Halifax council to consider banning bottled water

Halifax Regional Council will dive into the public-versus-private water debate Tuesday night, discussing whether bottled water should be banned from council chambers and all other municipally owned buildings.

A new report to council suggests that bottled water can be banned at Halifax City Hall because the tap water in the historic building has been tested and meets the Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines.

But staff recommends that regional council wait for further testing before implementing the idea at the municipality's 250 other facilities.   

The report also suggests that new catering guidelines be adopted and public tap water be provided at major events. 

Richard McLellan, who authored the report, said fountains or kitchen taps at municipally owned buildings should be tested for things such as lead.

"After that, we will provide a full budget for whether we have to put in drinking fountains or we have to do some remedial repairs," McLellan said.

'Committed to sustainability'

Connaught-Quinpool Coun. Jennifer Watts, who made the original motion to ban bottled water at municipal buildings, said she hopes her colleagues are ready for change.

"I’m really hoping that council will see this as part of our ongoing commitment to what we say is being a community that’s committed to sustainability and supporting our public services," she said.

Watts noted that many Haligonians have already begun carrying personal water containers, and the municipality should support them by providing more public places where they can be refilled.

"I think in some ways the municipality is catching up on an issue that has been a concern and has been identified within the community," she said.

"There’s an issue of why should we be paying to bring water into a public facility when we have a perfectly good source of publicly funded water available to people who use that facility. I don’t think it’s a wise use of resources, in that case."

The use of bottled water has already been restricted in 33 municipalities in seven provinces.