Bottle bubblers the way forward - Local News - News - General ...
IT may be a small step, but it could be the first one on the path to the Hastings becoming a bottled water-free zone.
Free drinking water will be available at parks and sporting fields in the Hastings soon.
A plan to install up to 12 bottle bubblers, or water drinking stations, in the region is close to fruition.
The first bubbler is expected to be installed on Port Macquarie’s Town Green early this year.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council has been investigating and developing the project for a number of years.
The project was originally announced during 2008’s National Water Week.
If the prototype on the Town Green is a success, additional water stations will be installed across the region progressively over the next 12 months.
Other locations in Port Macquarie identified as possible locations include Flynns Beach, Westport Park and Wayne Richards Park.
The council has also identified suitable sites at Wauchope, Laurieton and Cowarra Dam to be part of the implementation process.
The stations are a part of the Ban the Bottle Movement.
The aim of the project is to encourage people to drink town water and use reusable drinking bottles, rather than store-purchased bottled water.
This will help reduce the amount of waste bottles in landfill and minimise costs associated with the collection and recycling of plastic bottles.
The council’s manager water supply services, Murray Thompson, said actively encouraging people to refill their personal water bottle at a drinking station is environmentally-friendly on a number of levels.
Not only is there a significant reduction in natural resources used and a decrease in greenhouse gases emitted in the production, transportation, refrigeration and disposal of water bottles.
In July last year, the NSW southern highlands town of Bundanoon voted to ban bottled water.
The voluntary ban, the first of its kind in Australia, was triggered by concerns about the carbon footprint associated with...
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