How Schiphol Airport Got 4 Mobile Water Bars for Free Tap Water

Schiphol Airport has used mobile Join the Pipe Water Bars to serve free Dutch tap water to arriving passengers, with carts placed in the baggage hall where travellers can refill their own bottle. In July 2024, four black Water Bars were delivered to HMSHost, the airport's food and beverage operator.

What passengers see in the baggage hall

The photo shows a black cart on wheels with a large water jug mounted on top and a tap in front of it. The signs read "Fresh Dutch tap water" and "Feeling thirsty? Refill your bottle here", with the Schiphol name on the side panel. A traveller is filling a bottle straight from the tap, which is exactly the behaviour the cart is designed to trigger: arrive, see the water point, refill instead of buying a bottle at the terminal.

What was ordered

The July 2024 order for HMSHost covered four Water Bars in black, the gallon-jug version, together with 12 jugs of 18.5 litres, extra lithium batteries for the units and four sets of Schiphol-specific signage. Each Water Bar order also came with a box of 100 black 4-piece Amsterdam bottles. Earlier that year a separate order for Schiphol Commercial added two Indoor Bar Tap base cabinets with a back plate and a 30 litre cooler with CO2 connection, which is a fixed installation rather than a mobile one.

Why airports use mobile water bars

An airport terminal is a hard place to add fixed plumbing, and passenger flows change by hour and by season. A battery-powered Water Bar on a gallon jug can be placed in the baggage hall today and moved tomorrow, and the airport's own signage turns it into part of the terminal. The Schiphol posts also tie into the airport's stated ambition to become the world's most sustainable airport by 2030.

What a comparable buyer should ask

Facilities teams at airports, stations and event venues usually ask three things: where the water comes from, who refills and cleans the jugs, and how the unit is branded. Join the Pipe's mobile units can be rented per event in Europe or bought, in standard matte black or white, with custom signage. The same format works at train stations and corporate events.

See the Mobile Tap, hydration station rental for events and venues, the sister Schiphol terminal post, or request a quote. One bottle sold also means one bottle donated to a school child in Africa.