In an effort to get people to use the (delicious!) Hetch Hetchy tap water and reduce the amount of plastic water bottle waste, the San Francisco Department of the Environment (SFE) and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) announced the city plans to install a bunch of water-bottle refilling stations. (In our day, we called those "faucets.")

In Yerba Buena Gardens yesterday afternoon, reports SFWater.org, SFE Director Jared Blumenfeldshowed off the first pilot water refilling station care of from GlobalTap, "an international provider of new and innovative clean drinking water refilling stations." Following the kickoff spigot installation, "SFPUC and SFE officials hope to install additional stations throughout San Francisco in 2010." These stations will be installed in convenient public locations.

"San Francisco has been a leader in educating people about the negative impacts of bottled water,” said Blumenfeld. "Today we are honored to be the first U.S. city to host a GlobalTap filling station. Now San Franciscans can ‘BYOB’ (‘Bring Your Own Bottle’) every day."

This is in addition to the tap stations already dotted around the city at certain stores, cafes, and restaurants where you can walk in and fill up your water bottle. TapIt, a New York-based organization, already has 80 stations in San Francisco, with a total of over 400 partners in 10 states. You can find the station closest to you via TapIt’s search and mapping features.