If you are a responsible student who carries a refillable water bottle everywhere you go, you’ve run into the all-too-annoying water fountain with barely enough water pressure to reach your mouth, let alone fill your bottle.
The University should work to replace most traditional water fountains with water bottle fillers, which are already in place in some class buildings, as well as Lenoir Dining Hall and the Student Union.
This would make it easier for students to carry refillable water bottles because the water fountains would actually be capable of filling them.
Carrying a reusable water bottle around instead of disposable bottles is responsible, but it’s also infuriating on a health-conscious campus where water fountains aren’t capable of getting more than a few sips of water in a bottle in one sitting.
The filling stations would also reduce waste, encouraging those who use disposable water bottles to switch to reusable containers.
Retrofitting all of our existing water fountains to water bottle filling stations would cost roughly $770 per station, along with the labor costs associated with installation.
If one person drinks one 16 ounce disposable bottle of water every day, it creates a huge pile of empty plastic bottles — not to mention it costs disposable bottle users hundreds of dollars a year just to keep water on hand.
Why not go ahead and switch to an easier and more sustainable method?
