LOS ANGELES — Public health advocates and legislators here have become increasingly concerned that some vended water is no safer than tap water, and may be less safe, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.
A bill approved recently by the Assembly Health Committee and now pending before the Appropriations Committee would require additional inspections of vended-water machines and would create an educational program to let consumers know that such water is usually municipally-treated tap water, the article said.
It also would raise the licensing fees and require the vendor to display information on the machines about the source of the water and how to contact the vendor, according to the paper.
The bill's author, state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Van Nuys), said in the article that legislators need to address the issue now, before there have been any known cases of illness caused by the machines. Several studies, he noted, have shown that high percentages of the machines fail to comply with drinking water standards.
More than 8,000 of the machines are located in the state, including about 300 in the Valley. A 2002 study by environmental groups found that one-third of the machines operated by Glacier Water, the largest vended-water company in California, failed to meet standards for trihalomethanes, the article stated.
While regulators conduct some inspections of the machines, Alarcon believes such inspections are haphazard and inconsistent. His bill calls for regular inspections and higher vendor fees, the paper reported.
Brian McInerney, president of Glacier Water, said in the article that his company's machines are regularly inspected and tested, and they have never caused a health problem. He said he would be open to additional inspections, but he believes Alarcon's bill goes too far.
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