The Tap Top … a stylish way to serve tap water
The Tap Top … a stylish way to serve tap water
Leave it to Londoners to make the relatively mundane act of drinking tapwater into a stylish, fabulous brand experience.
London Mayor Boris Johnson and local utility Thames Water recently announced the results of a design contest to create the signature serving vessel for London On Tap, an initiative meant to encourage Londoners to choose tap water over bottled.
As David Owens, chief executive of Thames Water, proudly told Interior Design: “Now [Londoners] will be able to identify our tap water with Neil’s stunning design, and drink the best water from the best bottle.”
Contest winner Neil Barron received a prize of £5,000 from Thames Water for his design, called Tap Top.
According to Interior Design, the carafe will be manufactured in England and available for sale to the hospitality industry in spring 2009, with potential plans for selling it to the public under discussion as well.
Though a gimmick for sure, the contest is a smart way to bring high style and sophistication to simple tap water, which is both less expensive and less wasteful than bottled water. And we think it’s only fair: slick branding is, after all, one of the tricks that the bottled water industry has always used to its own advantage.
(My personal favorite detail? The four slender spouts neatly trap ice cubes inside the carafe.)
Serengreenity 
“To Boldly Go Where No Brand Has Gone Before, eh?” Very cool design. I wonder what’s IN the tap water though. I don’t like to be wasteful, but our L.A. water gives me a stomach ache (too much chlorine, I think).
Thanks for your comment RedondoRecycler. As you know water reports are published and available for review from municipalities. Tap water is safe to drink all over the U.S. It is common though for people to feel yucky about drinking tap water, not to mention the (bad) taste. One quick fix, and fairly affordable is to install an under-the-sink filtering device that, yes, even takes out the chlorine taste ( or you could take it a step further and have a reverse osmosis system with yummy-tasting water). The filters need replacing, but some companies make them to be recyclable.