Florence drinks from the tap

For years, Italy has been one of the world’s heaviest consumers of bottled water, despite the fact that its tap water is perfectly potable. Recent reports suggest, however, that Italy’s city-dwellers are opting for tap water, reversing the long-term habit. According to data from Nielsen, Italy’s consumption of bottled water was down 4.7 percent in the first eight months of 2010. Officials from the Unicoop Firenze say that Florence is leading the new trend towards tap water, thanks to the public awareness campaign Acqua di casa mia, which encourages locals to purchase home water filters and ‘do it yourself’ test kits to assess water quality.