Would You Like Any Water With Your Meal?

California is currently experiencing a severe drought, and some things people take for granted, like free tap water in restaurants, are now being rationed:

Across the state, towns and cities are looking for ways to prod businesses and consumers to cut back on water use. Some cities’ water-rationing plans are even aiming at restaurants, many of which routinely waste a lot of water every day when they dump out the glasses customers leave on the table.

“The water left on the table seems like such a small thing, but it’s something that adds up over time, especially if the restaurant has busers refilling glasses,” says Angelica Pappas of the California Restaurant Association.

Santa Cruz is one of the first cities to bar restaurants from serving drinking water unless diners request it. The restaurant chain F. McLintocks in San Luis Obispo is voluntarily doing it, too, KSBY News reports.

Though, as The Salt points out, most of the water used in dining establishments are used in the kitchen and bathrooms, but when you’re having a water crisis, you’ll save whatever you can.

Photo: Sang Valte

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