Calif. Students Sick after Drinking Bottled Water

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — A dozen students became sick after drinking bottled water from a vending machine at a Southern California junior high school, authorities said.

The students at La Mesa Junior High School in Santa Clarita complained Thursday of headaches, nausea and dizziness after drinking Aquafina water from a vending machine that appeared to contain a “bleach-like substance,” said Los Angeles County fire inspector Steve Zermeno.

Twelve students were taken to hospitals and released, Zermeno said. They said the water had a chemical smell, he said.

Cody Commons, an eighth-grader who was treated at a hospital, told television station KTLA that the water “was kind of cloudy and it tasted kind of funny,” but that he drank it anyway. He said he started feeling cramps “a couple hours later.”

Pat Willett, community liaison for William S. Hart Union School district, said the district ordered all schools to remove Aquafina water from vending machines or shut down the machines until further notice.

The FBI is investigating, agency spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

Jeff Dahncke, spokesman for The Pepsi Bottling Group, which manufactures Aquafina, said there is no evidence the contamination was caused by the company’s manufacturing process and Pepsi believes it was an isolated incident.

“We have examined and tasted numerous bottles that were produced at the same time as those in this case and have found them to be free of any problems whatsoever,” the company said in a statement. It said it was working closely with authorities to determine what happened.

Aquafina, a leading brand of bottled water, is bottled at Pepsi plants from public water sources using a seven-step purification process, according to the Aquafina Web site.