SIR TAPTAP FREE

'Strada is pleased to provide tap water free of charge throughout its restaurants as part of standard service,' a spokeswoman says. Strada, a pizza chain, already serves customers free chilled tap water in a designer bottle. Pizza Hut has said it will always give customers free tap water. In the absence of legal compulsion, Buckland is encouraging good practice among restaurant chains. 'If a restaurant is on the public mains supply, the water is potable and there is no reason for it not to be supplied on health and safety grounds.' 'But apart from that restriction, restaurants do not have to give you water and do not have to supply it for free.' She adds that it's nonsense for establishments to refuse tap water on health and safety grounds. In the wake of her death, a lot of large premises had clauses put into their licensing agreements which obliged them to offer tap water free of charge. Sue Penniston, spokeswoman for the Drinking Water Inspectorate, part of Defra, says: 'There are a lot of misconceptions, some of which arose out of the Leah Betts case. Some pubs and other premises permitted to sell alcohol may have a clause in their licence that does require them to offer free tap water, but it's on a localised basis only. The truth is that in Britain there is no legal requirement on restaurants to provide free tap water to customers.

'As a retired hotelier and restaurateur, I was always led to believe that, by law, an innkeeper cannot refuse a traveller free water even if they do not spend any money at the establishment,' says one poster on .īut these assertions are pure hokum. Some in the trade believe that they are required to serve free water. One says that under a law passed in Gladstone's time to promote temperance, restaurants are obliged to provide free tap water. Some tell of heated arguments in restaurants where diners insist that restaurants are required by law to provide free tap water. You shouldn't have to feel like a cheapskate because you ask for tap water.'īut can you force a restaurant to give you free tap water? The tales on CCW's website ( ) reveal widespread confusion over consumer law. Tap water in Britain is now of the very highest quality and we urge restaurants to offer tap water to customers for free. Some restaurants even tell customers that water can't be provided for 'health and safety' reasons.ĭame Yve Buckland, chair of the Consumer Council for Water, says: 'As a country we have put £70bn into the water industry. Airports and railway stations are regularly cited as money-grabbers, removing free water fountains and effectively forcing travellers to buy bottled water at food outlets. Pubs are named and shamed for charging as much as £1 for a glass of tap water. It is company policy to provide customers with tap water on request.Īt a wedding in Birmingham, the hotel demanded £5 per bottle of water placed on tables, and resisted fiercely when the couple asked for jugs of tap water instead. Apparently, they don't 'do' tap water!' Burger King told Guardian Money that the restaurant was wrong. They did offer to sell me a bottle of water however, I decided to buy a coke instead as that was cheaper. They refused even though I had tears running down my cheeks, as I struggled to stop coughing. One poster, 'Sharon', says: 'When I was in Burger King recently, I started coughing and asked for some tap water. Its research found that nine out of 10 restaurants fail to offer free tap water.Ī look at the Consumer Council for Water's website, where restaurant-goers can post reports of restaurant behaviour, reveals widespread anger and indignation about charging for tap water. I have to charge.'Īccording to the National Consumer Council, Guilding's experience is depressingly common in Britain.

The restaurant's owner, Jesus Decelas, says: 'Water costs us, the ice costs us, the lemon costs us. But ultimately the restaurant was the loser - the group decided not to leave a tip. Guilding left the restaurant angry, embarrassed and humiliated.

He flatly refused to let us have any, reiterating that it was not the restaurant's policy.' One member of the party needed to take medication and we did not consider asking for a jug of water unreasonable. 'I asked to speak to the manager, and explained that we had bought plenty of drinks and wanted some normal water.

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