To: Bernard Brunwasser, Water Commissioner
From: Ray Murphy, thirsty Philadelphian
Re: Bottling our water

Hi! As I am sure you know, it’s budget time. Mayor Nutter will be proposing his budget to Council in just a few weeks. If it’s not too late, do the Mayor a favor—put a smile on his face—and suggest a way for your department to MAKE some money.

Like a lot of us, I like to hydrate, but when I am out and about, I hate carrying those Nalgene bottles (lose them) and I hate to buy spring water (spring water is a waste of precious resource that your department capably provides to all Philadelphians). So lately, I have been going thirsty or searching for water fountains, or every now and again, buying a bottle of plastic Aquafina or Dasnai water.

I hate to choose this latter option because: a) You can’t recycle plastic bottles on the street or in public places b) I hate to pay for what is essentially filtered, tap water.

I wrote a lot more about this a few months ago. Check it out here.

So, I think it’d be cool if PWD bottle the water themselves in returnable glass bottles—I’d love to choose to buy Philly Tap when I am out in public over the corporate choices or spring water. Water is one of the fastest-growing segments of the national beverage market, and since the city of Philadelphia does the bulk of the work in preparing it for consumption, we should also get the bulk of the profit. Not to mention the fact that water should be a public good anyway (as the Sierra Club lays out so clearly here.

I get that it might be easier for you to just tax Pepsi and Coke more for selling our tap water. And I don’t care which you do, but as a taxpayer, I want to see you guys collect the money that’s out there for water consumption, and I want to buy a water product that is guilt-free.

Our city needs all the extra revenue it can get after all. I’m no expert on water taxation or municipal water sales, but I think there’s something to be followed up on here.