This is definitely worse than yesterday’s polliwogs in tap water post. And yet another reason I choose to purify my own water whenever possible. But, I’ll admit that Aquafina, because it uses reverse osmosis and ozone, is one my favorites when I’m forced to buy someone else’s water. Luckily my kids are water snobs (growing up on Taylor Made Water, of course!), so they probably would not drink “cloudy” water – in fact, my daughter spits out Spring Water because, she says “it tastes like pool water.” In case you’re not such a water snob, beware cloudy Aquafina until they figure out what happened.
12 Kids Hospitalized After Drinking Tainted Water
KTLA News
April 24, 2009
SANTA CLARITA — The FBI is investigating how apparently poisoned water bottles got into a vending machine at a middle school in Santa Clarita.
At 12:45 p.m. Thursday, fire officials heard that people were becoming sick at La Mesa Junior High School at 26623 May Way, said county fire inspector Steve Zermeno.
The water bottles believed to have caused the sickness came from the school’s vending machines, Zermeno said.
It was not immediately clear what the bottles contained, but it appeared to be a "bleach-like substance," Zermeno said.
Students who spoke with a KTLA reporter at the scene said the water looked cloudy and had a chemical smell.
Pat Willett, the community liaison for William S. Hart Union School District, said the problem may stem from the bottling plant and may not necessarily be tampering.
In all, 12 students were hospitalized as a precaution, Willett said.
According to the hospitals, all students are doing OK, Willett added.
The school district has notified all schools to remove the water or shut down the vending machines until further notice.
The FBI dispatched its own hazardous materials team to the school, according to Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the bureau’s Los Angeles field office.
Officials seized the remaining water bottles from the vending machines for further examination.
As always, the health and safety of our consumers is our overriding concern. All of our plants have rigorous quality-control standards in place, and we are thoroughly confident in the safety of our products.
The Pepsi Bottling Group, which supplied the water, issued the following statement to KTLA on Thursday:
There is absolutely no evidence that today’s incident was caused by anything in our manufacturing process.
We have examined and tasted numerous bottles that were produced at the same time as those in this case and have found them to be free of any problems whatsoever.
The only products in question have been those that were previously opened, and we are working closely with local authorities to determine exactly what happened.
We are also running our own independent tests and we have no reason to believe this is anything but an isolated incident.
Kids allegedly sick from bottled water
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=6778180
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (KABC) — Hazmat investigators are still trying to determine how 12 students at a Santa Clarita school got sick on Thursday, apparently after drinking bottled water from the school’s vending machine.
A male student at La Mesa Junior High reported headaches, nausea and dizziness after buying and drinking some Aquafina bottled water at about noon.
Other students quickly made the same complaint.
At least six of the students were taken to the hospital, but are expected to be fine.
Pepsi, which makes Aquafina, says there’s no evidence the incident was "caused by anything in our manufacturing process."
The FBI had sent a hazardous materials team after the incident, but so far, testing has revealed no contamination.
Initial tests found nothing wrong with the water, but an L.A. County Fire inspector said the bottles contained a bleach-like substance.
The FBI was called as a matter of routine, but according to the school principal Pete Fries, is not participating in the investigation.
"My job is to make sure our kids are safe, and we’ll do everything necessary to make that happen," Fries said.
Further tests are expected to be performed.
"Some may have been sick," Fries said. "Or you know, it just kind of gets to a point where junior high school kids may exaggerate a little bit."
