“The Q Water system was designed for the restaurant and foodservice industry to reduce its carbon footprint,” said Paula Tekela, founder of Q Water, who has been in water filtration selling against bottled water for 17 years. She started her own company, Drink To Your Health, three and half years ago, and launched Q Water in March 2009. “Really, what it’s doing is going back to the basics, which is drinking tap water, but with a twist.”

According to Toronto marketing research firm NPD, bottled water has declined by more than 15 million servings at restaurants compared to 2008, although it has rebounded in the past year and now accounts for nearly 280 million servings annually.

Tekela breaks down the potential cost savings for restaurants making the shift from bottled to water filtration.  The key is that restaurants are able to charge patrons a fee for the water: If a restaurant is going through five cases of water a week or more then they will benefit financially with the Q water system. For example, 10 cases a week at $1 per bottle means an operator is spending $480 a month. To rent Q it’s $199 month, and factoring in an average of two filter changes per year, the costs are $270 a month. Plus restaurateurs don’t have concerns that their staff is guzzling bottled water on their dime. She said patrons in Oliver & Bonacini restaurants, for example, are charged $2.50 a head for unlimited Q Water; Chef’s House, $3, Wildfire, $5 a head; Rouge Restaurant – on the Top 100 list of best restaurants in the world – charges $6 a litre.

"The response has been absolutely phenomenal, both with restaurant owners and the guests. The restaurants absolutely love it. It’s a very, very easy process,” she said. “And the patrons are loving it.”

Donna Dooher, executive chef/proprietor of Mildred's Temple Kitchen in Toronto, tapped into Vivreau to install a filtration system in her restaurant. She says their water system dispenses chilled, sparkling and still water, and they also make their tea and coffee with this water. In addition, they soften the water used for dishwashing to minimize the use of dishwashing chemicals.

“As we and our guests become more acutely aware of our carbon footprint, bottled water seemed like a good place to start changing. We were a bit uncertain as to how the public would respond as we were pioneers in establishing this process in Toronto,” Dooher said, adding that two or three restaurateurs call her each week to ask about their experience. “But our guests were very receptive to this initiative.”

She said a sketch on the Comedy Network got her thinking about why Canadians need to bottle water in a country that has some of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world, as well as the most sophisticated and heavily monitored municipal water purification systems.

Dooher said doing away with bottled water has had an interesting effect on their bottom line.

“The revenues that are generated from bottled water sales have to be replaced. We struggled with this for a long time in the early stages of the restaurant,” she said. “We charge $2/per guest for unlimited consumption of the water. It’s a much better value proposition for our guests and, at the same time, we are still able to generate revenue lost from selling bottled water.”

She said her staff has been trained to understand the reason behind the decision to move away from bottled water.

“We actually have a written water ‘manifest-eau’ which is printed on our coasters and our menu. The staff appreciates the effort the restaurant is making so explaining it to the guests is easy. It was one of the best things we did when we built the new restaurant.”

As this trend translates into the mainstream, Dooher has begun to take on a role to play her own part in this environmental fight, having spoken to a couple of restaurateurs about setting up a water bottle fill-up station across the city that pedestrians, cyclists, and runners etc. could participate in, as a replacement for the disappearing water fountain.

Carlo Catallo, general manager at Splendido in Toronto, said the impetus for him to call Q Water was to reduce their carbon footprint. 

“It didn’t make sense to us, even in a luxury environment, to import water from Europe,” said Catallo, adding Splendido was one of the first fine-dining restaurants to be on board. “It has too much of an environmental cost. And besides, we have one of the largest fresh water supplies in the whole world just a couple of miles away. Toronto’s municipal water is also some of the cleanest water in the world.”

He said it is made clear to patrons that the restaurant offers “filtered” versus “unfiltered” water, and they had let their guests know in advance via pamphlets and their website of the intention to change water sources. He said adopting the system has been a positive experience and has meant a decrease in overall costs for the restaurant, generating less in dollar sales but an increase in profit margin. Further benefits include a sound business ethic and a drier storage area.

“This is a win-win scenario where all parties involved benefit,” he said, adding 40 per cent of Splendido’s diners consume tap water. “We have reduced an environmental impact. We have reduced the cost for the guest to drink quality water (bottled water is $7-$8 per bottle, Q-Water is $3 per person for all you wish to drink). We have reduced our cost and have opened up space in our fridges for premium item storage like white wine.”

Catallo said staff and client response has been positive and the efforts have been “absolutely worth it.”

“People like to hear that we are doing something to help the environment. There is a bigger picture and greater future to be considered. We believe that by acting in a social and environmentally responsible way, we will increase our business.”

“Good karma,” Catallo adds.

Bohmer restaurant, which opened in Toronto in March 2010, had a water filtration system by Vivreau installed on day one. She said the Vivreau system is far less expensive than buying bottled water.

“We try to be as environmentally friendly as we possibly can … (and) we thought it would make sense to do away with plastic water bottles,” said Milana Lise, executive assistant at Bohmer. “It’s better for the planet – and besides, who wants to drink water that’s been sitting in plastic?”