Published on December 16, 2019
What?
- In October 2018, Top up Taps – public drinking fountains – are rolled out across Scotland
- 10 taps are set up: Fort William, Oban, Milngavie, Buchanan Street in Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dunfermline, Dumfries and Edinburgh.
- In less than one year, Scottish residents drank the equivalent of 90,000 330ml plastic bottles from the Taps.
- In August 2019, what started out as a pilot project is greenlighted for expansion to push the total number of Top Up Taps to 70.
Why?
- Scotland is buckling under excessive plastic waste, including plastic bottles, costing £11 million per year.
- This despite the fact that almost 2/3 of residents in Scotland prefer tap water.
- There are also health concerns: sugary drinks are fierce competitors to the good old H2o.
- Public water fountains are nothing new: they predate running water in homes. But they have fallen into disuse.
- Various cities are bringing them back with vigour. Amsterdam, to name but one, launched its plan in 2015, with plans in 2018 to introduce 300 additional spots.
How?
- The policy choice and design is part of the Scottish Government’s programme of 2018-2019, which includes investment of around £600 million into water infrastructure
- The infrastructure is implemented by Scottish Water