Free water bottled and sold to public

Posted June 1, 2007 in [Water]

Cara Jenkin, April 28, 2007 - The Advertiser - Bottled water companies in the Adelaide Hills are taking millions of litres of water free from springs without volume restrictions.

Their source is a "plentiful" underground acquifer, which is able to be topped up rapidly, even just with the recent rain.

Most of the 12 bottled water companies which operate in SA take their water from the Piccadilly Valley, near Mt Lofty.

While domestic and agricultural water users struggle to get water supplies, spring water users have a distinct business advantage because of their location.

Once full, water destined for the acquifer runs away.

The Spring Water Association of SA estimates 100 megalitres of water was taken last year by companies who have their own sources of water or buy it from each other.

Adelaide water users take between 400 and 600 megalitres of water a day.

Australian Bottled Water Institute executive director Tony Gentile said nationwide, up to 600 megalitres of water was taken by the industry each year.

He said some companies owned the properties on which the spring ran or where a bore had been drilled to the acquifer.

Others paid the owners of the land a negotiated fee for the right to take water.

There also were charges associated with bottling the water and ensuring it was not contaminated.

Under state legislation, a water user is entitled to take their water free once they have a licence to extract water. The user does not pay for the licence.

Mother of two Kerin Wesley, 35, of Glenelg East, said she buys bottled water when away from home because it is easily accessible.

She also buys bottled water instead of juice or soft drinks for her children to drink.

"They are making a lot of money out of it, charging $2 or $3 but getting it for nothing," she said.

"If there's so much abundance of water, why are we on water restrictions?"

Spring Water Association president Ian Bailey said spring water in Adelaide is taken from the Piccadilly Valley acquifer, which recharges quickly.

"It only needs 38 per cent of the average rainfall in the area, which is 48 inches, for it to fully recharge the acquifer," he said.

"The area used to be heavily market gardened with pumps running but they're not now. There are a lot less users and the water table is coming up."

Other users of the acquifer include irrigators and the Botanic Gardens.

An audit began in late 2005 of all water users in the Mount Lofty Ranges. Adelaide Plains areas, except for domestic or stock use, is now under way by the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation.

Once the audit is complete, users will receive an allocation of water and, in most cases, it is expected users will be able to receive the same amount of water they take from the acquifers.

Once allocations have been finalised in 2008, additional water users will have to buy licences from others to get access to water. If companies draw more water than has been allocated, they can be prosecuted.

A department spokesman said the audit was undertaken to determine if water use was sustainable in the area and a plan developed to ensure it remained sustainable.

Australian Bureau of Statistics records show in 1994, 3 per cent of the population bought bottled water. That skyrocketed to 21 per cent by 2004.