corporatist, that the bottled water market works that way, there are needs beyond simple 'fashion' for bottled water. There is enough need for this product to create a market.

That said, those who seek to exploit or monopolize the system to the possible detriment of those who have nothing to do with the system should be scrutinized carefully. Do we know the affects of the massive pumping out of this aquifer will have on this town? What affect all those trucks rolling through that small town may have?

I am reminded of American History, where we hunted buffalo to near extinction and did so for profit and for a deliberate detriment to the Native Americans who relied on them. After reading many posts throughout this thread I have to ask myself if big corporations are taking over our country and the citizenry are the new version Native Americans watching the hostile takeover of our lands and resources.

It has a bitter aftertaste.

nt

Why is that?

One big one is that they own a veritable shit-ton of water rights around the world.
They also own so many brands it's very easy to buy a nestle product if you aren't paying attention.

Shocker, I know! But large corporate interests, which aren't shy about spending a lot of money, can persuade a lot of otherwise canny people to think and do things that aren't in their best interests. People continued for decades to buy and smoke cigarettes: Why was that? For decades, people continued to think that their gasoline had to have lead in it: Why was that? Were they stupid, or were they persuaded by unscrupulous corporations that thought nothing of poisoning people and environments for a heftier bottom line?

Does anyone in Kunkeltown buy and consume bottled water? Probably. Do the citizens of Kunkeltown have even a fraction of the economic might to compete and defeat with Nestlé? I say no. Does that make them stupid or are they locked in an unfair fight with yet another unscrupulous corporation that thinks nothing of decimating a small town for a heftier bottom line? In your eyes, they're stupid. I disagree.

You know what, that sounds like a lot, over the life of the well, doesn't it?

The city of Los Angeles consumes up to 430 million gallons A DAY.

73 million over 25 years. Not a lot when you put it in perspective. Funny how the media never does.
In a week, the city of LA shits away more than 75 million gallons of potable water just through leaking pipes.

200,000 a day is 73 million per year. I don't know the differences between the water supplies in LA and this city or what the environmental impact would be. But it is a lot more water over the life of the wells than they say.

But the local government would be right to restrict the amount they can pull, to protect the aquifer from depletion. That's a pretty straightforward thing, and happens all the time. The town I live in cannot build any new homes. Total moratorium on building, because the aquifer won't support more people.

Sure, we can extract more water, but we'll deplete it.

73m/year still isn't a lot, but it might be for the aquifer in question. But it's simple math and observation to maintain that aquifer.

homeowners and landlords to check their water pipes for leaks. We had a terrible one. We replaced many pipes over the years we lived in our house, but it never occurred to us to replace the front pipe leading from the city water connection to our house. Our house was built maybe in the 1920s, and was that pipe a corroded shell of a pipe. That can cause health problems. And I think it is the reason that a lot of people think they need to buy bottled water: their own plumbing needs work.

We never noticed any discoloration of our water, but that was probably because the pipes leading to our faucets had been replaced. It was the most important pipe that we had not replaced.

A lot of people would ultimately save money if they checked their water pipes. We were not buying bottled water. We just drank the water from the faucets. It was causing me health problems which have disappeared since we replaced that pipe. This is just anecdotal information, but it might help someone. Your city or town water company does test your water. You can be pretty sure of that. Ask them for a report if they don't automatically send one. You probably don't need to buy bottled water other than for emergencies (earthquakes in Los Angeles, for example).

Corporations own us, and they have the right to use, control, waste, and toxify our natural resources in any way they desire.

Besides, Nestle may need to share that water with oil companies, who need to use that water for fracking.



.

This site is called Democratic Underground.

and sell it back to those who have no water due to fracking.

the corporate bottling of all the water corporations want to bottle and resell to us in the US.

We cannot sign on to the TPP. Neither we nor any other country can afford the rape of our natural resources by the corporations. Those resources belong to us the people who live in our country.

The local governments should be able to decide whether Nestle can draw that much water from property in their jurisdictions.

We had a similar problem in California. A severe drought, and Nestle drawing water from federal lands under our state at a time when we needed to preserve water. We were conserving water, planting waterwise gardens and using water for personal purposes sparingly. Nestle was profiting from water drawn from our state. Business as usual.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-nestle-water-lawsuit-20151013-story.html

It's a commodity and has been monetized.

Water is necessary to grow a garden and for our lives and the lives of the animals around us. It is one of the few things that should belong to all of us. We should have the right to water as we have the right to live. No corporation should be allowed to take so much water that it endangers the ability of the rest of us to have water. No corporation should be able to deprive us of water so that the corporation can profit.

Water should be privatized only with the permission of the democratically elected people of the area in which the water is naturally located.

Aquifers are a precious resource. They should be reserved for residential use in most cases. There would be plenty of surface water in that area which could be treated and bottled.

on this issue. Why? I see a hole wall of other brands in the store.

and has been for millions of years.

But here in Vegas our water out of the tap is horrible.

Both jugs then later tap filters.

Besides that I can understand getting gallon jugs from the grocery store for a dollar or so, its those overpriced bottles you buy for 2 bucks or more for a single serving at gas stations and such that are a total scam.

We actually installed a filtration system but it wasn't cheap and filters need to be replaced fairly often and those aren't cheap either. I installed it myself and saved quite a bit but someone not so handy would have easily spent 1k just to get the same system.

I have not made much of an impact! But I stagger on.

that continued to pump water in California when the residents were under water restrictions????

The only time I buy bottled water is when my old bottle is too worn to carry my home water. I've been considering a thermos but I can't find anything that houses 3-liters at the very minimum. And I'm not walking around with one of these: