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New York City - Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens) and Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) announced today they will introduce legislation which would ban the city from purchasing bottled water and water coolers for government offices and city agencies. More than 30 cities across the country have taken steps to reduce spending on bottled water, including San Francisco, which last year prohibited spending city funds on bottled water.

"New York City has some of the cleanest and best-tasting tap water in the world, and we should use it," said Councilman Gioia. "There is no reason to be paying a thousand times more to use bottled water, which also hurts the environment and contributes to traffic congestion.

This is a common-sense and environmentally friendly proposal that will save the city money." "It is a bit hypocritical for the city to be buying bottled water when it has been urging New Yorkers to drink tap water. New York City has the best water in the world. When we are discussing tax increases and

service cuts, we shouldn't be paying for the shipment, storage, and disposal of thousands of water bottles each year," said Councilman Felder.

The Gioia and Felder legislation would prohibit the City from buying bottled water and single serve bottles. Prohibiting the City from purchasing water bottles and water coolers from all city offices will

save the city money, reduce pollution, and reduce congestion. In place of water bottles and coolers, agencies and government offices could purchase coolers which hook up directly to taps and water pipes to provide cool or hot water. New York City has already installed 9 of these coolers in a pilot program.

New York City has some of the cleanest water in the country, and it is extremely healthy. Every day, approximately 1.1 billion gallons of fresh water is delivered from 19 large upstate reservoirs and three

controlled lakes to New York City. Last year, the United States Environmental Protection Agency affirmed the high quality of New York City tap water by extending a waiver that allows the City to enjoy unfiltered water.

Several cities have been able to reduce their budgets by prohibiting the city purchase of single use water bottles and coolers. In 2007, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was able to save taxpayers $500,000 by banning spending on bottled water. This was in response to a study by the San Francisco Chronicle which found that from 2005 to 2006, San Francisco spent $2 million on bottled water. Additionally, city departments on city property were required to switch to water dispensers that attached to taps or water pipes that used city water.

The dispensers cost approximately $400, but their long term savings more than make up for their short term cost. Other cities which have banned water bottles include Seattle, which passed a ban in 2008, and Los Angeles, where Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ordered city agencies to stop purchasing bottled water after a report found that the city had spent close to $90,000 on bottled water in 2005. In New York City, bottled water costs several thousand times more than tap water, and even the cheapest wholesalers still costs approximately 1,000 times more than tap.

In addition to the financial considerations, water bottles produce a lot of unnecessary waste. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, more than 31 billion bottles of water were purchased in 2006. Of those 31 billion, NYS DEC found that only 10% of bottles were recycled, and that 90% were thrown out, enough to circle the earth nearly 150 times. Other estimates put the number as high as 37 billion plastic bottles being thrown out.

Furthermore, by banning water bottles purchases by city agencies, New York will be able to help reduce air pollution. According to the Earth Policy Institute, it takes approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil to make the water bottles that Americans consume each year. A study by the Pacific Institute found that the energy used for pumping, processing, transporting, and refrigeration results in an annual

fossil fuel footprint of roughly 50 million barrels of oil, enough to run 3 million cars for a year. New York City water by contrast uses little or no oil to get to the City - relying mostly on the forces of gravity to get from the reservoirs and lakes to New Yorkers' faucets.

Lastly, New York would be able to relieve traffic from trucks delivering water to city agencies. Trucks, which are among the biggest causes of traffic in the City, often idle outside government

offices and buildings while delivering water, causing traffic to pile up behind them.