http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/bottled-water-sales-starting-to-run-dry-1651724.html

Bottled water sales starting to run dry

Revolt grows as environmental fears prompt diners to ask for tap

By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Monday, 23 March 2009


A revolt against bottled water in restaurants is growing. Last year,
figures showed that, after more than three decades of year-on-year
growth, bottled water sales dropped by 9 per cent. Now a survey shows
more people prefer tap water when they dine out.
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Almost two thirds of the people, 63 per cent, said they always asked
for tap water or would prefer to drink tap water in restaurants rather
than buy a bottle of still or sparkling. Despite that, one in four
people surveyed by the WaterAid charity felt pressured to order
bottled water when dining out.

Women were more likely to choose tap water than men, while people in
Greater London and Scotland were the most likely to choose bottled
water. Diners in the South-east and East Anglia were the happiest with
tap.

The research group TNS asked 2,018 people about their water-drinking
habits while dining out. Some 38 per cent, equating to 14 million
nationwide, said they always asked for tap water and 25 per cent, or
9.5 million, said they preferred tap water. Thirty-seven per cent of
diners said they always asked for bottled water. Although there is no
historical comparison for the number of bottled water refuseniks, the
level of people who "always" ask for tap is believed to be on the rise
after high-profile campaigns to cut the environmental cost of bottled
water.

The popularity of bottled water soared during the 1990s and early
2000s. Sales increased 6 per cent annually to more than two billion
litres. But last year that trend was reversed, with sales in the UK
dropping by 9 per cent. Most bottled water has a lower carbon
footprint than other soft drinks but tap water is less harmful still
and 1,000 times cheaper, costing 0.1p a litre at home. The £2bn-a-year
British bottled water industry is hoping to persuade people that its
product is purer than tap water, which is chemically treated before
being pumped into houses and businesses.

WaterAid called on restaurants to ask diners to donate a few pence
towards its work when customers order free tap water, with the launch
of its Tap into WaterAid initiative. So far, 36 restaurants have
signed up to the scheme, launched to mark United Nations World Water
Day yesterday.

Andrew Cook, WaterAid's deputy chief executive, said: "Water is
essential for life, yet here we are in 2009 and more than one in eight
of the world's population are without access to it. Over 1.8 million
children die every year from water-related diseases. We're so lucky
here in the UK; we just turn on a tap and our fresh water is there."

According to WaterAid, 884 million people in the developing world are
without clean water. "The only choice they have is to walk for miles
in search of dangerously dirty water, or go without," the charity
said.