Stewarding a Community Well
We supply high-quality fresh drinking water that is sustainably collected and locally bottled
Why Choose
Co-Op Water?
Worker-owned co-operative
Fanny Bay BC groundwater source
Small scale (50,000 gallons/year)
Restricted (within drainage basin) distribution
Ethical (red/yellow/green withdrawal indicators)
Social Capital Price: Our long term goal is to support the birth of a water consumer coop to deliver members pure, sustainably-sourced Fanny Bay water at an enduring (and endearing ❤️) social capital price in perpetuity.
Safe: Prior to bottling, Diamond Springs water is triple filtered (0.4, 0.4 and 0.2 micron absolute) then treated with ozone - the gold standard for water purification!
Scroll down to learn more about our cooperative, then click on the Latest Events and News button on our header page for our latest posts (including up-to-date groundwater monitoring)!
Our Co-Op
We are a worker-owned and operated water bottling co-operative located in Fanny Bay, British Columbia.
We provide water in 5 gallon, BPA-free bottles (produced in Lower Mainland!) to households in our watershed and on Denman and Hornby Islands.
Our goal over the next 12 months is to encourage the birth of a “sister” water consumer coop.
Over 20 years of providing safe, clean, ozone-purified drinking water to our community
Our Stewardship Partners
Developed in consultation with Beaufort Watershed Stewards, monitoring equipment has been placed in our well to measure aquifer health.
The data this equipment provides is used to set indicators (red, yellow and green) that govern our bottling activity to protect neighbouring wells and the ecosystem.
We will bottle additional water in the spring to take us through dry summer months. Want to see how the groundwater resource is doing? Go to Latest Events and News to see our monthly monitoring!
Why CO-OP is BETTER
As a public policy resource economist who has spent her professional career fighting water extraction schemes, I know the capitalist model is wholly inappropriate for our resource sector. Goods of the commons demand a much safer path! When I bought my beautiful Fanny Bay home in June 2021, I was surprised to find it included a water plant. This 5 minute Shaw Spotlight mini-doc tells the story of how I moved from "shut 'er down" to "can it work?" over the course of that first summer...
In the end, I hope Diamond Springs Water Bottling Coop offers government regulators a small but powerful model of what "doing it right" might look like. And provide a source of delicious, local, ethical and cooperative water to households in need at a social capital (not capitalistic) price.
Our Origin Story
Diamond Springs Water Bottling has been providing pristine, local water to Fanny Bay, Denman and Hornby Island households since 2001.
In 2021, when the property on which the plant is located was sold to Wendy Holm, the operators - Ken Giles and Laureen Cochlan - were faced with a choice: shut down their water bottling operation or strategically partner with new, social capital investors in a way that would allow them to pivot, re-imagining their mandate and redefining their partnership with the community.
Spurred by loyalty to their customers and a desire to remain involved in their work of two decades, Ken and Laureen chose the latter. Putting Wendy’s 2014 co-op masters degree from Saint Mary’s University to work, Diamond Springs “grew up” into a worker cooperative on its 20th birthday.
We are a five member worker cooperative - founders Ken Giles and Laureen Cocklan are joined by Wendy Holm, Laurel Meyer and Isaac Meyer. Our goal over the coming year is to support the birth of a small, “sister” water consumer cooperative to which we will provide our water at a social capital price.
What is a Worker Co-op?
“…Worker co-operatives are a radical break from the conventional business model.
The worker co-op’s primary goal in operating an enterprise is for service to its employees and its community rather than in service to the owners of capital.
The goal is to provide the best possible employment conditions for the members and to provide the customers and community with a service or product at a fair price that meets their needs and leads to a sustainable community…”
Canadian Worker Coop Federation
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLES:
Voluntary and Open Membership
Democratic Member Control
Member Economic Participation
Autonomy and Independence
Education, Training and Information
Cooperation Among Cooperatives
Concern for Community
In the spirit of respect and truth, we honour and acknowledge that we live and work on the unceeded territory of K’ómoks First Nation, the traditional keepers of this land and her waters…