Charlottetown city councillors will be sticking to bottled water at meetings, despite complaints about damage to the environment and the message it sends about the quality of the city's water.

'I thought it was a ridiculous thing to be concerned about.'— Coun. David MacDonald

Letters to a local newspaper expressed concern last week about damage to the environment from trucking water from the mainland and trucking the empties back. The letters also wondered what message the councillors are sending by not drinking the city's water.

But Deputy Mayor Stu MacFadyen doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.
 
"We could take a glass of water in because our water is just the best there is," said MacFadyen.

"It's just that the water is there, it's handy in a bottle. It saves from getting up, interrupting council as it is meeting."

Environment committee chair David MacDonald said there is a health concern with serving water in glasses because there are no facilities in the kitchen to clean them properly.

"I would certainly never make the argument that serving bottled water at a public meeting is more of an environmental concern than it is of a health concern," said MacDonald.

"I thought it was a ridiculous thing to be concerned about."

MacFadyen said the bottled water will continue to be served to councillors.