News

A new drinking fountain has been installed on London’s Carnaby Street as part of a new scheme to tackle plastic bottle problem. Sadiq Khan also revealed that three more free fountains will be installed over the summer.

London's Carnaby Street gets water fountain https://t.co/l8zVjZQPTX pic.twitter.com/tbpNrYAt9s

— BBC London Newsroom (@BBCLondonNews) March 25, 2018

In a separate single-use plastic reduction campaign, businesses across the UK are being urged to offer to refill customers water bottles. The ‘Refill’ scheme, which started in Bristol and Bath before going national, that aims to make refilling plastic bottles easy, convenient and cheap. The stated aim is to see a refill point on every street. In London, the National Theatre and Tate Modern recently joined businesses including Costa Coffee and Leon in joining up to a trial Refill scheme. Participating shops and businesses will be listed on a free app and website alongside 5,700 refill locations across the UK. Businesses will be given Refill stickers to put in the window to advertise the service. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "For years public water fountains have been disappearing from London's streets - I want to hear from landowners in some of London's most-visited locations so we can continue returning them to the capital." He claimed that figures show that the average London adult buys more than three plastic water bottles a week. There are currently more than 700 Refill Stations in the capital. New drinking fountains will be fitted with flow meters so that use can be monitored. Surveys will also be conducted in the areas to find out how the fountains are being used.

Changing business water suppliers

The non-domestic water market was opened up to competition for the first time in April 2017, giving businesses the opportunity to leave regional suppliers in search of a better deal. The benefits of switching are clear. Regional monopoly suppliers have old fashioned systems and business practices. They have struggled to compete in the new marketplace. In the new market, these legacy suppliers have proved less competitive on price and less responsive to customer demands. As a result, they have been losing market share to newer suppliers. These new suppliers are more agile and have introduced smart technology to help reduce consumption and bring prices down.