Venice is fizzing up its campaign to persuade citizens to move from bottled to tap water.
The city's water utility, Veritas, is offering residents a ten-euro discount on carbonators that put bubbles into tap water.
''We're eager to give fizzy water lovers the chance to enjoy the mayor's water,'' said Veritas CEO Andrea Razzini.
Tap water is often jocularly known as 'the mayor's water' and Venice Mayor Massimo Cacciari has been appearing on billboards for a year to boost its use.
Cacciari, a philosophy professor, belies his sober image in holding up a jug of water to smilingly say: Look, I Drink The Mayor's Water Too.
Venice gave out 130,000 free jugs last year to kick start the drive to steer people away from bottled water, an environmentalist's bugbear because of its costs and disposal problems.
The discounted carbonators - 64.90 euros instead of 79.40 - are the second stage of the campaign.
Razzini said the initiative had already produced a 4% increase in the use of Veritas's water.
