Editor’s Note
Back in the old days — that’s less than a decade and before there were such things as blogs and interactive conversations with readers — editors used to respond to their newspaper readers with an “editor’s note.” Sometimes it clarified a point made in a letter to the editor. Sometimes it offered a correction. Sometimes it was just a simple explanation. An editor’s note was a handful of sentences; maybe a four or five paragraphs. It was always a personal link between the editor and the reader. Only difference between it and today’s blog is the immediacy and the platform. Welcome to Editor’s Note.

Tap water in a glass? How novel…

June 22nd, 2008 at 02:47pm Linda Grist Cunningham

I’m pretty sure Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey didn’t like the Page One photo on Saturday’s newspaper. Next to a headline about City Council considering environmentally friendly proposals for city government, there was a picture of Morrissey drinking a bottle of water. In one sense the photo is unfair: Morrissey has long had a green-friendly-advocacy reputation. The juxtapostion of his bottled water and the headline could lead some to believe he doesn’t care.

But, the fact it, bottled water is ubiquitous. I’ll drink the bottled stuff when it’s handy even though I’m not a bottled water buyer, except in airports or when a tap isn’t readily available. Never could reconcile paying for a plastic bottle of something I could get from the faucet for free. At home, it’s Rockford tap water filtered through a Brita and poured into a reusable plastic bottle. I’ve done that for years, not because I was so “green,” but mostly because I was so cheap.

When there’s a bottle of water around, I’ll grab it, which is mostly likely what the mayor did at council meeting. Still, a pitcher of Rockford tap water and some paper cups would do as well, and might be just the thing for a reprise of that photo-op moment.

But, if we’re going to give up our love of bottled water, we’re going to have to get used to a glass with water and ice, and maybe a paper napkin to catch the drips. That’s what we “serve” at editorial board meetings and I’ve got to admit, I am amused by the almost shocked reactions of some guests when we hand them the real deal — nice glass, ice and all. I’m pretty sure some folks think we might be trying to poison them with water in an actual glass….

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8 Comments Add your own

  • 1. Amazing Scott  |  June 22nd, 2008 at 6:25 pm

    Drink actual Rockford city water? Yuk! That stuff isn’t drinkable. The water that comes out of my tap (near Spring Creek/Mulford) is not suitable for drinking. It’s urine yellowish, there’s all kinds of particles in it and it smells like a stale swimming pool. We buy bottled water just for safety’s sake. I would never consider serving Rockford tap water to a guest and I’m not sure what I would do if someone served it to me.

    Before you folks go shouting your idea from the rooftops maybe the paper ought to research what people actually THINK about the water here. In my experience almost no one will drink Rockford tap water- you even say that you use an expensive filtration system in your own home, which implies that you don’t think the water direct from the tap is drinkable.

    Save the pitcher and glasses for the photo-ops. That’s about all it’s good for…

  • 2. Don't Drink the Water?  |  June 22nd, 2008 at 7:58 pm

    I’d think twice about drinking unfiltered city water. Sure it may not be immediately harmful but there are alot of additives they put add in there. Sure the EPA says it’s ok in small amounts. Yeah right! You wouldn’t believe the amount of homes in Rockford that are drinking water through a LEAD straw. The majority of older homes have a LEAD service from the water main to their shutoff inside their house mmmmmm yummy. Not to mention all the yummy chlorine and fluoride. See what happens to you when you down 1 tsp of either in it concentrated form …aCk!!! Or better yet read the back of your toothpaste tube. Contact poison control if swallowed. If you ever have the opportunity to watch the water department Flush hydrants and see the amount of Iron and Manganese come out you would most likely vomit on the spot. You would think they Stuck OIL I kid you not and I’m not talking a couple of minutes I’m talking a full open hydrant spewing thousand of gallons of water for 30 min or longer before it runs clear and this is done each and every year otherwise the mains would clog up with the stuff. And speaking of injection of chemicals do you honestly think you every find out about the “oops” factor of to much of all that good stuff they say you need in your city water? Oh and one last thing where exactly did that bottled water come from…….It Filtered City Water!

    Enjoy!

  • 3. Sheryl  |  June 22nd, 2008 at 8:44 pm

    Spare me! Our tap water is not that bad. Like the article stated–run the water through a brita pitcher, or a pur water filter and it taste just like any bottled water you buy. Where do you think bottled water comes from? The municipal system supplies it for the company that is bottling it! And you thought you were getting from some mountain spring?

    Oh yeah, brita and pur filtration systems are not expensive systems. Much cheaper than buying bottled water.

  • 4. Barney B  |  June 22nd, 2008 at 9:17 pm

    If the guests in the home “near Spring Creek/Mulford” were a cross section of the people in the world I’d wager that at least 75% would consider themselves blessed if they could go to your tap, simply turn the spigot and marvel that potable water comes gushing out. We, myself included, are spoiled and ‘dainty’ and perhaps out of the remaining 25% only a small number would complain…

  • 5. Linda Grist Cunningham  |  June 23rd, 2008 at 8:19 am

    Thanks for the discussion, folks. Looks like I can add drinking water to the list of topics sure to get people talking. Also, I appreciate the comment about the expensive filtration system; if I recall correctly, the gallon Brita pitcher is less than $30 and the simple carbon filters cost me about $20 a year. The real point, however, is that we so often “waste” things unconsciously, like that easy-to-grab bottle of water.

  • 6. Amazing Scott  |  June 23rd, 2008 at 9:13 am

    Ok, I stand corrected- it’s an INexpensive filtration system. It still proves my point that no one thinks you can drink the water straight from the tap.

    For what we’re paying for water here in Rockford we OUGHT to be able to drink the water from the tap without any filtration at all.

    There’s another angle to this too- security. The plastic water bottles are sealed and tamper-evident. A pitcher of water would be much easier for a bad person to tamper with. Granted that’s an unlikely scenario but one that has to be considered…

  • 7. Beth Terry  |  June 25th, 2008 at 3:15 am

    There’s another waste issue here, and that is the used plastic Brita cartridges themselves. There is a campaign afoot to urge Clorox, the maker of Brita filters in North America, to create a take-back recycling program. The original Brita company in Europe has been doing it since 1992. Why are we so behind?

    Please visit http://www.takebackthefilter.org for more information and to sign the petition.

  • 8. Linda Grist Cunningham  |  June 25th, 2008 at 9:00 am

    Good idea. The more we recycle, the better. I am always amazed and grateful for Rockford’s curbside recycling service. Don’t take it for granted; it definitely isn’t this good in most places.

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