Szeged, Budapest among global cities with the most drinking fountains

Water fountains have been through a lot of ups and downs lately. The phenomenon enjoyed a golden age in Victorian times, with fountains offering an alternative to unclean water or uncouth boozing, depending on the fountain’s sponsor. But a century on, fountains went into decline around the world as bottled water was marketed as a more sanitary and more stylish alternative to drinking from the tap.

Then, just when the fountains were enjoying a resurgence in response to the backlash against plastic bottles, COVID-19 hit. Nobody wanted to put their mouth near anything anyone else had touched — nor even to share a tap handle or push button, despite the fact that you’re unlikely to pick up Covid or anything else through sharing a water fountain. With lockdown over and the climate crisis back at the forefront of our minds, fountains are
coming back. So, QS Supplies decided to find out where in the world you’re most likely to find a water drinking fountain nearby.

Key Findings

● Montenegro has 472.4 public water fountains per 100,000 people — the most of any country.
● Zürich in Switzerland has more public water fountains per 100k people than any other city (221.9).
● Bournemouth is the UK city with the most public fountains: 4.36 per 100k people, against a UK average of 2.08.
● Washington D.C. is the U.S. city with the most water fountains: 24.83 per 100k, against a U.S. average of 5.01.

Szeged, Budapest in the world’s top

Single-use plastic bottles are some of the biggest sources of plastic waste. But the good news is that cities can help end the trend of buying water in plastic by ensuring citizens have access to free, drinkable water such as public drinking fountains. The study found that Szeged (Southeast Hungary) has 136.22 public water fountains per 100,000 people. Meanwwhile, Budapest has 74.3. With those results, Szeged has the 4th most drinking fountains in the world, while Budapest is in the 9th place. Both precede, e.g. Rome, Amsterdam, Canberra, Vienna, or Tel-Aviv. Furthermore, Szeged is ahead of even Geneva (Switzerland).

That’s according to QS Supplies, who analyzed more than 276,000 public drinking fountains to find out which countries and cities have the most drinking fountains today. Here are their findings on two charts: