KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Lab tests show Culligan’s bottled water is clean and safe to drink despite reports that some German wells have been found to contain unacceptable levels of uranium, an Army and Air Force Exchange Service spokesman said Wednesday.
Water from some Grünstadt wells, the source for Culligan’s bottled water, was found to contain 4 to 6 micrograms of uranium per liter, AAFES spokesman Lt. Col. David Konop wrote in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes on Wednesday.
But he added that Culligan’s plant in Grünstadt uses a water-purification process that nearly eliminates any trace of uranium. AAFES has been a licensed manufacturer of Culligan water products in Germany since 1997.
German newspaper Die Rheinpfalz reported in a story that appeared this week that tests showed drinking water from Grünstadt to have 4.21 micrograms of uranium per liter. That’s more than twice the amount recommended for water used for baby formula.
Uranium is a naturally occurring metal that can be found in groundwater. Studies have shown that unsafe levels of uranium can be harmful to kidneys, according to the World Health Organization.
AAFES also found water from Grünstadt to contain similar amounts of uranium. But additional lab tests found the plant’s reverse osmosis system nearly strips the water of any uranium.
“Since there is absolutely no threat based on testing we were hesitant to create an alarm to say there isn’t a threat,” Konop wrote in an e-mail. “The Culligan water process (Reverse Osmosis) removes Uranium effectively.”
Last week, AAFES received the most recent results from water samples sent to the National Testing Laboratories in Michigan. Water samples collected in December 2007 found the maximum level of uranium in Culligan bottled water to be 10 times lower than the level required by Germany for mineral water intended to be used for infant formula, Konop said.
The AAFES plant in Grünstadt produces about 5 million gallons of water every year that are sold at exchanges across Europe, according to the exchange service’s Web site.
