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Anheuser-Busch Cans Water, Not Beer, To Aid Texas Flood Victims

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 06:08 PST, May 30, 2015

Anheuser-Busch has begun canning drinking water at its Cartersville, Georgia, brewery in order to aid flood victims in Texas and Oklahoma who lack access to a source of clean water.

The production of water at Anheuser-Busch’s brewery began last week but ramped up on Thursday, according to CNN Money, meaning that the first shipment, totaling some 50,000 cans, should reach impacted areas in the coming days. The status of beer production at the brewery, meanwhile, remains unclear. While many media outlets reported that Anheuser-Busch would be suspending production of alcohol in order to focus on water, CNN Money reported that beer production would continue concurrently, and that areas normally served by the Cartersville brewery should not expect shortages.

Rob Haas, senior general manager at Anheuser-Busch’s Cartersville brewery, explained that canning water is the company’s way of assisting aid workers and those impacted by the storms.

“Relief workers and people in the region are in need of safe, clean drinking water as they work to recover from the storms, and this is one way Anheuser-Busch can help our friends and neighbors,” he said.

The water will be delivered to affected areas by the Red Cross, according to USA Today. Cindy Erickson, CEO of the American Red Cross of Eastern Missouri, observed that Anheuser-Busch is a long-time partner of the organization when it comes to distributing water.

“When a need for water looks imminent, we can count on Anheuser-Busch to help. They are a proactive partner with a priority to help communities during times of stress and disaster,” she said.

Production runs of water generally happen three times a year at the Cartersville brewery. While Anheuser-Busch also has a production facility situated in Houston, Cartersville is the location generally used to can water in response to need generated by natural disasters. Similarly, though Anheuser-Busch operates a location in Newark, New Jersey, the Cartersville brewery produced water for aid use during Hurricane Sandy, which struck the Jersey shoreline in 2012, as the Inquisitr previously reported.

Anheuser-Busch’s cans of water are differentiated from their normal products by a stark white label, which carries the brand’s logo, but is otherwise emblazoned with the word “water.” Since 1988, Anheuser-Busch has supplied 73 million cans of emergency drinking water to victims of natural disasters.

[Image: Anheuser-Busch via U.S. News and World Report]

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