Caffeine Concepts have created an app to help members of the public find freely available tap water instead of having to pay £1 for bottled water, which is not only expensive but environmentally unfriendly. The app is the brainchild of blogger Ben Kay, and Caffeine Concepts designed it together with some help from Crystal Lee.
Many believe that providing free tap water is a legal requirement for pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants, but that is not the case. Many establishments have the requirement as part of their license, but this is a localised issue and not UK-wide and a number of establishments will refuse free water both to thirsty travellers and paying customers – just take a look at the complaints on the Consumer Council for Water. Many stations and airports have also removed free water fountains from their premises recently to force people to purchase bottled water from the establishments inside.
Luckily public naming and shaming of establishments refusing free tap water even to paying customers is starting to improve the situation, and Water Water Everywhere should help continue this trend as people seek out the environmentally better and notably cheaper (bottled water mark-up is around 1000%) alternative. If you want to see the environmental impact of bottled water and understand why we need to reduce our consumption of the product then go and watch Tapped.
The app is currently available for free in the iTunes App Store, and will only improve as people add locations to the map as they find free water.
Available on: iPhone
Developer: Caffeine Concepts
Cost: Free
Download: iTunes App Store