There are fewer publicly available water fountains in London than there were in Ancient Rome.

Following the recent local elections, constituents want to see environmental promises delivered. Councils should start by responding to Ocean Bottle’s campaign for more water bottle refill stations.

Research published this year found there are less than 500 local authority operated refill stations in London. That’s approximately 19,000 Londoners to each water fountain, and it’s worse across the rest of the UKI. [1]

Today, three quarters of Britons can go a full day without seeing a water fountain in their area.

As the country faces both a climate and cost-of-living crisis Britons should not be forced to spend money on pre-packaged plastic bottles to stay hydrated.

Britons spend approximately 1.6 billion British pounds per year on bottled water, much of which is imported from overseas. As a result, some 5.5 billion plastic bottles are littered, landfilled or incinerated each year, contributing 233,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

This happens despite a recent Ocean Bottle survey finding 78 percent of people in the UK own a reusable water bottle, with 58 percent finding themselves frustrated due to the lack of places to refill them.

The UK needs a network of free water refill points in public spaces for citizens to have easy access to refill on-the-go, and stem unnecessary plastic purchases. Amid a cost of living crisis and as the impacts of climate change continue to be felt, with temperatures this summer set to soar to record highs, the time to act is now.

With the help of central government funding, local councils must install a comprehensive network of refill spots across the UK.

[1] This is according to FOI requests sent to all London councils in January 2023. Data excludes Haringey Council, which failed to respond to the FOI.