Bottled water companies in the Denver area are scrambling to satiate the thirst of Hurricane Katrina’s victims and rescue workers.
“We have employees working overtime to replenish our own stores and keep water on the market,” Deep Rock spokeswoman Joy Arnold said. “We are feeling the strain of the terrible thing that happened down there, but in a positive way.”
Water is one of the single most precious commodities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Consumers are flooding Denver-based Deep Rock and Louisville-based Eldorado Artesian Springs with calls as media outlets and relief organizations publicize the need for water.
“People are very, very frustrated by lack of a federal response,” Eldorado spokesman Jeremy Martin said. “One of the top things in their minds was pure and wholesome drinking water.”
Grocery chains such as Wal-Mart, Albertsons, Safeway and King Soopers are ordering 10 percent more water this week, said Deep Rock president Dough Oberhamer. Most of the extra water will be donated or bought by consumers looking to donate, he said.
Eldorado’s workers also toiled through the weekend after the Federal Emergency Management Agency called Friday and asked for as much water as the company could produce.
Eldorado had sent six trucks of water to Louisiana as of Tuesday and has more on the way. The U.S. government had supplied an estimated 18 million liters of water to the Katrina-stricken areas as of 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“We’ve cleaned out our warehouse for this,” Martin said. “That’s the case with most water companies.”
Both Deep Rock and Eldorado have donated 4,000 gallons of water to various relief organizations working in Louisiana. They are also selling their hurricane-related water at cost. Eldorado is selling its water to FEMA at $3 per 6-gallon case. The normal wholesale price is $4.15.
Oddly enough, water is not the main obstacle to meeting the demand. The big problems are the expense of transportation and the lack of raw materials – plastic bottles, cardboard and pallets – to package the water.
“We are so far away, and there are so many other bottlers closer to Louisiana,” Oberhamer said. It’s almost impractical to ship water there with gasoline over $3 per gallon, he said.
Neither company is reporting sales spikes as consumers look to bolster their own emergency supplies. “I’m not hearing anyone saying, ‘We’re going to stock up,”‘ Martin said. “They’re all saying, ‘Donate it to the cause.”‘
Staff writer Ross Wehner can be reached at 303-820-1503 or rwehner@denverpost.com.
