Free tap water with Refill London

I fully support this initiative. Not only is it great marketing for the participants - who will gain a benefit and increased footfall, but if we aren't able to return to the days of general municipal provision of things like public toilets and drinking fountains, then this is a modern, interactive way to serve the public good.

The campaign is a good idea but some people may feel obliged to make a purchase in local cafes or bars if they go in to refill their bottle. We used to have many public drinking fountains on our streets and in parks but a number were lost at the same time as cattle and horse troughs were removed. The Mayor should consider working with the Drinking Fountain Association to reinstate London's fountains. There is an app available at findafountain.org to help people find their nearest facility.

Oh come on! Am I the only person to remember that what goes in will have to come out and we have all seen public conveniences shut around the city. That they had all become neglected, tired and smelly refuges for the perverted made the decision to shut them relatively non-contentious. A health-revival needs to be accompanied by a rethink of how we provide public lavatories. In the mean time I will stick to walking around London in a semi-dehydrated state.

That is a great idea. I would also like to point out that there is an issue in London with lead communication water pipes. They are still installed in most of the victorian houses, in most houses in London really, and they do leach lead more or less but they do. You can check Thames Water quality reports and you will see that lead levels in samples between properties do vary a lot from almost 0 to as much as 8 ug/L (the norm is 10 ug/L)

As it is now known there is no safe level of lead in the drinking water if we speak about children. We should start replacing all these pipes and it should be London-wide action. Thames Water will tell you that all is fine because lead levels are below the 10 ug/L, but just look at this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8259639.stm It is exactly the same thing as with air pollution - there is no safe level of it when we talk about children. Even Thames Water themselves recommend limiting exposure when you are pregnant or have young children, so they admit it is not safe in these cases. The truth is that it affects brain development and as a result affects IQ.

Government or London Boroughs should force water supply companies to start replacing these pipes and covering most of the cost. It is a substantial cost, I got a quote from Thames Water for 5000 pounds.

It is currently an elephant in the room, everyone knows we still have lead water pipes all over UK that harm children and we do absolutely nothing about it.

Nigel. When I was young therer were many drinking fountains available in public places. They were removed due the idea that frequent drinking from the same cup would be harmful to health. I know of nobody who suffered as a result. They were removed about fifty years ago and never replaced, I suspect by do gooders who clearly should not have any say in such matters. Their replacement, along with public conveniences is very overdue. With the huge increase in population the whole thing only takes on a more important role. I hope I see it during my lifetime.

Marvellous - please extend as soon as you can. Next step is to rid our city of the millions of those appalling throwaway coffee cups you see folks wandering around with! Do they not know that coffee tastes better out of a cup like wine tastes better out of a glass!

Good idea! As well as shops and businesses, we should be thinking about institutions. The Royal Parks, for instance. Over the last few years, Richmond Park has relocated its water fountains into toilets which are often locked. Water fountains should be freely available. The toilets often won't open - because the 20p needed to unlock them has jammed the lock! Similarly, the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew. They turn off the water over winter (due to frost) but fail to switch them on at busy weekends. In Mid March, nice sunny weekend, lots of visitors and all the water fountains are still switched off, leaving massive queues at every cafe. How many people bought single use water bottles when they could have used a fountain?

I strongly support this idea, and any linked means of reducing plastic containers.
These refill points should be as easily accessible as possible, and refill stickers should be shown with pride!
Dr John Snow (of the Broad Steer Pump) would surely be delighted at this renewal of his concept, even if the rationale is different!