Water wary

Lolita Harper

Carla Cobrarubias has little money to spare. She and her husband have

three young kids to feed and a steep Southern California rent to pay on a

modest salary.

Bottled water, however, is one luxury she will not live without.

“We know the tap water here is safer than at home, but we still like

bottled water better,” Cobrarubias said.

In her native city of Tijuana, Mexico, Cobrarubias knew better than to

drink from the tap. The water is not safe, and she and each of her

neighbors made weekly trips to the water store for a drinkable

alternative.

After eight years in the United States, Cobrarubias said old habits

are hard to break. She had lived stateside for about six months before

she braved tap water. Cobrarubias was told it was safe to drink and --

always looking to cut costs -- thought she would make the transition from

bottle to tap.

“We know it’s safe, but once you’re used to bottled water you can’t go

back to tap,” she said.

Officials at Mesa Consolidated Water District said they have seen a

trend of buying bottled water in largely Latino communities. Manager

Diana Leach said the water district has initiated some outreach to the

Latino community to ensure it knows the water is safe to drink.

It is unnecessary for people to spend extra money on bottled water --

especially if money is scarce -- when they don’t have to, she said.

“If they don’t buy it because of the taste, that’s fine,” Leach said.

“But if it’s because they are afraid, we want to remove that fear.”

Leach said there are bilingual pamphlets that are available at

libraries, post offices and local churches.

“We try to reach them as best we can,” Leach said.

Paty Madueno, who manages an apartment building in a largely Latino

area of Costa Mesa, said it will be difficult to convince Latinos to

drink tap water. For some, it is simply a matter of taste, but many of

the old guard have no confidence in tap water of any kind -- or in any

country.

“In our countries, we don’t trust the water,” Madueno said. “Even with

all the fliers, we still don’t feel safe. It’s tradition.”

Madueno said she believes her daughter got an infection a few years

ago from drinking tap water and has since changed to bottled water after

a doctor recommendation. She still uses tap water for coffee and soups --

anything that boils the water and further purifies it, she said. But her

drinking water of choice is Sparkletts.

Cobrarubias said she would love to be able to afford home-delivered

water but must settle for carting empty jugs to a water store each week.

“It would certainly be easier, but it’s too expensive,” Cobrarubias

said.

Filling water jugs at a store such as Water Gourmet on Harbor

Boulevard in Costa Mesa costs only 25 cents a gallon and easily fits into

Cobrarubias’ budget. She can have bottled water for about $8 a month.

Fellow patron Jose Garcia fills up a five-gallon jug four or five

times a week, for a monthly cost of about $12. He said he is also on a

tight budget, but bottled water was always factored into his cost of

living, even in Jalisco, Mexico.

Costa Mesa resident Rosalia Pinon also drinks bottled water but buys

it at the grocery store in a sealed container. She said she is leery of

the quality of water at the water stores.

People who use those stores must be made aware that not only the water

should be free of contaminants but the containers that are used to hold

the water must also be sterile, she said, adding that she worries that

infections can be caused by the bacteria that forms in reused water

containers, ultimately making the water less safe than from the tap.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .