press release
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 (en
espaņol)
Water Districts: Scam artists falsely claim water is unsafe
Chula Vista, CA – Several East and South County water agencies are
reaffirming the quality of their drinking water supplies after a
homeowner was approached by someone going door-to-door making claims of
the existence of fecal matter in local water supplies.
A Chula Vista resident was recently approached by someone who claimed
to be a volunteer working with the Cities of Chula Vista and San Diego
providing free water softeners because they claimed the water has fecal
matter in it. The imposter told the resident another representative
would come to the home to do a water analysis as well as an economic
analysis to see if the resident qualified.
Local water agencies insist the claim is false. No such
campaign is being conducted by local water agencies or municipalities.
The public needs to be aware that persons have been known to offer or
sell water treatment devices to homeowners using questionable sales
tactics. This ploy is also used to gain access to your home for criminal
activity.
Annual Water Quality Reports highlight quality of water
Additionally, Helix, Otay, Padre Dam and Sweetwater water districts’
Annual Water Quality Report for 2005 were mailed out to customers over
the summer, and are also available on their respective Web sites:
Helix Water District -www.hwd.com
Otay Water District –
www.otaywater.gov
Padre Dam Municipal Water District –
www.padredam.org
Sweetwater Authority –
www.sweetwater.org
These reports tell customers exactly how the districts rank in
comparison to Federal and State Water Quality Standards and are useful
in discussing water quality with door-to-door or telephone sales
personnel.
California laws protect customers
California State Laws protect customers from false and misleading
advertising of water treatment devices. Treatment devices that are sold
to remove “health related” contaminants cannot be sold legally in
California unless they are certified by the California Department of
Health Services (CDHS). Certification is not required for devices to
improve the taste or odor of water. The law explicitly forbids sales
people from making false or misleading claims about which contaminants
are in water or whether or not the customer’s health or safety is at
risk.
Check before purchasing
Should you be approached by a sales representative who is or claims to
be from a water treatment device company, take note of the persons name,
business address, phone number, exact company and product name. This
will help determine the legitimacy of the company and product. We
strongly urge you to not give them access to your house. Check them out
with the Better Business Bureau, California Department of Health
Services (CDHS), or other oversight agency before you purchase. A list
of CDHS certified devices can be found at:
http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ps/ddwem/technical/certification/device/table.htm
Be sure to ask the exact name of the contaminants that the sales
person claims are in the water and jot down his/her statements regarding
the safety or health effect of these purported contaminants. Make
particular note of the type of test they perform on the water sample and
ask the names of the chemicals they add to the water to cause it to
change color. This information may be useful if you suspect that the
claims are misleading and can assist in describing the sales tactics
when you report them to either your local water district or the CDHS.
Send the written material you received (containing health claims and the
name of the device) along with the salesperson's business card to the
address below for follow-up investigation.
For more information about the current misleading sales tactics being
used in California visit the CDSH website: http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ps/ddwem/technical/certification/devices.html
or contact:
California Department of Health Services
Drinking Water Program
Drinking Water Treatment Device Certification Unit
P.O Box 942732, MS 7417
1616 Capitol Avenue
Sacramento, CA 94234-7320
(916) 449-5650 (phone)
(916) 449-5656 (fax)
-END-
Helix Water District – Otay Water District
Padre Dam Municipal Water District – Sweetwater Authority
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