Hanover School pupils call on Prime Minister to declare a ‘tap water only day’

Published: 1st April, 2011
by PETER GRUNER

AN Islington junior school that called for the Prime Minister to declare a “National Tap Water Day” has prompted an immediate response from the bottled water industry.

Teachers at Hanover School at Angel joined a group of children who wrote to David Cameron asking him to help the environment by declaring a day when people use tap water only.  

Residents would be encouraged to use tap water rather than spend money on water in plastic bottles. 

The school had heard how continuing to produce and transport plastic bottles uses up valuable resources and harms the environment. 

Teacher David Rosenberg said environmentalists argue that it is much “healthier and better for the planet” if people use water from their taps, and reuse bottles and containers, rather than buying new ones.

He added: “There is also a view that tap water is cleaner and healthier than bottled water and there are many checks made on tap water to see that it is healthy.”

They sent their letter to Mr Cameron on World Water Day. It read: “We know that water is very healthy for us and that every child in the world has the right to drink clean water…[but] We don’t want water to cost the Earth.”

Jo Jacobius, director of the British Bottled Water Producers Association, based in Highgate, has responded. She said she was delighted to hear that children at an Islington school are giving such careful thought to what they drink and even more pleased that they consider water to be such a key part of their daily intake. 

But she added: “Most people, and especially children, will benefit from drinking more water – of whatever kind. Whether you choose bottled or tap is just a matter of personal choice. It’s a question of whether you like your water naturally clean or chemically cleansed.

“Most bottled water sold in the UK is natural water. That means you can take nothing out and add nothing in that alters the fundamental character of the water. 

“So the water must be drawn from a naturally wholesome source. 

“Tap water is perfectly safe but it contains chlorine and other added chemicals to make it safe that some people want to avoid.”