A campaign to improve the public’s access to free drinking water has been unveiled.
London, August 2011: The ‘Find-a- Fountain’ project, developed by environmental entrepreneur Guy Jeremiah and now part of the 1859 Drinking Fountain Association, aims to record all publicly accessible drinking water fountains across the UK via a specially designed interactive website. Also optimised for smartphones, the service will enable individuals to key in their location to find their nearest free water source or to share the whereabouts of a new site.
The Find-a-Fountain project hopes to start a renaissance in the use of drinking fountains in order to reduce the UK’s reliance on inefficiently produced bottled water, and lessen its negative impact on the environment1. It is hoped that this campaign will also lead to a second phase which will facilitate the installation of new drinking water fountains around the country and the restoration of old fountains which have fallen into disrepair.
Through public records, www.findafountain.org has so far logged over 600 of the nation’s drinking water fountains and is now calling on volunteers to upload details of their own local facilities or free public drinking water sources.
Guy Jeremiah, founder of Find-A-Fountain, said: “This is an ideal opportunity for anyone to play a part in reducing the environmental damage associated with the consumption of bottled water. The average person in the UK buys 85 bottles of water a year and a typical local authority in the UK has to dispose of up to 10 million bottles a year, at a significant cost to tax payers. So, we’re calling on everyone to join us in helping to find fountains and free drinking water sources. It’s a great project for walkers, photographers, students, cubs, brownies, geo-cachers, urban explorers, local historians and anyone who cares about the environment. It’s a small thing to ask with the potential to make a big difference.”
To encourage volunteers to get involved, Aquatina collapsible pocket-water bottles will be given away to the first five hundred people to add a fountain to the website.
The average person in the Europe buys 85 bottles of mineral water a year.
A typical UK local authority disposes of up to 10 million bottles a year at great cost to tax payers. Last year, humans worldwide threw away 5,000 bottles a second - 150 billion bottles a year, enough to circle the world a 1000 times or stretch to the moon and back 50 times.
Go to www.aquatina.com to find out more about the Aquatina Pocket Bottle which is being given away to the first 500 people to add details of a drinking fountain to the Find-a-Fountain website.
The Find-a-Fountain Campaign was founded in 2008 by Aquatina Ltd. In February 2011 the Garfield Foundation donated £15,000 to support the campaign to the Drinking Fountain Association which acquired the domain name and intellectual property rights to Find-a- Fountain. (www.drinkingfountains.org)
The maps on the website also include data provided by tapwater.org, a not-for-profit organisation that shows the location of indoor taps where you can refill your water bottle for free. This currently includes over 1000 restaurants, pubs, cafes and shops across the UK.
For more details about the fountain treasure hunt go to www.findafountain.org.
Source: Aquatina & Find A Fountain
