'Go Beach' water receives mixed reviews from students

By Lauren Goodman
Daily Forty-Niner

At $1 per 16 ounce bottle, the "Go Beach" water that is sold in the 49er shops has Cal State Long Beach students wondering where exactly the water comes from.

"I don't know where they get it from but it tastes like it's straight out of the kitchen sink," said senior art history major, Sophie Manzanares. "I refuse to drink it."

In contrast, senior literature major Chris Roberts drinks the Go Beach water on a regular basis.

"It's only $1, so I mostly drink it out of convenience," Roberts said. "Evian is too big and expensive, Arrowhead has the pop-cap, which I hate, and I don't trust Crystal Geyser, it looks like pond water," Roberts said.

Although Roberts prefers CSULB's bottled water, he noticed the taste varies.

"This week the water does taste a little funky," Roberts said. "It almost tastes like distilled water. Last week I got a bottle for free at the health center and it tasted fine, but it had a different label than this one."

The Go Beach water's bottling company, Wesbay is located in Santa Ana and has been bottling water duction manager, Jene Eddlemon.

The water they bottle for CSULB is spring water that is obtained from Palomar Mountain in Southern California, Eddlemon said.

"We bottle both spring and purified water, but the Go Beach water is from a spring in Mount Palomar," he said. "We get the water straight from the source and ship it to the plant in a truck."

There is a major difference between the two types of water, according to Palomar Mountain Spring Water's Web site.

Spring water is derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth, and purified water can be from anywhere as long as it is free from dissolved minerals, by using different purifying processes, the Web site stated.

According to the Food and Drug Administration Web site, bottled water must be processed, packaged, shipped and stored in a safe and sanitary manner, and accurately labeled.

As of 1993 the FDA has set standard definitions for various terms used on the labels of bottled water, including "mineral," "spring" and "distilled."

Also, bottled water has a long shelf life, Eddlemon said.

Wesbay's water sits on the shelf for a month before it is shipped to CSULB, he said.

"We bottle water as it is used," Eddlemon said. "Water can last two years or even longer, as long as it is stored correctly. All of our bottles contain an expiration date for two years."

Wesbay bottles water for 70 different companies, including CSULB and San Diego State University.