County will no longer foot the bill for bottled water
PORTLAND, Ore. - Multnomah County workers are no longer drinking bottle water paid for by taxpayers after commissioners banned purchasing it Thursday.
A KATU News investigation almost a year ago found that Multnomah County workers drank $21,000 worth of water in 2009 and $32,000 the year before. In Portland, workers drank $41,000 worth, which was $8,000 more than in 2008.
“It’s half of a person’s salary. Every little bit counts right now,” said Sarah Brownstein, an assistant to Multnomah County Commissioner Barbara Willer.
“We could no longer justify the use of county funds and taxpayer dollars on bottled water,” said Commissioner Willer.
All the receipts for bottles, delivery and filtration systems were gathered for KATU’s investigation which helped the county in its research.
“Once we started trying to do some research, we realized a lot of this has already been done,” said Brownstein. “You all had called us out, called the county out and then facilities had actually already started doing a bunch of work proactively.”
Workers will now be encouraged to refill at the tap. A new fountain (seen above) has been installed at county headquarters which will make it easier to do so. Workers can simply place the bottle on a platform and water automatically dispenses into their reusable bottle. In one month the fountain has already replaced more than 3,200 bottles.
“Only 20 percent of the bottles are recycled nationwide and these bottles end up in incinerators and in landfills and sometimes in our environment,” said Julia DeGraw, of Food & Water Watch.
Along with sustainability, county leaders say do the math: Three gallons of tap water costs one penny.
“That’s, I think, responsible in tight economic times, and I also think a very big plus to let people know we have terrific water here,” said Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen.
The water is so good here that Bull Run water was once bottled and sold. And to make sure it’s pure from the forest to the faucet, Portland spends close to $150 million a year.
One exception to the new county rule is bottled water will be allowed when no safe water is available.