The Great Tap Water Scam (or H2-Oh Dear)

Saturday 15^th October 2011, 8pm, Manchester.

We were hungry and we decided, on a whim as we passed, to eat at a restaurant in the Chinatown area.  I don’t regret the decision – the food was decent and the service from the waiting staff was generally good, although the management were much less polite, as you will see.  All in all, an average experience, although the combination of food and service were probably not quite worth the higher-than-average price I feel we paid.

But I want to draw attention to one specific thing which seems to have been happening at this and other restaurants around the UK, for some time, despite recent changes to legislation.  And this is the main reason I will not return to this restaurant or others like it.

The Great Tap Water Scam
My wife loves to drink water with food.  She often drinks as much as 2 litres in the course of a meal.  That’s a lot of water.

When we sit down in a restaurant, we are often asked immediately if we would like something to drink.  This is good hosting, but very often we’ll be ordering beer or wine with the meal and will simply ask for water while we look at the menu to decide on food and drinks.  Specifically, we always ask for “a jug of tap water” as we know we will drink at least one jug-full.

This is what we did in this restaurant but our waiter explained that “there was a problem with the water filter” which meant that they could not serve tap water.  My wife declined the offer of bottled water and we ordered beer and wine.  However, as we waited for these drinks to arrive, she decided that this was probably just a ruse to get people to buy bottled water and so, when the beer and wine arrived, she asked again for tap water, saying she would take her chances with unfiltered tap water.

This time a manager was brought across and she explained that it wasn’t a problem with the filter, but that the whole water supply was affected and was yellow-brown.  Getting into her stride now, my wife feigned horror and asked loudly whether her food was “being prepared with tainted water!?”  The manager quickly and quietly assured her that the problem only affected the water at the bar and that the kitchen was fine.  So my wife asked for a glass of water from the *kitchen* tap.  Having been backed into a corner, the manager seemed ruffled and, picking up our menus (we hadn’t ordered food yet!), she stomped off.

No water arrived.  Having had our menus snatched away by the manager, we asked a waiter for some more menus and, when we ordered the food, we enquired about the glass of tap water.  The waiter flipped straight onto autopilot and told us – yes, you guessed it – that they couldn’t serve tap water due to a problem with the water.  My wife patiently informed him that she had already spoken with the manager and that a glass of tap water was being brought from the *kitchen* tap.  The waiter scurried off and, a few minutes later, the glass of water finally appeared.

If you recall, my wife drinks a lot of water and so this glass lasted all of 30 seconds.  She asked a passing waitress for another and was told, yet again, that there was a problem with the tap water to which she explained, yet again, that the now-empty glass on the table had previously held tap water from the *kitchen* tap which was, luckily, providing clean water.  The waitress scurried off and, a short time later, another glass of water arrived.  My wife checked whether this had come from the *kitchen* tap and was told that no, this had, in fact, come from the *bar* tap, as the problem had resolved itself and the water was now clean again.

At this point, my wife could contain her sarcasm no longer and squealed “AMAZING!” (cue jazz-hands).  I fought to contain my laughter, not wanting to shower my wife, the waitress and fellow diners with bits of half-chewed crispy shredded duck, cucumber, spring onion, pancake and plum sauce.

With hindsight, I wish I had thought to stand up and announce to the restaurant that the water problem was now fixed and that those who wanted to drink tap water would be able to do so.  If I ever find myself in this situation again, then perhaps I shall.

You will probably know from your own experience that asking for tap water can leave you feeling like something the waiter has scraped off his shoe.  But, just in case this hasn’t happened to you, here are a couple of links to other people’s stories:
Little Yang Sing, Manchester (Good review, but see Mark Hayes comment from June 24th – sound familiar?)

Vermillion Cinnabar, Manchester

Bob Bob Ricard, London

The Law
I’m not a lawyer.  But, from what I can tell, if you are in a venue that does not serve alcohol, then there is no legal requirement for them to serve free tap water, though many will happily do so.  However, if you are in a venue which is licensed to serve alcohol, then they are legally required to provide you with tap water, free of charge, if you ask for it.  Please refer to the following links and politely, but firmly, quote this to anyone who refuses to serve you tap water!

In Scotland, any licensed venue must provide tap water free of charge per the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, Schedule 3, s.9(2).

In Englandand Wales, the Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010 Condition 3 (in force since 6^th April 2010) also requires all licensed venues to provide free tap water. 

 It is interesting to note the following, taken from Condition 3 of the England and Wales document:

Many premises already offer free tap water. This condition means that all premises have to give customers tap water for free if they ask for it. This helps people to space out their drinks and not become intoxicated quickly, which reduces the risk of crime and disorder occurring.

The tap water you provide should be suitable for drinking and must be provided where reasonably available.

What is meant by “reasonably available” is a question of fact; for example, it would not be reasonable to expect free tap water to be available in premises for which the water supply had temporarily been lost because of a broken mains supply.

You can see how, in my recent experience, the restaurant appears to have taken advantage of this semi-loophole whilst conveniently ignoring the fact that tap water suitable for drinking was still “reasonably available” from their kitchen tap.

A Compromise?
There are two sides to every story, so I understand that venues must pay for their water supply and must clean the glasses and jugs used to serve free tap water.  Some venue owners would even point to the additional cost of ice and lemon for the water.

But I contend that tap water is generally cold enough to drink without ice and I actually prefer it without lemon.  I further contend that the miniscule cost of washing one extra glass per person, and maybe a couple of water jugs per dining party (even adding in the cost of some ice and lemon), isn’t really going to destroy their operating margin, based on average spend per table, especially where alcoholic drinks are also being consumed.  However, at £3+ per bottle of mineral water sold, at a probable wholesale price of under 50p, you can see why people are loathe to offer free tap water!

So, being an understanding sort of chap, I’d at least accept a compromise – a nominal charge to each tap-water drinker of no more than 10-20p to cover the cost of providing ice, lemon and clean glassware from which to drink the free tap water which they must offer by law.  This charge would be per person, not per glass of tap water.

Any bar or restaurant operator who thinks it is costing them more than this is clearly out to lunch.

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