New drinking water fountains for Southwark

26 November 2018

The people of Camberwell are being helped to cut down on single-use plastic water bottles, with the addition of a new, free, public drinking water fountain on Camberwell Green.

Cllr Richard Livingstone joined Alice Chamberlain, Project Assistant from the #OneLess campaign, to top up their water bottles and launch the new fountain. 

Cllr Livingstone, Cabinet Member for environment, transport management and air quality, said: “We are excited to launch this, the first of our new drinking water fountains. We hope it will help local people to drink more water and move away from buying single-use plastics.”

This brings Southwark Council’s total number of drinking fountains to 38 and it is working to increase this offer. 

The council is bringing this new drinking fountain to Camberwell, with help from the London Drinking Fountain Fund, which has been established by the Mayor of London and #OneLess, a campaign led by the Zoological Society of London, to reduce single-use plastic water bottles in the capital and tackle ocean plastic pollution.

The scheme will also provide drinking water to Southwark, at Guy’s Hospital.  

Most of the council’s fountains can be found in its parks, leisure centres and libraries. They give people easy access to free water and the ability to refill water bottles on the go, thus reducing the use of single-use plastics.

Dr Heather Koldewey, co-Director of the #OneLess campaign and Head of Marine and Freshwater at Zoological Society of London, said: “This new public fountain will make it easier for Londoners to keep hydrated on the go without using single-use plastic water bottles, which could end up in the River Thames or our ocean.”

“We are delighted to be working with Southwark Council on this exciting initiative to reduce the plastic blight on the ocean and firmly establish London as a city that no longer uses plastic bottled water.” 

Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues said: “Water fountains are a simple but effective way to encourage Londoners and visitors to switch from plastic bottles to reusable ones. With the hot weather we’ve seen this summer, the demand is greater than ever for quick and easy ways of accessing free drinking water and I’m pleased to see these fountains now appearing in public spaces across London. They’re already proving popular and City Hall is working on plans to install many more to benefit both thirsty Londoners and the environment.” 

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