Hundreds of free water fountains to be installed in London

The new fountains will be installed from spring 2019 and will be located in shopping centres, museums, business districts, large green spaces, outside busy stations and in other publicly accessible areas with high footfall. They will be in addition to 20 already installed this year.

The fund has been created by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Thames Water, and is open to councils, businesses, venues and outlets that are land owners.

Thames Water will take care of installation, maintenance, cleaning and repairs to ensure the fountains are clean and safe to use.

In the meantime, Tapwater.org lists places, such as shops and businesses, where you can already refill your bottle for free.

For 13 ways to use less plastic AND save cash, see .

'I want Londoners to lead the way on topping up on tap water'

Khan said: "For many years, our public water fountains were discarded and neglected, whilst single-use plastic waste soared. We're determined to reverse that trend and help deliver hundreds more free public fountains in the capital for everyone to enjoy.

"There is a real appetite for refilling and I want Londoners to lead the way in topping up on tap water when we're on the move. This great new fund will significantly boost the number of public fountains in some of the busiest places across London from next spring.

"The fountains we've already delivered this year are attracting thousands of visitors and helping people make small but important changes in reducing plastic consumption."

Thames Water chief executive Steve Robertson said: "Nurturing and protecting the environment is a core mission for Thames Water and we are proud of the high quality of our tap water.

"By making it even more accessible for Londoners on the move, we can together limit the use of millions of single-use plastic bottles which sadly end up in landfill or in our rivers and oceans."