Should it be mandatory to offer free tap water in bars and restaurants?

A jug of water with ice is usually part of the reception in many bars in the United States and increasingly in more European countries.Tap water and free, more specifically.Something that in Spain remains a rarity, since in the vast majority of bars and restaurants water is bottle and payment, unless otherwise asked, more as a favor in the bar than as part of the usual protocol.

Although in some restaurants it begins to proliferate the filtered water and served in reusable glass bottles - sometimes payment, sometimes free - for now they are an exception.Something that could change in the coming years.And it is that bottled water has a worse image from the point of view of sustainability, and there are already laws that have proposed to enhance the water consumption of the tap in the world of hospitality.

The reality is a project that is on the Andalusia agenda since last October, although in theory it will be this same spring when the law that forces bars and restaurants to offer tap water begins to process.The draft of the “Law for the promotion of a healthy life and a balanced diet” contemplates - among other measures to fight against the increase in obesity - the obligation that bars and restaurants offer free of free fresh water, both to customersLike those who approach the bar to ask for it.

Waiting for the law to enter into force and see its application in the real world, for the moment in Córdoba they have already launched a campaign to promote tap water.Does that mean that Córdoba's premises are obliged to offer free water?Although that is what some media say, in reality the local authorities have nuanced that it is an initiative to enhance the use of tap water, but that does not contemplate any type of obligation.

At the moment, in the city they have already distributed among bars and restaurants more than 1.000 bottles and glass jugs with an expressly created design for this Emacsa campaign - the municipal water company - in favor of the use of free water and tap.

And what do you think from the other side of the bar?That is the big question that remains in the air every time the subject arises and what happens in other countries is set as an example, where to ask for tap water is the most natural.It is one thing to serve a glass of water when someone asks for it and another that a law regulates and becomes mandatory.

"Serving water, even if it is from the tap, implies some costs," respond hoteliers in the region when asked about the application of this future law.The fixed costs of the premises, that of the person who serves it, the supply ...

Although the medium or long -term future seems quite evident and of pure environmental logic (bottled water has or should have the days counted, they say many environmental associations), we are undoubtedly facing a topic that will give much to talk about if it is put into practice.

Thinking well, three years later, the filling oils are still present in many restaurants despite their prohibition, so the tap water and free will surely need a few years to become a reality.

And you, do you think it should be mandatory to offer free tap water?

Tags: Water, Andalusia, Hospitality | Stored in: News, Wines and various drinks