FA's Blog: May 2014

Don’t Drink FIJI Water

Whenever I'm on my way to work at the hospital, I pass an unassuming little house at the edge of a sugar cane field. Out in front is a make-shift shade-house with the sign “Conservation International, Ra Field Office” posted next to it. One particularly hot day, I was riding my bike passed the house when the Fijian boys on the porch invited me in for a glass of juice. I asked them about their work and they started telling me about the “Nakauvadra Reforestation Project”, sponsored by FIJI Water. My first thought was how awesome it was that a corporation is working on a major reforestation initiative, and in Rakiraki of all places. Then I started looking into things more. There’s quite a bit you can learn just through some casual Google searches (hence the many links below).

FIJI Water’s plant is about 12 miles from my house as the crow flies, making me the closest volunteer to it. Contrary to what’s written on the back of their bottles, FIJI Water’s aquifer does not lie under an untouched rainforest. Not only is it located in one of the most deforested tracts of land in Fiji, much of the aquifer is also sitting under the Yaqara Pastoral company, one of Fiji’s largest cattle farms. And on top of that, the aquifer is only a few miles away from Fiji’s largest gold mine, which is operating in a country with poorly-enforced environmental regulations (you can read more about the gold mine's issues here). This is not exactly what I was expecting when I first learned about the location of FIJI Water's plant, but therein lies the genius of their marketing scheme, which seems to be based mostly on half-truths.

"In a virgin ecosystem..."

"...at the edge of a primitive rainforest..."

"...thousands of miles from the nearest industrialized continent." - Back label of a FIJI Water bottle

So does that mean there’s cow poop and gold mine slurry in the FIJI Water we drink in the States? Actually, it’s quite possible. FIJI Water claims that their aquifer is surrounded by impermeable rock, yet they also claim that their aquifer is being replenished by rainfall at a sustainable rate. So if rainfall can get in, why can’t mine-runoff and bacteria? Addressing this issue, a recent study from the University of South Pacific found that many samples of FIJI Water had significant levels of bacteria, some of which were multi-drug resistant forms. Other studies have found similar results when testing FIJI Water’s quality. To be fair, the amount of bacteria present was low enough for the general population to drink safely, but those who are immuno-compromised might want to steer clear of FIJI Water.

The misinformation only gets worse when you start to look into the company’s “green” initiatives. Back in 2007, the company claimed it would be going carbon-neutral by way of the reforestation project I mentioned above. After talking with the locals at the Conservation International house about the project I was able to track down a pdf with the details of the initiative online. FIJI Water, in an attempt to tout its green credentials, has actually disclosed their annual carbon footprint, which they report to be about 85,000 metric tons of CO2. However, by CI’s own calculations, the four square miles of land that will be reforested through this project will only sequester about 8,000 metric tons a year, less than a tenth of FIJI Water’s annual carbon output. But that’s all moot anyway given the fact that a) the project is way behind schedule (of course) and b) the trees are being planted on village land, thus there’s no guarantee they won’t just be cut down again.

Pic taken in Tokaimalo district, the primary site of the Nakauvadra Reforestation Project

So while FIJI Water rakes in millions of dollars off misleading marketing, what do the citizens of Fiji receive in exchange for hosting them? Not much at all, unfortunately. A 2009 expose from Mother Jones goes into great detail about the political issues involved with FIJI Water’s presence here. Most notable (though it’s portrayed a bit histrionically in that article) is the fact that a large fraction of Fijians do not have access to clean water, with outbreaks of typhoid and leptospirosis occurring frequently during the rainy season. Fortunately, improvements have been made thanks to awareness events and water-system upgrades done by AusAID, Peace Corps, and the like. At one event we put on in Rakiraki I actually got to meet a certain “director of operations” from FIJI Water. When I asked him if the company was involved in funding any water-improvement projects, he tersely replied, “No, we don’t do that”.

He must have been new or something, because FIJI Water actually funnels at least a million dollars annually into an NGO called “Rotary Pacific Water For Life Foundation”. Again, this seems laudable on the surface, until you actually look into the results of this investment. Many PCVs, including myself, have approached them about funding for small village water projects, and all have been denied. The usual excuse is that they are back-logged with 100+ projects they must give priority to. I’ve seen the outcomes of some of these projects. At one primary school near Rakiraki town, their attempt at digging a bore-hole caused a crack in the school’s septic tank, and there is now a noticeable human-waste odor emanating from the river below the school. At another school farther into the interior, Rotary Pacific spent about $40,000 improving the school’s water system. However, apparently through some combination of nepotism and incompetence, most of the school's new water source got diverted to a few houses on a hill above the school, leaving the children without clean water most of the day. The bottle on the left shows what the students are stuck with instead.

Finally, there’s the matter of the land itself. While technically considered government land that is free to be bought and sold, most of the villages near the aquifer still claim that this land was taken from them unfairly. I talked to a man from one of those villages, Drauniivi, about the situation while riding a bus one evening. He told me that back in 2000, over a hundred villagers protested outside of the FIJI Water plant demanding employment and a one percent royalty off the company’s profits. After the incident, the company did decide to employ more people from the villages, but many have since been laid off. These villages also do not have direct access to the aquifer, but they do get free bottled water from time-to-time.

As most of you already know, bottled water is terrible for the earth in a multitude of ways. But on top of all that, FIJI Water is especially terrible. If you’re drinking it because you think it is cleaner than tap water or because you believe it is a “green” company, then I highly recommend you stop buying it. On the other hand, if you’re drinking FIJI Water because you like the label, the square bottle, and the fact that celebrities drink it… well, then you’re just a tool.