I’m sure by now that most of you have heard about some of the controversy surrounding Nestle in Ontario and their role in basically capitalizing on a basic human right. You’ve likely heard about the damage that privatizing a natural resource is doing to the province, but have we stopped to consider that the government plays the other right hand in that business deal?
We’ve been so concerned about what Nestle’s doing, that maybe we haven’t stopped to consider what the government is doing about it.
I stopped to crunch some numbers, and here’s what I found out.
If Nestle is allowed to pump water from the ground to the tune of $3.71 per million litres, bottle it, and then sell it to you for $3.47 (for 12L – 24 pack) don’t you think you’re getting ripped off?
Furthermore, if Nestle is paying $3.71 per million litres how does this compare to your household bill? Well, Elora residents are paying $2.14 per thousand litres. This converts to $2140 per million litres for a given household in Elora.
Your government is charging you 576.8 times ($2140/$3.71) more money than it will charge a corporation (Nestle) and this corporation then turns around and charges you 77942.5 times ($3.47/12L*1000000L/$3.71) MORE than what they buy the raw product for!!! (We are talking only about the water here, not other associated business costs)
The government is allowing the public to be ripped off and for the province to be slowly drained. Jobs or not, why would I buy water being pumped from wells in Guelph when I live in Guelph and could fill my Nalgene?
Well, what about the cost of refilling my bottle (assume I live in Elora). 1L refillable bottle, thats $0.002/L from my household tap (which is regulated and safe). Or buy bottled water: 2x500mL of Nestle from Wal-Mart turns out to be $0.289/L. By choosing to buy bottled water over using a water fountain or your tap, you pay 144.5 times MORE!
