New Scottish Water Top Up Tap Makes Splash In Stonehaven

Stonehaven residents and visitors who have been working up a sweat at the town’s Open Air Pool, leisure centre or playpark will now easily be able to quench their thirst thanks to a new Top Up Tap from Scottish Water.

Leisure centre staff and Stonehaven councillor Wendy Agnew joined members of Scottish Water’s local team to launch the new facility which is situated in Queen Elizabeth Park.

The state-of-the-art Top up Tap, which is the 19th to be installed across Scotland so far, will allow people to top up their water bottles with free, great-tasting water, with the total expected to rise to 70 over the next 18 months.

It is part of Scottish Water’s Your Water Your Life campaign which encourages more people to carry a refillable bottle with them and drink tap water on the go to stay hydrated, save money and help protect the local environment by reducing the amount of waste.

Duty Officer at Stonehaven Leisure Centre, Kelsea Murray, said: “It’s so important for people to stay hydrated when they are exercising, whether that is taking a dip in either of the great pools we have here in Stonehaven, working out in the gym, running around the playground or going for a stroll along the shore.

Anything that helps make it easier for people to drink more water is to be welcomed so I’m delighted to see this new addition to the Queen Elizabeth Park and hopefully it will be well used by everyone in the town.

Councillor Agnew said: “I am pleased to support Scottish Water’s initiative to install a Top Up Tap at Queen Elizabeth Park in Stonehaven. I hope it will encourage use of refillable ‘top-up’ water bottles rather than the plastic ‘use-and-discard’ type of bottle.”

Clive Duncan, of Scottish Water, said: “We’re delighted to launch our first Top Up Tap of 2020 in this great location in Stonehaven which will make it easier for everyone enjoying all of the wonderful facilities in the area to stay hydrated on the go.

As part of our Your Water, Your Life campaign, we’re encouraging everybody to top up from the tap as much as possible and to remember to take a refillable bottle with them when they leave the house. As well as the health benefits of drinking more water, it also saves money and helps reduce waste.

Since the first tap was launched in Edinburgh in October 2018, more than 55,000 litres of water has been drunk from Scottish Water’s expanding collection of Top Up Taps – the equivalent of more than 167,000 standard 330ml single-use plastic bottles.