Do You Enjoy Bottled Water in Restaurants?

There are 215,000 full-service restaurants in the United States and another 250,000 fast-food restaurants, according to the 2006 Barnes Report. Keep those numbers in mind when you hear of one or two eateries making brief headlines by stating they will no longer sell bottled water for environmental reasons. Of the very, very few restaurants to drop popular bottled water at the suggestion of the anti-bottled water activists, some establishments were quick to replace it with their own filtered tap water for a $5.00 or $6.00 charge. Smart diners have a right to wonder “If tap water tastes so universally great, why do these few establishments making a point of filtering it?” If you do the math, you’ll see that less than 3/1000 of 1 percent of restaurants heeded the protest against bottled water. (The actual number is 0.000026%) Considering the headlines produced by these actions, you can be forgiven if you consider it merely a publicity stunt.  Restaurants concerns about bottled water are usually focused on imported water, which make up 2.5% of U.S. bottled water sales.  The other imports featured in restaurants include beer, wines, cheeses and cured meats.  Since they are all brought into the country in essentially the same manner, it doesn’t make much sense to single-out one product, especially since bottled water is the healthiest of the lot.

Sure, tap water is often served free in restaurants. Many people enjoy the slightly different flavors offered by both sparkling and still waters from around the state, the country and the world. Every bottle of spring and purified water has its own flavor signature based various factors, including mineral content. Some diners prefer water that is strictly H20 – Chlorine need not apply. Just as people enjoy many different styles and types of beer or wine, it’s not uncommon for fans of water to request their favorite waters when they go out.