I hope your friends are NOT using this clear drinking water!  Bees do NOT
like clean water!  There are no minerals or salts in nice clean water.  As
bad as it sounds, any
observant beekeeper knows that the nasty, dirty, area around a dairy barn or
a horse barn is a favorite place for bees to get water.  Right after a rain,
the water settles in little puddles of animal foot prints.

ONCE bees start visiting a neighbor's pond or swimming pool, it is sheer
"hell" to
break that up.  This is why it is so important that bees be "trained" to a
particular water source starting BACK IN COLD WEATHER, not in the springtime!

I hope I have helped.

George W. Imirie
Starting my 70 th year of beekeeping in Maryland
Certified EAS Master Beekeeper
Author of George's PINK PAGES