note: this article is included only to show that there is significant value to water. Corporations can make a profit off the same water provided by your community. There is a question to be asked: Would it be better if residents gave more support to their local water system to provide safe water directly to their home?
SAFETY: If self-serve dispensers aren't kept clean enough, they could pose a health risk
By James Geluso, The Chronicle,12/30/98
An "invasion" of kiosks offering self-serve purified water is being met by skepticism from employees of the Lewis County Health Division, who worry the machines won't be kept clean enough to prevent the spread of disease.
The agency decided Tuesday to close all the machines about which it knows until their owners can obtain permits as grocery stores, said Ron Renbarger, supervisor of food safety and protection for the Lewis County Health Division.
But Jim Nelson, an entrepreneur who owns one machine that was shut down Monday, says his machines are often safer than the local drinking water. He contends the only problem is that local officials are unfamiliar with the concept.
The machines draw water from the local system and run it through a variety of purifiers. Customers bring their own containers in which to carry the water home.
That worries Renbarger, who said the situation could lead to "cross-contamination."
He said some of the machines in the area are obviously not cleaned often enough. He found "an unbelievable amount of gunk" around the spout of one machine, he said.
"This is a brand-new thing that is new to this area and we are going to treat it very carefully," Renbarger said. "In general, we have to treat it just like food."
The department is not treating the kiosks like regular vending machines because those normally deal in prepackaged food, and are either covered by a permit for a food-serving establishment or don't normally sell to the general public, he said.
Nelson said many of the local kiosks are run by companies in California with less direct supervision of the machines. His operation, Vision Vending, which he operates with his wife out of their Rochester home, is better able to keep the machines clean, he said.
Nelson said he had consulted the City of Centralia when planning the machine, which is in front of King Solomon's Restaurant on Mellen Street. He thought the county health division was represented, but apparently it wasn't, he said.
When Nelson initially called the health division, he told workers there he was installing a water vending machine. They told him to call back when the machine was up and running, he said. He said the confusion was his fault for not explaining the machine better at the outset.
In addition to the machine in Centralia, the Nelsons own one in Yelm and one in Ocean Shores. The kiosks sell water for 35 cents a gallon, or $1.50 for five gallons.
"People of every class have bad water," said Jim Nelson. "The water's only as good as the pipes it goes through."
The water in the kiosk goes through a settlement filter, three carbon block filters, and a reverse osmosis membrane before being hit with ultraviolet light to kill any bacteria that may have made it through.
The Nelsons began drinking water from kiosks during a stay in Arizona. When they returned to Washington, they noticed bottled water in stores, but no self-serve locations.
They studied the business for more than two years before plunging in. It takes about three months to get a machine set up, he said.
In addition to Nelson's machine, there are at least three others in the Twin Cities, mostly in front of grocery stores, Renbarger said.
He said the department made a mistake in not enforcing stringent health codes when espresso stands first hit the county, and will not make that mistake again.
James Geluso covers business news for The Chronicle. He can be reached by E-mail at news@chronline.com or by telephoning 807-8231.
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