As the Blue Community / Blue City Berlin reports, the number of public drinking water dispensers in Berlin has risen sharply in recent years. There are now 224 drinking fountains in the city, according to the city’s water company. The state of Berlin has been funding the installation and maintenance of drinking fountains since 2018, when there were only 45 drinking fountains in the entire city.
The first fountains were installed in the 1980s and were originally designed to flush the mains. The fountains run continuously. According to the water companies, the flow rate has already been reduced: “Only 0.02 per cent of Berlin’s annual drinking water consumption flows through all drinking fountains,” the water companies say.
According to the public water company, the constant flow is intended to prevent the water from staying in the pipes for too long, heating up and becoming contaminated. The wells are cleaned every two weeks, or weekly if necessary, and samples are taken every four weeks to ensure water quality.
In addition to public drinking water dispensers, there are initiatives such as Refill: shops with a Refill sticker, including supermarkets, pharmacies and bookshops, will fill bottles with tap water brought from home free of charge.
