District: Tap water is just as good, cheaper

A growing number of Westsiders are getting their water from stores that charge much more than the city does — a trend that the Mesa Consolidated Water District wants to reverse, so it is trying to convince Costa Mesans that tap water is just as high-quality and much cheaper.

The district gave out 50 jugs of water at its Westside headquarters Wednesday, and put out a water vending machine where residents can fill up containers with tap water for 5 cents per gallon.

This is much more expensive than the water dispensed at Costa Mesa taps, which costs a fraction of a cent per gallon, but it’s still about five times cheaper than local water stores.

A Pilot survey of stores on Costa Mesa’s Westside found that the average price charged by these vendors is about 25 cents per gallon.

Water Store on 17th Street, which charges exactly this price, gets about 175 to 200 customers daily, according to saleswoman Nina Guerrido.

“We’ve been pretty busy lately because of the heat,” Guerrido said, adding that most of the people she serves are Westsiders.

Guerrido thinks the price is justified because the water is cleaner than tap water, she said.

But water district Board President James Atkinson said in general the city is held to a higher legal standard than most commercial water sellers because they are regulated by the Department of Health Services, as opposed to the Food and Drug Administration.

“People don’t understand that the water coming from the tap is safe, especially folks in this neighborhood,” Atkinson said, referring to the high concentration of water stores in the area.

Still, there are two sides of the equation when it comes to residential tap water quality, according to Barry Carlson, a district employee, who inspects Costa Mesa residents’ water pipes.

If a house’s water conduits aren’t taken care of, then the quality of the water they convey can suffer, he said.

“Some property owners don’t maintain their pipes, and rust and sediment build up,” Carlson said.

Westside resident Gabby Garcia was one of the first people in line Wednesday to fill up a free jug of water.

Garcia said she doesn’t like the flavor of the water that comes from her tap, but she also questions the quality of the water stores she frequents.

“We usually buy water from a vending machine, but they don’t usually come and change the filters too often,” Garcia said.

She said that on average the shop she patronizes changes its filters every three months, according to the stickers on the machines.

Now that the district has a vending machine, she thinks she will go there more often.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].