'Water' time to tap into healthier lifestyle with Scottish Water Top Up Tap in Inverness
INVERNESS has its first tap water refill point from Scottish Water.
The tap in the High Street is part of the company's plans to roll out tap water refill points around Scotland over a two-year period.
It was aiming to have the first 10 Top Up Taps installed by the end of this month.
The move follows last year's launch of the Your Water, Your Life campaign in which the utility giant called for customers to drink tap water at home, at work and on the move as a way of reducing waste, saving themselves money and staying hydrated.
The tap unit is fitted with technology that will enable the company to digitally track water usage at each Top Up point.
The resulting data will be used to calculate cost and plastic savings, along with the volume of water being consumed.
A national drive to encourage people to stay hydrated by drinking water from the tap in refillable bottles was set out in the Scottish Government's Programme for Government 2018-2019.
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.
Customer research by 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 out and about. But less than a third (30 per cent) said they would be happy to go into a café and ask for their bottle to be filled.
On average a litre bottle of water costs about 65p, so topping up daily from the tap, could save £1.30 a day, nearly £500 a year.
The Top Up Taps are made from marine-grade steel and are connected to the mains water supply.
