Before we get stuck into this issue, let’s be clear: the last thing we want to do is be in conflict with the bottled water sector.
We’ve always said that the goal of our London On Tap – www.londonontap.co.uk – campaign is simply to promote the quality of Thames Water’s tap water and remind Londoners that they have a choice – bottled OR tap – when they’re out for a meal or a drink.
And in these gloomy economic times, it’s worth remembering that a 250ml glass of tap water costs less than a fortieth of a penny – a good deal cheaper than bottled options. So much so, in fact, that it won’t even show up when the waiter brings you your bill.
But cheap, in this instance, absolutely does not mean scrimping on quality.
Just ask the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the water industry’s water quality watchdog, which has rated our tap water the best of all the major water and sewerage companies in England and Wales for the past two years.
Right now Thames Water’s tap water is the best it’s ever been – 99.99 per cent compliant with national and European standards.
This achievement has not happened by accident. It comes on the back of three years of sound investment, resulting last year in Thames Water turning in its best-ever operational performance – best-ever water quality, best-ever sewage works compliance and leakage reduction targets hit three years in a row. That’s not according to us. That’s what Ofwat, the water industry regulator, says about us.
Endorsements like this have given the London On Tap campaign the gravitas needed to bring about a change in Londoners’ behaviour when it comes to ordering tap instead of bottled water in bars and restaurants. Where previously they may have felt compelled to order pricier, less eco-friendly bottled alternatives, people are now increasingly opting for tap.
The international charity WaterAid revealed in March 2009 that tap water is the preferred choice for 68% of people when they dine out. To bring about this change in the way people view tap, we ran a competition for London-based designers to make a stylish carafe in which to serve the capital’s first-class water.
The winning entry was Neil Barron’s iconic ‘Tap Top’ carafe, with its four non-drip spouts in the shape of a traditional tap head.
Tap Tops have now been mass-produced from recycled glass and are now being used by more and more eateries and bars across London.
But it’s all very well having the finest drinking water in the land and the smartest carafes in which to serve it. We also need good, sturdy pipes to carry our water to customers’ taps.
With this in mind, Thames Water recently passed the milestone of replacing 1,000 miles of worn-out Victorian pipes under London – an achievement that has helped cut leakage by a quarter in the past four years.
This work started in earnest in 2003 and by the end of 2009, 1,300 miles of old mains – enough to stretch 11 times around the M25 – will have been replaced with tough, new plastic pipework less prone to bursts and leaks.
I digress. Back to the tap-v-bottled debate. Here are some facts and figures, which may shed some light on it:
- Bottled water costs 500 times more than tap water (Consumer Council for Water) – the equivalent of paying £1,500 for a pint of beer or glass of wine.
- Bottled water carries more than 300 times the CO2 emissions per litre than the average bottled brand. (Thames Water 2009)
- A litre of Thames Water tap water accounts for 0.0003kg of CO2.
- Thames Water calculates that its tap water costs around 0.097p – less than a tenth of a penny per litre.
- 70 per cent of people say the price of mineral water in restaurants is ‘too expensive’ and want to see free tap water readily available. (National Consumer Council – 2007)
- 92 per cent of people say they should have the right to free tap water
(NCC 2007)
- The average Briton drinks 37.6 litres of bottled water each year (Bottled Water Information Office)
- 2.7m tonnes of plastic are used to bottle water each year worldwide (Earth Policy Institute – 2006)
- In 2006, 1.5million barrels of oil were used to make the 26bn litres of bottled water sold in the US – enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year. (EPI, 2006)
For more on this visit the London On Tap website, www.londonontap.co.uk.
What Thames water fail to realise is that the tap water tastes foul in London, more so than in any other area of the country.
This may be because of the nutrients in the ground, but why is it when I run a glass of tap water in London there are bits in it – which do not appear anywhere else I’ve tried it?
London is the only place I have to run the tap for a while before I drink the water – have Thames water taken this wastage into account when doing their ‘Eco-evaluation’?
I didn’t think so.
Considering the vast profits Thames have made since privatisation I think their fanfare about investment is a joke. I pay more for my water now than ever before and the standard is unchanged, in fact I actually get frequent stoppages when the fuse blows in the local Putney pumping station (I’ve experienced it so frequently I know what the cause is!)
Thames water simply pay another contractor to replace the fuse, for it to blow again in the future – is that what TW call efficiency?
This is the consequence of cowboys running your water supply and the complete lack of any competition or decent regulation.
@TawkinSenz “when I run a glass of tap water in London there are bits in it ”
I can honestly say I’ve never encountered that, are you sure it’s not your tap?
Simon,
I gave up buying bottled water ages back but I find many restaurants aren’t exactly willing to give you a jug of free water, much preferring to reap the profits for the overpriced bottle of water or flat soft drink. Not sure many people really feel comfortable asking for tap in places for fear of the reaction they get.
Martin
That feeling of awkwardness you describe is exactly what we’re trying to address with our London On Tap camapign by instilling in people the confidence to just ask for what all restaurants and bars in the capital should offer anyway – without even having to be asked.
The French, among other countries, seem to manage this so we don’t see why it shouldn’t be the done thing in London, where (despite TawkinSenz’s downbeat report, which I was sorry to hear about) some of the best-quality tap water in the world flows for less than a penny a litre from people’s taps.
Great-tasting, eco-friendly, healthy, sugar-free…yeah, yeah, I’ll shut up now, I’m sure you get the point.
Stopped buying bottled years ago, I just fill up a sports bottle everyday. Holds more water and the bottle cost was recovered in days from what I saved on branded botttled.
Simon are you brave enough to voice an opinion on those big name filter jugs?
Martin the thing to do is order the water before the meal, then if you encounter any resistance you can just go eat elsewhere.
Clive, glad to hear you’re a tap devotee.
As for the filter jugs, we’d say our water doesn’t need to be flitered. But if some people prefer to filter it that’s fine. Our London On Tap campaign is all about making people aware they’ve got a choice – and that choice extends to whether or not they want to filter.
I find the best time to ask for tap water is as they take your drinks order, you are still looking at the menu and haven’t ordered yet.
Just add “and a jug of tap water” after your drinks order. Waiters will find it difficult to say anything at this point as you haven’t ordered the food yet.
Martin,
Sadly not, if you run a glass of water an dleave it to settle for a few minutes you should see the particles floating about. I’ve done it at many people’s houses and it’s the same.
When in France this was not the case, the water remained clear.
I lived in Shropshire so I know how hard water tastes – and London water is foul by comparison. I’m not a bottled water man (I see it as a complete waste) – but when I see the vast TW profits and I see the quality of the water (and service) it’s another nail in the coffin of privatisation.
I do agree with the tap water comment, I find asking for it in restaurants is often looked at as being cheap. However I still don’t enjoy the taste of Central London tap water.
I have experienced tap water being ordered – and then simply not brought, or being brought warm – or worst of all the time a robbing restaurant tried to charge me for tap water claiming that despite me ordering tap water they decided to bring bottled water (in a jug).
All the people who buy bottled water have obvioulsy never seen the ‘only fools and horses’ episode with Peckham springs! Once you’ve watched it you’ll never waste your money again…