Hydrate on the move with free refill stations

Under the Scottish Water initiative, councils are being consulted to identify the best locations with the aim of having the first 10 Top Up Taps in operation by the end of March 2019.

The move follows the launch earlier this year of the Your Water, Your Life campaign in which the utility called for customers to drink tap water at home, at work and on the move as a way of reducing packaging waste, saving money and staying hydrated.

Zero Waste Scotland estimates 20 million plastic bottles are littered in Scotland each year and about 120,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste is produced from our homes over a 12-month period.

Drinking tap from a reusable bottle is an easy win when it comes to protecting the environment, and the Your Water, Your Life campaign aims to make tap the first choice for water drinkers wherever they are, and encourages businesses to make it readily available for staff and customers. Licensed premises are legally bound to serve tap water on request, yet research shows Scots are uncomfortable asking, something this campaign hopes to change.

Customer research carried out for Scottish Water revealed tap is the water of choice for almost two thirds of people in Scotland (65 per cent), and currently over a third (36 per cent) carry reusable bottles always or often when they are out and about. But less than a third (30 per cent) said they’d be happy to go into a café and ask for their bottle to be filled.