PORTLAND, Ore. – Thirsty people in Portland now have 52 new places to fill up their water bottles from a tap.

The Portland Water Bureau is now working with New York-based TapIt to bring bottle-filling stations to sites from the Almost Normal Cafe to Wired on Burnside. The city is billing this as "a new and inventive way of refilling reusable water bottles with tap water, while on the go."

Users simply stop into a TapIt location with a refillable water bottle and fill up at the self-serve station or by asking at the counter. Partners are identified by a TapIt sticker in business windows, and can be found through TapIt's Web site or a free GPS-enabled iPhone app.

"Portland is known for having some of the best quality water in the country and a commitment to sustainable practices," said TapIt founder Kylie Harper in a prepared statement Monday. "This is a perfect match for what we are trying achieve."

Water Bureau Administrator David Shaff is calling this "a unique way to track down a source of our pristine Bull Run water while interacting in our community." The bureau had already pioneered its own street-side filling station for special events, where water is piped in from nearby water hydrants. (See photo to the lower right.)

In the past year, TapIt has partnered with nearly 500 businesses in 10 states to provide clean and sustainable water to the public. It has already worked in conjunction with city agencies in New York, San Francisco and Des Moines, Iowa, to bring tap water to water bottles on the go.

"Using technology and the help of the community," 

Harper said, "we aim to make it easy for people refill their reusable water bottles anywhere in the city."

Article at Katu.com