27/02/2012 By Ann Vicary
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) was formed in 1990 and provides independent reassurance that water supplies in England and Wales are safe, and that drinking water quality is acceptable to consumers.
Their main activity is to check that water companies supply safe drinking water that meets the standards laid down in law. The legal standards for drinking water come from European law (PDF)
The standards are based on expert opinion which is documented in the World Health Organisation guidelines.
The DWI provide some fantastic information for consumers as well as funding important research on the health aspects of drinking water quality.
© 2012 Office Water Coolers
Consider this; recycling a single large plastic bottle (made
from PET) conserves enough energy to light a 60 watt bulb for 6 hours. The National
Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) reported that in 2010 1.5
billion pounds of PET was recycled in America.
Recycled PET (rPET) can be made into all sorts of things like car parts,
playground equipment, carpet or even clothing.
Now consider this; in America (and I daresay the figures are
not that dissimilar in the UK) plastic bottles ...
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Good news for the bottled water industry as it reports a 2.8%
increase in sales in 2011 (1.8 billion litres). As an industry that employs two
thousand people it is good news in these economically trying times as the UK officially
enters a double dip recession. So with unemployment remaining high and when
people are cutting back on so much, saving their pennies, why does the bottled
water industry grow when compared to 2010.
Well it seems there are a lot of other factors at play.
UK households ...
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Flamboyant Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, has started
announcing more price caps as part of his government’s Law of Fair Prices,
passed back in November 2011. The law was designed to limit what is seen as
excessive profiteering on 19 household goods and groceries but is now being
expanded as the government announce new prices for different products and it is
starting with bottled water and deodorant.
The books of over 16,000 companies have been examined by
the Venezuelan government so far ...
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What is polyethylene terephthalate? Well chances are you’ve
encountered it already today if you’ve swigged from a bottle of water or any of
a whole range of bottled drinks. Abbreviated to PET, polyethylene terephthalate
is probably most associated with the packaging for plastic bottles due to its
properties as an excellent and durable barrier material. The thermoplastic
polymer is part of the polyester family and can exist in both amorphous
(transparent) and as a semicrystalline polymer which ...
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