Free tap water is coming to more Wrocław tables
Visitors to Wrocław who ask for a glass of water with their meal may soon find the answer is simply: tap water.
MPWiK Wrocław is expanding its long-running #PijKranówkę (#DrinkTapWater) campaign beyond public drinking fountains and water points, bringing restaurants, cafés and hotels into the initiative. Participating businesses can offer guests free Wrocław tap water and use campaign materials to explain where the city's water comes from and how it is monitored.
For residents, it could make refilling a bottle while out in the city easier. For visitors, particularly those staying in hotels or eating out, it offers a simple way to avoid buying bottled water during a day of sightseeing.
The city has been promoting tap water through #PijKranówkę for several years, including at public events and community activities. The latest stage puts local hospitality businesses at the centre of the campaign.
Restaurants and hotels can join #PijKranówkę
The programme is open to restaurants, cafés and hotels across Wrocław. Businesses taking part receive the right to use the #PijKranówkę branding, including stickers identifying venues where customers can ask for free tap water.
MPWiK is also providing information materials for both guests and employees. The aim is not simply to put a carafe of water on the table, but to make it easier for businesses to talk about Wrocław's water and the practical benefits of choosing it over bottled water.
The campaign fits naturally with hospitality, according to Małgorzata Karkocha, head chef at IDA Kuchnia i Wino.
“From the very opening of our restaurant, we have served our guests tap water when they sit down at the table. For us, it is a fundamental part of hospitality, which is the most important factor in running our restaurant.”
That approach also reflects a wider shift in how businesses think about everyday sustainability. Offering tap water requires little effort, while avoiding bottles can reduce packaging, transport and associated logistics.
A useful option for tourists exploring Wrocław
The initiative has particular relevance for a city with a large visitor population.
Someone spending a day walking between the Rynek, Ostrów Tumski and the riverside can now have more opportunities to refill a bottle rather than repeatedly buying bottled water. Hotels participating in the programme can also make tap water available to guests during their stay.
That is already happening at ibis Styles Wrocław. Hotel director Jacek Sikorski says the hotel has been offering tap water through public dispensers for around two years, with guests able to choose chilled or room-temperature sparkling or still water.
“We decided to replace bottled water with tap water because it is a solution that benefits both the environment and the hotel. It allows us to reduce plastic waste, transport and logistics, while also improving the comfort of our guests.”
For international visitors, the campaign also provides a useful signal that drinking tap water in Wrocław is safe and an accepted part of everyday life in the city.
What is in Wrocław's tap water?
According to MPWiK, Wrocław's drinking water comes from the Oława River, which is additionally supplied by water from the Nysa Kłodzka. Before reaching homes and businesses, it passes through several stages of treatment at MPWiK's water production facilities.
The water is monitored throughout the process, from the original intake and treatment stages through to the city's water network.
MPWiK's laboratory and the State Sanitary Inspection are responsible for ongoing checks. Around 100,000 physical, chemical and microbiological analyses are carried out each year, according to the information provided by the city and MPWiK.
That level of monitoring is one of the main points behind the #PijKranówkę message: residents and visitors are not being asked to take the quality of the city's water on trust.
Przemysław Gałecki, vice-president of MPWiK Wrocław, says the growing network of participating businesses also highlights the environmental benefits.
“Every carafe of tap water served to guests means fewer plastic packages, less transport and more responsible use of resources, including water itself.”
Less plastic, less logistics
The environmental argument is straightforward. Bottled water requires bottles, packaging and transportation before it reaches a restaurant, hotel or shop. Tap water arrives through infrastructure that is already part of the city.
There can also be a financial benefit for households that regularly choose tap water instead of buying bottled water, with MPWiK estimating that the difference can amount to many thousands of złotys over the course of a year.
The programme forms part of the wider Wrocław Nie Marnuje (Wrocław Doesn't Waste) initiative, which encourages residents and businesses to reduce waste and develop more sustainable everyday habits.
Look for the #PijKranówkę sticker
Participating venues will be identified with campaign stickers and included on the #PijKranówkę map, making it possible for residents and visitors to find places serving Wrocław tap water.
The initiative is also being promoted through the city's social media channels and the municipal wroclaw.pl portal.
For businesses, joining provides campaign branding and educational materials. For customers, the message is much simpler: if you see the sticker, ask for Wrocław tap water.
Radosław Michalski, director of the City Brand Department at Wrocław City Hall, describes it as a small gesture that can make the city more welcoming.
“Access to free water in restaurants, hotels and cafés fits this way of thinking. It is a small gesture that improves the comfort of residents and tourists, while also strengthening Wrocław's image as a friendly and responsible city.”
A familiar campaign taking a new route
Wrocław already has a visible tap water culture at public events, where MPWiK regularly provides free water stations. The expansion into hospitality takes the idea into places where people naturally spend time, whether they are meeting friends for lunch, taking a coffee break or checking into a hotel.
For a city that presents itself as open and visitor-friendly, that is a practical addition rather than a complicated new service.
And for Wrocław residents, it could make one everyday choice even easier: take a reusable bottle, refill it and keep exploring the city.
See more: Free Family Festival at Hydropolis to Mark the End of Summer in Wrocław
Source: MPWiK
Image credit: Grzegorz Rajter, MPWiK
