Listening Workshop

Listening Workshop

Listening Workshop on Tap Water

The Tap Water Listening Workshop” it has been the discussion forum that has led Murcian citizens and several experts to taste the water and share its benefits and importance to the environment.. 

On the occasion of World Water Day, we wanted to highlight the value of being able to consume quality water 24/7, 365 days a year. With this initiative, Aguas de Murcia aims to drive a change in the mindset of the municipality's inhabitants through more sustainable habits. To do this, seven anonymous people blindly tasted tap and mineral water and shared their impressions, as well as their opinion on taste, quality, sustainability and water sourcing processes. Subsequently, a group of influencers had the same experience. This time, with Faustino Muñoz, a sommelier from the Barcelona School of Hospitality, as guide. Leaving behind any kind of stimulus, belief or prejudice, the participants formed a sincere opinion and learned about the benefits of drinking tap water.

With all this and a second phase of more technical interviews, conclusions such as "tap water is completely safe thanks to its processes and controls", "this water quenches my thirst more" or "I do not notice a difference between the two" were drawn. It's a great opportunity to highlight all types of water and support values that are more in harmony with the environment.

  • A is tap water and B is mineral water. Tap water, A, has a slightly more lime-like taste and B appears to be cleaner. I couldn't tell you why because now both taste the same to me. So, I don't know. Mineral water seems more tasteless, right? I find it more tasteless. And I consider tap water to be more limey. Healthier. A, the tap water, mainly because I understand that being a water that circulates through the city and is intended to be consumed by the entire population, I assume that the control it has will be very thorough and much greater. Healthier? I think B. Because it has its laboratory guarantee due to the analysis that bottled water companies undergo, while A also has the same guarantees, but also contains chlorine. And chlorine is anything but healthy. Sometimes tap water can taste a bit more like chlorine, especially in summer, but... I still prefer it. My name is Faustino Muñoz, I am a sommelier. A sommelier must understand wine, cava, foie, caviar, ham, cheese... and also water. When we perceive chlorine in water, it is guaranteeing us that the water has been treated. Waters with very low mineralization quench thirst less than water with a lot of mineralization. I just discovered that I am ignorant about water. I consume a lot of mineralized water at home. I think that's a mistake because they seem very similar to me, except, the difference, yes, in aroma. This one gave me more chlorine cleanliness, disinfection, bleach... and B not so much. There are three families of water: Natural mineral water, prepared drinking water and spring water. The pinnacle of bottled waters is natural mineral water. For infant foods, water with very low mineralization is used. Possibly, this water may provide us with more assurance than that hard water which is iron-rich, calcium-rich, magnesium-rich, and contains lithium, silicon, strontium. I prefer to prepare the baby bottle, perhaps, with this water rather than that water, even though it's part of the family of natural mineral waters. [Music] We are going to use bottled mineral water to pair with food. Hearty meals, waters with high mineralization, very hard waters. Lighter meals, waters with very low mineralization, so, here we are going to go and here it plays an important role. But day to day... tap water. We are one of the European regions most affected by climate change and where we are most obliged to make sustainable use of this resource. As a consumer association, we highly value that you can get tap water in your home, consume it in your home, in a hospital, in a residence and have guarantees about that water. Since the enactment of the Royal Decree, it is not allowed to refuse to serve a glass of tap water. It has never been a problem, but now, legally, it is impossible to refuse to serve a glass of tap water. Human systems, if we want them to be sustainable, have to mimic nature, and we have to move towards circular systems where waste is not seen as such, but is used for new industrial processes, for new uses... Chlorine is a substance that inactivates all microorganisms, bacteria, viruses and protozoa that could have persisted in the water. The chlorine we ingest with tap water reaches the stomach and is inactivated there. The price of water is 0.23 cents per day per person. Logically, this water is for everything. For drinking, for showering, for everything. In the municipality of Murcia, its citizens are very aware of the value of water and this is demonstrated by the allowance per inhabitant per day being 105 liters. This is one of the lowest ratios in all of Spain. ​