The Barometer Online

Issue date: 10/26/09 Section: News

JEFFREY BASINGER | THE DAILY BAROMETER A newly installed Pure Water Distributor found at Snell Hall. Many of these machines have been placed around the OSU campus in an attempt to reduce garbage by promoting the use of water bottles.

By Kate Welter

The Daily Barometer

The average U.S. citizen spends over $400 per year on bottled water, which is equal to 17 million barrels of oil used to produce those plastic bottles. There is also a toxic, carcinogenic chemical, bisphenol A, found in the plastic used to create water bottles.

These are statistics provided by Pure Water Distributors, the company that recently helped to install eight new water filtration systems on OSU's campus.

The systems are centrally located in buildings such as Snell Hall, by the restaurants in the MU, Covell Hall and the Asian Pacific Cultural Center.

"These systems not only save valuable energy, they also help save our environment from the production and disposal of the bottled water," said Scott Luna, the regional manager for Pure Water Distributors.

The Hyundai water systems offer a five stage filtration process, which filters sediment, chlorine, chemicals, microscopic particles, dissolved gases and odors and also uses a UV light to kill 99.9% of all germs in the water.

Pure Water's goal is to help replace bottled water and to promote a positive effect on the environment. These effects include reducing "fuel consumption resulting in carbon dioxide emissions, eliminating plastics from bottles which have a very short-term lifespan, eliminating detergents used in cleaning bottles for reuse and eliminating large water trucks helping with traffic congestion in cities."

OSU was the first university to have approached Pure Water Distributors about using their services. Other Oregon schools, such as Concordia College and Portland State University, have also recently invested in installing water filtration systems.

"We offer a two week free trial so that our users have the opportunity to test and taste our water," said Kelly Luna, president of Pure Water Distributors. "We've had an almost 100 percent retention rate."

Students are also in support of these newly added water systems and are hoping to see a gradual decrease in bottled water purchases on campus.

"In terms of waste reduction and sustainable practices, the best possible outcome would be an outright ban on water bottles on campus," said Justin Russell, ASOSU director of environmental affairs and a senior in political science. "But this outcome would be difficult to achieve because … there are contracts that the university holds with Pepsi and I would also expect a confrontation rising with different student groups who could feel like their freedom and choices would be limited. Therefore, an outright ban would be too drastic. I prefer creating policies that discourage the use of water bottles and give alternatives, such as a water filtration system."

Russell has other ideas and solutions as to how the university can help to make OSU students more environmentally aware.

"For example, by adding an extra fee to vending machines when buying water bottles, or having a water filtration system set up next to vending machines, students can make a conscious decision to get water for free," Russell said. "We could then use that extra fee to help pay for the water filtration systems on campus, or other improvements for water conservation or recycling. There are endless possibilities."


Kate Welter, staff writer

737-2231, news@dailybarometer.com

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