Wessex Water and Bath & North East Somerset Council have joined together to support a community campaign to install ten iconic drinking fountains across Bath.
Love Tap Water, a community led campaign to encourage Bath to drink tap water on-the-go and rid the city of plastic bottles, will kick off in April 2012 with the installation of a prototype fountain in St James’s Rampire, the public space opposite City of Bath College. The project, conceived by three local women, has the support of Wessex Water and Bath & North East Somerset Council. Sir James Dyson will also design a bespoke stainless steel drinking bottle for LTW.
The campaign will eventually see ten modern, iconic water dispensers providing the streets of Bath and its open spaces with free, fresh drinking water, promoting wellbeing and re-establishing its status as the ‘city of water’. The first prototype will, subject to planning consent, be followed by a further four installations during the Summer 2012. These will be known as the ‘Bath Water Holes’ and will be a permanent legacy of the city.
All ten water dispensers will be funded by Alternative Source, a charity set up to raise funds for overseas clean water projects. In return, all of the profits from the sale of LTW stainless steel bottles will be donated to Alternative Source and other water based charities. The infrastructure and pipework will be installed by Wessex Water and water will be sourced from the chalk and limestone hills of Dorset and Wiltshire. A thorough care regime will ensure a consistent high quality supply at all times.
The water dispensers have been designed by Pearson Lloyd, the award-winning design studio which has developed a new range of furniture, bus shelter and way-finding products for Bath & North East Somerset Council as part of its programme to enhance public spaces, public life and movement in Bath city centre. The dispensers are bespoke in design with non-return shielded outlets that direct users to refill conveniently sized stainless steel bottles, rather than drinking mouth to spout.
The three women; Ruth Poole, a primary school teacher, Shelley Doyle, a graphic designer, and Jo Eke, a marketing manager, are passionate about the message the campaign embodies; the detrimental effect of plastic bottles on the environment, and the lack of accessible, hygienic drinking water in the city for themselves and their children.
Conscious that the message needed a brand to hit home, the women founded Love Tap Water in order to spread the message and encourage fellow residents to join in with the campaign to reduce the amount of plastic bottles used in the city Ruth Poole, from Love Tap Water, commented: “Love Tap Water wants Bath to be a beacon for change throughout the country. We want residents and visitors to be able to drink the same good tap water they drink at home ‘on the go’. Using our stainless steel bottles completes the health and sustainability package.“
Colin Skellett, chairman of Wessex Water, said: “As the regional water provider we know how important good, hygienic water is to people. Bottled water costs on average 141 times more than tap water so providing the Water Holes where people can fill up makes complete sense.
Cherry Beath, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, Bath and North East Somerset Council said: “The Water Holes would support our programme to enhance streets, spaces and public life in Bath city centre and help the environment by reducing plastic bottle waste. I hope Love Tap Water’s campaign is successful and that this innovative project is realised.”
The campaign will benefit Bath and the environment for decades to come. The ‘Water Holes’ will set Bath apart from other UK cities and Ruth hopes that the simple idea will become a national habit. She continued: “As residents, we are immensely proud of our city and all it has to offer; from shopping, to architecture, history, and the Roman Baths. We think that free, fresh water will make people want to stay a little longer. People can stop and refresh or simply fill up and carry on. Visitors to the city take home not only an environmentally positive habit but also a sense of Bath as a city with all aspects of wellbeing at its heart.”
Love Tap Water is presently encouraging businesses to support the campaign by converting their business and staff to ‘tap water only’ and by buying and using the Dyson bottles which help support the project.
Love Tap Water is looking for key sponsors for the campaign and events. If you are interesting in supporting this project then please go to www.lovetapwater.co.uk.
