Amid a growing movement for sustainable water consumption, Luxembourg's restaurants stand out for their unusual policy of billing customers for tap water, a service often free in other countries.
In many countries, it is not unusual to immediately be served a carafe of tap water when sitting down in a restaurant. In Luxembourg, however, service personnel usually bring bottles of branded water by default. And those come at a certain price: in the capital, one may very well pay up to €5 for half a litre of still water.
Pricing aside, upholding this service also involves a number of logistical processes, such as filling, delivering, collecting, and recycling used bottles. And this is true for both the hospitality sector as much as for private households.
To support a more sustainable handling of the natural resource, the Environment Ministry back in 2021 launched a campaign to advocate the use of tap water, labelling it "100x cheaper than bottled water!" on a promotional flyer. The hospitality federation HORESCA has been supporting the push with a pilot project where businesses received reusable glass bottles to provide their guests with tap water. Initially only featuring about 50 participants, the project grew to now boast more than 240 businesses.
As even tap water counts as a business expense, restaurants and hotels in Luxembourg can still charge their customers for what is elsewhere considered a free service. According to the HORESCA federation, some businesses sell the 750-ml-bottles at €2-€2.99, others offer it for free.
© Horesca
How much would you pay for tap water?
When surveyed, RTL's Instagram followers indicated that 66% drink tap water at home while 31% said they buy bottled water. 2% reported that they do not drink any water at home. The majority of respondents said that they would not be willing to pay for tap water at a restaurant.
How much would you be willing to pay for tap water at a restaurant?
