Serve Tap Water - Give Consumers A Fair Choice

19 February 2008

The Consumer Council for Water is encouraging cafes, bars and restaurants throughout England and Wales to serve their customers tap water as a matter of course, and is calling on the public to start asking food and drink outlets for the water that they want.

Tap water in England and Wales is safe, stringently tested and is at record quality levels that put it amongst the best in the world, so there is no reason for consumers not to ask for it when they are out and about.

It is also already available within all food and drink outlets to allow the safe preparation of food, drinks and for washing up, so there is no barrier to access, other than serving it to customers and making it a pleasant experience.

With tap water costing around one tenth of a penny for a litre, it means that consumers can enjoy a whole year of the generally accepted two litres a day, for the cost of four second class stamps.  

Dame Yve Buckland, National Chair of the Consumer Council for Water, said: “Most cafes, bars and restaurants already strive to ensure that their guests have the best possible experience every time - so there should be no problem in them providing fresh tap water to their customers if that is what’s desired.

“The experience of asking for tap water should be no different to asking for sugar, salt or pepper. We can’t insist that food and drink outlets provide tap water for free, but at a cost of one pence for around fifty glasses, having it available and well presented shouldn’t be too much to ask.

“The bottled water industry spends millions investing in their brands and that’s what people are paying for when they pick up a bottle of water. There is no health advantage in drinking bottled water instead of water from the tap.”

If consumers would like to share their experiences of receiving fresh, well presented tap water in local cafes, bars and restaurants, they can do so on the Consumer Council for Water website at www.ccwater.org.uk