In response to Chinese media's criticism that Starbucks is wasting China's water resources by allowing tap water at its stores to flow continuously, Starbucks' China Headquarters in Shanghai has issued an announcement to the media to clarify the water use at its stores.

In the announcement, Starbucks says that the constant water flow in the Starbucks' stores is for washing the food utensils now that the flowing water can prevent the growth of microorganism and bacteria, and the company often tries its best to keep the water flow to a minimum, while also meeting the demand for cleanliness.

For the previous media reports that Starbucks' fifty stores can cause a waste of up to 100 tons of water each day, a public relations manager from Starbucks Greater China is quoted as saying that actually only a small quantity of water flows through Starbucks' water taps every day and it can't waste as much water as the media reported. But she does not disclose how much water flows through each day or how much water Starbucks stores use every day.

Starbucks has reportedly also asked each of its stores to adjust the controls of the water taps in a flexible manner in accordance with the customer flow.