Evian, Vittel and Volvic beware. In an earlier blog I wrote about how Australian town Bundanoon had banned bottled water. Now London town has emerged as the next place that will challenge the dominance of the £1.5bn industry.

Hammersmith, my beloved workplace, and Tower Bridge are, according to yesterday's Observer, going to be the first sites to trial a new breed of water fountains called  ‘hydrachills’.

For a 20p charge which goes to Waste Watch, a charity working to change the way people use natural resources, users will be able to get up to 500ml of water from these fountains. If successful, the scheme will be extended across the capital and the south east. Thames Water is driving the initiative.

The Obs article has a really interesting stat that I’ve never seen before. Apparently when you add up the plastics and fuel for transport needed to get bottled water on shelves it uses more than 2,000 times the amount of energy required for tap.

With figures like these being bandied around and consumer awareness of carbon footprints growing day by day, the bottled water industry is really going to have to make a very good case for its existence.

One has already started although I’m not sure the tone is right. Posh water brand Hildon has run ads claiming that tap water is only good for showering and washing gym kit. It has also tried questioning its safety by highlighting the newspaper headline: ‘Cancer drugs found in tap water’.

The Natural Hydration Council has so far avoided attacks on tap, preferring instead to focus on the benefits of water over soft drinks. But is it now time for the gloves to come off and a lurch to hard-hitting but admittedly eye-catching communication such as Hildon’s?