Water quality is always our top concern and the safety and quality of our bottles go hand in hand. We use the highest quality food-safe polycarbonate bottles (indicated with a number 7 on the bottom of the bottle with the initials ‘PC’ - Acrylics are also indicated with the number 7 but are produced from different materials). Polycarbonates has less deterioration and quality issues than other types of plastic containers. We regularly monitor and replace our bottles if there are signs of aging, cracking, or other defects. We also replace them on a regular basis to ensure that you get the highest quality water in the highest quality container.

Bisphenol-A and Polycarbonate bottles.
On April 18, 2008, Health Canada issued a response to bisphenol-A (BPA) in polycarbonate bottles. After careful review of over 150 scientific reports and studies they came to the conclusion that polycarbonate containers are safe for all applications, but issued a precaution to newborn and infant products made from these plastics. Even though the media has created concerns about the safety of plastic bottles you can trust that the bottles used by Columbia Ice for water storage and sports bottles are completely safe – health Canada confirms this as recently as April 18th, 2008.

According to the Health Minister, Tony Clement, “Canadians can continue to use hard plastic, reusable water bottles and plastic tableware if they so choose. There is no health risk.”

The announcement also cleared all polycarbonate containers for use in dishwashers. This means any container that has been sterilized or washed will not affect the contents—only bottles produced for infants that contain hot boiling liquids have been issued a warning.

The Canadian Bottled Water Association also agrees, and continues to monitor studies and reports that spans 50 years of research and development in this product.