In September 2013 the Swiss capital Bern announced to make more tap water available at meetings and municipal events. The initiative is part of the Canadian Blue Communities Project directed against the privatization of water. The statement by the president of the municipality Tschäppät claiming that the 900 million liter of bottled mineral water consumed in Switzerland were for all intents and purposes privatized water, initiated a heated debate covered in an article published on October 22, 2013 in the Swiss daily newspaper Der Bund. The Swiss Association of Mineral Water Sources and Soft-drink Producers (SMS) stated that mineral water and tap water were two fundamentally differently regulated products. Bottled mineral water has to be filled at the source and cannot be treated chemically; tap water in contrast may be treated with chlorine, ozone and ultra violet radiation. Proponents of the initiative pointed out that the transport of bottled mineral water is energetically inefficient when clean tap water is widely available. None of the debating parties addressed concerns regarding chemical migration issues arising from the packaging or piping of water.
Read more
Adrian Sulc (October 22, 2013). “Tschäppat erzürnt die Mineralwasserlobby.” Der Bund. (in German)
