Tap water I actually dare to drink – Visiting Hans Striekwold of Quuick in Spain

After previous pieces on clever and sustainable ways to keep your home cool, this time I paid a visit to Hans Striekwold of Quuick – a man who knows more than most about tap water in Spain.

They were already in place, as if they knew company was coming. Kees and Coco, two French bulldogs with the stare of a customs officer and the patience of a cathedral. They did what French bulldogs inevitably do: inspect, judge, and eventually approve. After a thorough inspection of my shoes, I was granted entry.

There are places you walk into and immediately sense: someone here has their life well organised. In Moraira, tucked away among the lemon trees, I find one of those places. No showroom, no slick sales pitch. Just an outdoor kitchen that’s clearly lived in. A neat worktop scattered with herbs, a chopping board well past its prime, and in the middle of it all: the tap.

Within five minutes, I’d drunk tap water I’d normally only trust from a bottle. Turns out, tap water in Spain can be fresh – at least at Hans from Quuick’s place!

Not a showroom – a home

Hans Striekwold both lives and works here. He’s the man behind Quuick in Spain— the official Quooker dealer and resident tap water expert for the Costa Blanca and Costa Valencia. But he’d much rather introduce himself as a no-nonsense installer than a “dealer”. His outdoor kitchen isn’t a showroom, it’s a working manual. Everything functions here. Everything belongs here.

“You see it straight away,” he says, filling a glass with one hand. “We live outdoors here. And the last thing you want is three appliances cluttering up your worktop, five types of bottled water, and a kettle that gives up the ghost half the time.”

The glass in my hand holds cool, clear water. Not tepid, not musty. Just… good. And that’s newsworthy, here in Spain.

Fear of the tap – not the cold

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve stood in Spanish kitchens with a glass under the tap, only to pour it into a plant pot instead. It tastes of pipes. Of doubt. Around here, bottled water isn’t a luxury — it’s self-defence.

Hans nods as I explain. “The water quality really is different,” he says. “And it varies from region to region. Take Benissa, for example – the water there travels underground all the way from Madrid. It’s top quality. No smell, no aftertaste, just genuinely drinkable. But drive twenty kilometres in the other direction, and you’re dealing with water so hard it could turn your washing machine to stone. In the Netherlands, we call 8 or 9 degrees ‘hard’ water. Here, I sometimes measure 26.”

I raise an eyebrow. My skin tightens at the thought alone. “A decent filter isn’t a luxury here,” Hans says. “It’s not just about what you drink – it’s about your hair, your skin, and your appliances too.”

The secret beneath the tap

I ask how it actually works. Filtering is filtering, right?
“There’s high-grade carbon in the filter,” Hans explains. “And there’s a technique behind it that only Quooker truly understands. But what matters is the result. And you can taste that.”

It sounds like a culinary secret your gran would only pass down in whispers. What I taste is exactly as promised – clear, cold, refreshing, and completely odourless. As if the water had just come back from a yoga retreat.

One tap. Four types of water. No fuss.

What really surprises me is how simple it all is. One tap. No light show, no touchscreens. No plastic Brita jug turning mouldy after three weeks. Just water – in four varieties: cold, boiling, sparkling, and plain drinkable. All from the same spout. The Quooker looks as if it’s been part of this kitchen for years – like an old friend who just happens to dispense 108-degree boiling water. With a subtle LED ring that glows red for hot, blue for cold. Job done.

“Most people assume it must be a hassle to install,” says Hans. “But I’m usually done in half a day. And it saves so much faff. No more lugging bottles, no separate sparkling water gadgets, and above all – no plastic waste.”

He does the maths for me: “The average household here easily spends around three hundred euros a year on still bottled water. Add sparkling into the mix and you’re talking serious money. Within a few years, you’ve earned it back. And what you get in return is real comfort.”

Comfort – that’s the key word here. No plastic, no waiting, no faff.

Kees and Coco start barking as someone walks onto the drive. Hans excuses himself and strolls off without a hint of hurry. I’m left alone with the Quooker – and a glass of sparkling water that tastes better than anything I’ve ever had from a bottle.

Not a gadget. Just common sense.

What I appreciate is that Hans isn’t trying to sell me anything. He simply has something that works – and he installs it for people who actually want it. No gadgets, no gimmicks. Just a tap that fits into a way of living where convenience doesn’t have to come at the expense of atmosphere.

The lemon tree beside the worktop is heavy with fruit. Its scent mingles with that of freshly ground coffee. I take another sip. It’s almost irritating how natural it all feels.

Kees comes and sits beside me, eyeing my glass. Coco lies under the table, letting out a low grumble – as if she’s not entirely convinced by my enthusiasm. I get it. This is Spain. And in Spain, you don’t drink tap water. Except here. Thanks to Quuick.

This Casa Y Vida edition was created in collaboration with Hans Striekwold, Quooker dealer and installer on the Costa Blanca. Want to know more about installation or available models? Visit www.quuick.nl.