US Restaurant Patrons Pay $1 for Normally-Free Tap Water

UNICEF project aims to bring clean water to children worldwide

March 22, 2011

Thousands of restaurants across the US are participating in the UNICEF Tap Project during World Water Week 2011 (March 20-26).

Most restaurants in the United States offer their customers a glass of tap water at no charge with their meal, but this week many restaurants are asking diners to pay a dollar, or more , for a glass of water. Placards on their tables explain that this small amount helps bring clean water to children around the world. It’s called the UNICEF Tap Project.

The Tap Project has a simple goal.

"UNICEF’s Tap Project is really all about bringing attention to the fact that over 900 million people around the globe do not have access to good, clean, healthy drinking water," says Caryl Stern, who heads the US Fund for UNICEF. She adds that water-borne illness is the second-highest cause of preventable childhood death in the world.

"Each and every day approximately 4,100 children die just because they don’t have that access - 4,100 every single day."

The public service campaign encourages people to help change that statistic with a simple, affordable action: paying a dollar to get a glass of tap water at a restaurant.

"One dollar buys enough good, clean water for a child for 40 days," Stern says.

The tap project has expanded since it began five years ago with 300 restaurants in New York City. This year, Stern says, about 3,000 restaurants across the country are participating in the campaign.