A Dec. 7 Metro article stated that the Kanye West Foundation donated money to finance the Good Water Store and Cafe. Kanye West gave the money directly to his father, the cafe's owner, rather than through his foundation.
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How'd You Like Your Water?
Owner Ray West, father of rapper Kanye West, with a bottle of his store's water. The business is billed as the first of its kind in Maryland.
(Mark Gail - Twp)
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"The awareness may not have caught on on the East Coast, but in other parts of the country, they're forced to think about it. In Riverside, California, where my brother lives, every shopping center has a water store, because they have a water shortage."
To educate consumers, the Good Water Store offers three grades of water:
· "Good -- 85 percent pure," which sells for 79 cents a gallon, is water treated with a carbon filter, essentially what you get when you use a Brita filter.
· "Better -- 95 percent pure," 89 cents, is water treated with a reverse-osmosis filter, the method used by most bottling plants.
· "Best -- 99.9 percent pure," 99 cents, is water treated with the first two methods, as well a steam-distillation system, used in pharmacies, dentist's offices and U.S. embassies.
At a recent news conference to mark the opening of the cafe, Del. John L. Bohanan Jr. (D-St. Mary's) raised the concern that worrisome levels of arsenic had been found in the county's drinking water. West pointed out that many residents in Southern Maryland get their drinking water from wells, which don't receive regular state testing.
Steve King, director of the county water and sewer service, said that the system exceeds 2006 federal guidelines for acceptable levels of organic arsenic but that the utility is replacing the offending source with a deeper, clean aquifer. Otherwise, he said, the water is clean, and distillation is an expensive and "absolutely unnecessary" alternative.
"I'm sure the process that they use wouldn't remove the arsenic anyway," he said. "There are no industrial pollutants and there are no pesticides in our water. Some people don't like to taste chlorine, which is required to be in the water as a safety precaution."
West wants the cafe's ceremonial grand opening to coincide with the United Nation's World Water Day on March 22. He said there is "a strong possibility" that his son will be on hand.
"When I talked to my son, I told him rather than go to beers, shoes or all these other things they wanted him to get into, he could connect with a positive source for himself," West said. "I wanted to connect him with a concern that is growing, that is truly global."
