Bottled water expense 'justified'

Panorama issued a Freedom of Information request to councils

A council in Hampshire says it is justified in spending more than £141,000 a year on bottled water.

Hampshire County Council is top of a list of bottled water expenditure by local authorities in England and Wales, conducted for the BBC's Panorama.

Council leader Ken Thornber said the authority had cut its bottled water usage but staff were entitled to it.

The programme, Bottled Water - Who Needs It? found councils had a bill totalling more than £5m.

Minister compares tap and bottled water

Bottled water is unnecessary, expensive and damaging to the environment

Sustain
Environment watchdog

It investigates the monetary and environmental costs of bottled water consumption in the UK.

Panorama made a Freedom of Information request to many of the councils in England and Wales to find out how much they had spent on bottled water in the past financial year.

The survey showed Hampshire had spent £141,215 on bottled water between November 2006 and October 2007.

Southampton City Council was 10th on the list, spending £91,491, in contrast to the Isle of Wight Council, which allocated £40,000, and East Hampshire District Council, which came 376th.

A East Hampshire spokesman said the authority did not have any bottled water machines on site at its main offices.

'Damaging environment'

Mr Thornber said: "Hampshire County Council is the third largest shire authority in the country, serving over 1.2 million people, with a budget of £640m - excluding schools - and around 39,000 staff.

"We would expect to be spending more on bottled water than other authorities that are not comparable in size.

"However, we accept that we need to reduce our use of bottled water to save money and be more sustainable.

"Our staff are entitled to reasonable access to fresh drinking water but not all have access to kitchen facilities."

A spokesman from food and farming watchdog Sustain said: "Bottled water is unnecessary, expensive and damaging to the environment."

UK Environment Minister Phil Woolas has described the amount the country spends on bottled water as "morally unacceptable" and is urging people to use tap water instead.

Panorama: Bottled Water - Who Needs It? will be shown on BBC One at 2030 GMT on Monday.