For those strolling by Nobrow Coffee & Tea Co., the sticker is difficult to spot amid a hodgepodge of concert fliers, community calendars and art-stroll ads.

But the "TapIt" logo may be the most user-friendly message of all: an invitation to come inside for free tap water "no questions asked."

More than 40 Salt Lake City eateries have signed on as official TapIt partners, plopping the stickers on their places and pledging to let the public fill their water bottles for no charge. TapIt, designed to wean people off plastic water bottles to help the environment, is touted as the nation's only water-bottle-refilling network.

"I'm a firm believer that people should get hydration when they need it," Nobrow owner Joe Evans says. "I would love to see most businesses participating."

Restaurants across downtown and in neighborhood nodes such as 15th & 15th and 9th & 9th are.

"We started looking into it and just loved it," Vicki Bennett, the city's director of sustainability, says about the program. "People who carry their own bottles are always saying there's no place to fill it up — and now there is."

Bennett notes fewer places provide drinking fountains due to maintenance costs — another reason to implement TapIt to help residents combat Utah's summer heat. But will the program actually curb water-bottle use, creating more life for the landfill?

"Truthfully, the best thing we're doing is providing a service for people who already carry their own water bottles," Bennett says. "But I'm hoping in the long run that people will see it as an option."

Restaurants participating in TapIt can be located by the stickers and an iPhone application.

City officials say it makes sense to promote free tap water here since the fully treated mountain stream water is consistently a contender for the nation's best-tasting tap water. It also complies with or exceeds all Environmental Protection Agency requirements.

"Bulk water extraction and bottling can negatively affect our communities," Mayor Ralph Becker says in a statement. "Overflowing landfills and looming water shortages are just some of the hidden costs of bottled water."

Participating TapIt businesses, Becker says, believe anyone who wants drinking water should not be forced to buy the public resource in a plastic bottle.

Neither city leaders nor business owners seem concerned that TapIt will lead to an influx of homeless people hanging out in restaurants.

"I don't think that was even a consideration," Bennett says.

Still, before the program, it was not uncommon to see many downtown businesses charging people who walked in off the street for tap water.

Evans says the only time his place charges is during the Days of '47 Parade because of the volume of cups. Now, despite being one of the first merchants to sign on to TapIt, Evans says its difficult to gauge its success.

"It's hard for me to get a sense if the TapIt program is what drives people to come in and get water," he says. "But I support the program wholeheartedly."

djensen@sltrib.com