Opinion
Street water Italian style
The water cooler industry definitely benefits from a healthy dose of top Italian design. Now, thirsty members of the public in Italy can top up their water bottles from the new Proacqua City fountain, a collaborative project between manufacturers Proacqua and Blupura.
With over 60 filter fountains now installed across city centres, parks, shopping centres and camp sites, it seems like a popular idea already, and one which would be welcome in other parts of Europe.
With each fountain able to serve around 10,000 inhabitants, these are cost-effective machines and an environmentally friendly alternative to thousands of plastic water bottles going into landfill.
Keeping up with trends in new payment methods and social media, there is a payment system based on magnetic cards which work for all fountains in the network. It’s also available as an application for iPhone and Android phones, to find the closest fountain to the user.
So far, the Proacqua City models have been bought by local councils, water distribution companies and individual stores. But according to the company, private investors are more and more interested in buying fountains, install them themselves to sell the water and make a good margin.
This seems like a popular and cost-effective method for providing water to consumers on-the-go. With similar initiatives being launched in other countries, such as Join the Pipe in the Netherlands, these new-style, municipal fountains are definitely a growing trend in the drinking water supply market. Something to watch in 2012.
About the author
Hannah Oakman is editor of Cooler Innovation
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