Water business apologizes for error
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Unlabeled surveys and requests for water samples were the result of an oversight, a Honolulu businessman said yesterday. The items had concerned O'ahu residents, neighborhood watch participants and a Board of Water Supply spokeswoman.
Mark Anthony, manager of Pacific Pure Water, said the surveys and requests for water samples were handed out as a means of promoting his water softening business.
Through an error, he said, the survey cards did not include his business name or phone number.
"I would like to publicly apologize for any confusion caused," Anthony said yesterday. "We are just trying to do a service. There is absolutely nothing deceptive."
Pacific Pure Water is a business that Anthony said he started less than 60 days ago. Residents who responded to the surveys and provided the water samples would have been contacted by phone. The water sample would have been analyzed and an appointment with a sales agent would have been made, Anthony said.
Anthony said the oversight would be corrected today and that all future surveys will contain the name and phone number of Pacific Pure Water.
In the meantime, Anthony said, those people who received the surveys and want to confirm their authenticity should call Pacific Pure Water at 593-0803. The business address is 401 Kamakee Street, Suite 418, Honolulu HI, 96814.
Concerned residents and neighborhood watch members called the Board of Water Supply and the newspaper yesterday after finding the bottles and unlabeled surveys on their doorknobs.
The instructions that came with the bottle said to fill it with tap water for sampling and to complete a questionnaire that asked about the occupants of the house, including their names and ages.
The questionnaire also asked at what times residents could be found at home, and instructed them to put the bottle and questionnaire back on their doorknob.
Denise DeCosta, Board of Water Supply spokeswoman, also called the newspaper and asked that residents be informed that the surveys were not being distributed by the Board of Water Supply.
"I'm glad the question has been cleared up," she said yesterday. "If anyone has concerns about their water quality — if they notice a difference in taste or odor — they can call us."
The phone number for the Board of Water Supply is 748-5000.
The Board of Water Supply recently distributed customer satisfaction surveys, but those were sent to customers through the mail.
DeCosta said thousands of water quality tests are made each year. Also, the water board performs copper and lead testing of tap water in some residents' homes every three years. It is the only test in which the sampling must be done from taps inside homes, and it is done by prearrangement with the homeowners.
Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Correction: A previous version of this story said the Board of Water Supply does no testing in individual homes.
