Guernsey Water has installed a permanent water refill station at the King George the Fifth playing fields in Castel (KGV).
This is the second refill station to be installed in 2021, and part of a planned series around Guernsey. The water supply station is outdoors and will make it easier for visitors to the building, sports teams and spectators to choose the public water supply, refill their drinks bottles and reduce single-use plastic bottle waste.
KGV was chosen for its out-of-town location and high visitor numbers. The first station in St Peter Port at the Liberation Monument has proved popular with town shoppers and Herm ferry users among others.
Steve Langlois, Guernsey Water’s Managing Director said: “Many people including sports players want to drink water to be healthy and they also want to reduce their impact on the environment, so this second permanent refill station helps achieve both. People can fill up their bottle for free and reduce the amount of plastic they use”.
“Every year the world produces around 381 million tonnes in plastic waste, so anything we can do to help reduce this is important.
Other temporary refill stations are installed throughout the year to support some of the outdoor events that happen across the island.
Alex Kosmas, Community Nutritionist at Guernsey’s Health Improvement Commission, commented: “When it comes to making healthy options easy, availability is really important. The water refill station at KGV is located in a really busy area next to the pitches and its design stands out, which will hopefully encourage people to use it to refill their water bottle. We hope that a broad range of people will use the refill station, from people playing sports, parents watching their child at various activities to those attending community events. Such initiatives improve our food and drink environment and we hope will have great benefits for generations to come.”
Steve added: “Our Refill stations provide the same clean water that you get from home and our Water Quality team has a schedule of routine cleaning and testing to ensure the cleanliness of the stations.”
Madeleine Norman from Plastic Free Guernsey added: “We’re proud to be part of this initiative to help reduce the use of single-use plastic bottles on the Island. Every year tons of unnecessary plastic waste is created. Proposals like this will not only help to decrease this, but also allows access to clean safe water for every member of the public at any time of the day.”
Debbie Hunter, General Manager at KGV, said: “KGV is thrilled to have been chosen as the site for the second Guernsey Water refill station. Locating the refill station next to the Lord’s Taverners Pavillion means it is easily accessible for those using the 3G and grass pitches, together with sports spectators and walkers using the nature trail. We are working hard to change the mentality of the users of KGV, encouraging them to bring reusable bottles and cutting down the availability of single use plastic on site.”
Refill Guernsey was launched in 2018 and there are now 107 refill business supporters dotted across the Island. Islanders can pop in and fill up for free. The initiative is managed by volunteers from Plastic Free Guernsey and supported by both Guernsey Water and Guernsey Waste. Businesses are invited to participate and can sign up here.
Click here to download the app and locate your nearest refill point.
