Charging for water in restaurants: yes or no?

"Still or sparkling?" At plenty of tables it's the first question, asked before anyone has opened the menu. And there's often a guest who wanted neither: just a glass of tap water. Some ask for it and get it with a smile. Some ask and get a look. Some don't ask at all, because the question was built so that tap water wasn't one of the options, and they end up paying for a bottle they never really chose.

So, should a restaurant charge for water? Our answer, in one line: tap water should be free on request; what you can charge for is the extra service — filtered, chilled, sparkling or bottled water — and only if it's written on the menu with its price. Below are the reasons (partly law, partly opinion, and we'll say which is which), what the rules say in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and how to write it and say it without awkwardness.

Our position, and why it's an opinion

This section is our view, not a legal requirement.

• Drinking water is a common good. The water in your tap reaches you through a network built to serve everyone. Yes, you pay for your supply, the glass-washing and the staff time. You also pay for the lights and the toilets, and nobody itemises those on the bill. A glass of tap water belongs in the same category: part of being a place that welcomes people.
• Trust is decided in the first minute. "Still or sparkling?" is a closed question. Guests who notice that tap water was left out feel steered, and they read the rest of the menu looking for the next trick. A jug of tap water offered first costs you little and tells the table you're not out to catch them.
• Bottles have costs that don't show on the bill. Every bottle, plastic or glass, has to be bought, stored, chilled and carted away afterwards. Tap water in a jug skips all of that. We'd rather see restaurants sell less bottled water, not more.

None of this means water has to be a loss. It means the charge should be for something you genuinely add, and the guest should see it before ordering.

What the law says (checked on 24 September 2026)

This is a summary to help you ask the right questions, not legal advice. Licensing conditions depend on your premises and your licence: for your own case, ask your licensing authority or a licensing solicitor.

The European Union. The Drinking Water Directive, Directive (EU) 2020/2184, asks member states to promote tap water. Article 16 lists measures they may take, including "encouraging the provision of such water, for free or for a low service fee, for customers in restaurants, canteens and catering services". Two things follow: the directive doesn't itself oblige restaurants to do anything, and even what it encourages allows a low service fee. Whether there's an obligation depends on national law.

England and Wales. Premises licensed to sell alcohol for drinking on the premises are bound by the mandatory licensing conditions (the Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010, whose schedule was replaced in 2014). One of them reads: "The responsible person must ensure that free potable water is provided on request to customers where it is reasonably available." Free, on request, where reasonably available. The condition doesn't apply to licences for off-sales only, and it comes with the alcohol licence: if you don't serve alcohol, ask your adviser what applies to you.

Scotland. For premises licensed to sell alcohol for consumption on the premises, the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 says that "tap water fit for drinking must be provided free of charge on request", and that other non-alcoholic drinks must be available at a reasonable price (Schedule 3, paragraph 9; the same wording covers occasional licences). Note the word tap: in Scotland, the free water is the tap water itself.

Northern Ireland has its own licensing law, which we haven't covered here: check locally.

Ireland. The European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations 2023 (S.I. No. 99 of 2023), which transpose the directive, repeat its wording in regulation 21: water suppliers, local authorities and public bodies may encourage free or low-fee water in restaurants. We found nothing in them that obliges a restaurant to serve free tap water. An absence is hard to prove, so check with your adviser before relying on it.

For comparison. Some EU countries have gone further. In Spain, the 2022 waste law (Law 7/2022, article 18.3) says hospitality and restaurant businesses must always offer customers the option of non-bottled water free of charge, alongside what they sell. In France, article L541-15-10 of the Environment Code requires restaurants and bars to show, on the menu or on a display, that customers can ask for free drinking water, and to serve it cool or at room temperature.

The pattern: where the law speaks, it speaks about plain drinking water on request, not about bottled, filtered or sparkling water. That's the line our position draws too.

Where the line is: free and paid

• Tap water, in a glass or a jug: free. Refilled when the jug is empty, and brought as promptly as any paid drink.
• Bottled water: a product like any other drink. Priced on the menu, with the size.
• Filtered, chilled or sparkling water made in house: a service. You paid for the system, the filters, the CO₂, the maintenance, the reusable bottles and the washing-up. Charging for it is fair, as long as it's on the menu with a price and tap water stays available for free.

One rule holds the rest together: when a guest asks for tap water, bring tap water. Swapping in the filtered one and adding it to the bill is exactly the kind of move that ends up in a review.

How to write it on the menu

Put water at the top of the drinks, not at the bottom of the soft drinks. An example (the prices are placeholders: put your own):

• Tap water — free, just ask
• House filtered water, still or sparkling, chilled, 75 cl reusable bottle — €2.50
• Mineral water (name the brand), still or sparkling, 75 cl bottle — €4.00

Three things make it work:

1. The word "free" on the tap-water line, so nobody has to wonder whether they're allowed to ask.
2. The type and the size on every paid line, so the guest knows what the price buys. "Water — €3" answers none of the questions a guest has.
3. The same wording in every language the menu is read in. A visitor used to paying for every bottle, or to getting a free carafe without asking, shouldn't have to guess which rule applies at your place.

More on wording in the guide to writing menu descriptions, and on how prices read on the page in the psychology of menu prices.

How to say it at the table

The awkwardness is almost always in the question, not in the water. A few phrasings your team can use (examples, adapt them to your voice):

• When the guests sit down: "Can I bring you a jug of tap water while you look at the menu?" Then, separately: "And to drink?"
• If you sell filtered water: "Tap water's free. We also have our own filtered water, still or sparkling, if you'd prefer. It's on the menu."
• If a guest asks for tap water after ordering a bottle: bring it, without comment.

What to avoid: "Still or sparkling?" as the only question; the look when someone says "tap"; the jug nobody refills; the glass of tap water that arrives ten minutes after the paid drinks. Brief the whole floor, seasonal staff included: the rule only works if everyone applies it the same way.

What wins guests over

• The jug on the table before anyone asks. It sets the tone for the meal: this place isn't counting every penny.
• Paid water as a real choice. Chilled, filtered sparkling water in a 75 cl bottle is something some guests are glad to pay for, when it's offered as an option rather than as the only answer.
• Margin from where it belongs. If water was carrying part of your drinks margin, look for it in what guests choose with pleasure: wine by the glass, a considered list of soft drinks, a coffee worth ordering. The guides to building a wine list and to raising the average spend go into the how.

And if many of your guests come from abroad, say it in their language: the menu translation guide explains what to translate and what to describe.

Where Menudetto fits

Menudetto won't pour the water. It does the menu part. You add or change a line by writing or speaking to the assistant ("add house sparkling water, 75 cl, at 2.50"), and the menu behind the QR code follows. Every entry in Menudetto has a price, so the free tap water is best written in the description of your water lines ("Tap water is free: just ask") rather than as a line at zero. Descriptions are translated along with the dish names, so a guest reading in their own language sees the same sentence: six languages on the free plan, 33 on Pro. One honest limit for readers in the UK: prices on the public menu are shown in euros. If that works for you, try Menudetto free.

In short

Tap water free on request; filtered, chilled, sparkling or bottled water on the menu with type, size and price; the same rule for everyone on the floor. In England, Wales and Scotland, premises licensed to serve alcohol on site already have to give free drinking water on request. In Ireland we found no such obligation, and the EU directive only encourages. Either way, it's the version guests trust. This article is a practical guide, not legal advice.