Parisians are now able to drink sparkling water from a public fountain. It is hoped that the free fizzy fountain will entice consumers away from bottled water.
Parisians can now get their sparkling water free and in unlimited supply at a new public drinking fountain installed by city authorities. Unveiled on Tuesday, the fountain aims to wean consumers off bottled water and onto tap.
[Anne Le Strat, President of Eau de Paris]:
"The fountain that you see here delivers still water and sparkling water. It's the first time in Paris but also in France. Eau de Paris became a public service offering this new service to Parisians. That's an innovation offered to Parisians who like sparkling water to drink tap water but a fizzy one."
Residents were delighted by the new fountain.
[Martin Shield, Resident]:
"I really like sparkling water. I can find it here. We can use it as we want and if fizzy fountains become the norm, during days of heat wave I think it will be a plus for parks and gardens of Paris."
The fountain injects carbon dioxide into regular tap water to make it bubbly, and chills it before delivering it to consumers.
Separate faucets also provide a still version of the beverage, both refrigerated and un-refrigerated, and again pumped directly from the city's own public water supply.
Half of the city's public water supply comes directly from underground springs. The other half is pumped from the rivers Seine and Marne then filtered, treated and tested to make it 100 percent safe for consumption.
Sources say the French are the world's eighth biggest consumers of bottled water.
