UK divided on water quality
London has the worst-quality water in the UK, a survey suggests, with just 12% of respondents giving the city a high-quality rating.
Scotland came top of the league with 72% of those polled giving a big thumbs up to their tap water.
The survey comes after the UK’s political Green Party urged people to boycott bottled water in restaurants because of the carbon footprint associated with packaging and transport.
Some bottled waters sold in restaurants come from places as far away as Fiji.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate’s latest research shows that 99.95% of tap water met health standards and that blind taste tests have shown that consumers cannot distinguish chilled tap water from bottled.
The survey, carried out on behalf of SodaStream’s Penguin drinksmaker, found the top five regions believed to have the best quality tap water were:
1. Scotland
2. Wales
3. The North West
4. Yorkshire
5. The South West
The survey, carried out by Shape-the-Future from a representative sample of 1,302 people in the UK, also found that increasing numbers of people are sceptical about bottled water. Nationally, two-thirds of respondents felt that bottled water was just a way of making people spend more money.
Giving a bad rating to tap water certainly doesn’t stop Londoners drinking it. A surprising 82% say they choose tap water at home, reserving bottled water for when they’re on the move. This is because the majority (58%) say that bottled water costs too much, with a quarter expressing increasing concern about the environmental impact of plastic bottles.