Water Fountains....what happened to them?

malmo wrote:

That's a great observation. They haven't gone the way of the telephone booth, but, you're right, drinking fountains are less prevalent today. I wonder if there are any architects there who can provide a definitive explanation or confirmation?

I have no direct expertise but my guess is, official cost cutting justified by supposed lack of demand, ie like the telephone, municipalities thinking, residents will use their taps, or business water fountains, or their own suburban affluence, etc. Which is a shame because I think public policy should be not just a reflection but a promulgation... A program of positive influence. Encourage and teach people to hydrate and have pride in public commons. Maintain parks and garbage bins and water fountains. I too am sad as water fountains used to be very useful to me, as a neighborhood kid/teen playing and as a runner.

water bottles wrote:

Proliferation of bottled water and refillable bottles probably really killed off the need for them. Many of the water fountains on my campus have been replaced with bottle refilling stations.

This. And also, many people don't trust tap water unless it's filtered.

Any dentists or scientists that can comment on the lack of fluoridation effect on teeth by avoiding tap water? Just curious since bottled water isn't usually fluoridated. (Or is it?)

My university agreed to take money from coke and part of the agreement was that the school get rid of all water fountains so coke could sell more daisani water.

This was a secret agreement of course until it came to light.

Actually most bottled water like Dasni, is filled right from the tap using city water at the bottling plants. It may be filtered, but not to a degree that fluoride would be removed.

trollism wrote:

Guessing it's something to do with transgenders but not sure what exactly.

But I'm angry.

More truth to it than you know.

Kidding aside it does have to do with diseases and "immigrants".

Do you think it might have to do with people’s perceptions about how sanitary they are?

I usually look twice and think, I’m sure it’s fine... I was drinking at a fountain the other day. I knew my friend was thirsty, but he didn’t drink. He shrugged and said, at his high school, people used to prank the fountains by pissing on them.

I had never heard of that, maybe it was just at his school, or a new thing – he’s a couple of years out of HS. (This is just n=1, I don’t mean to be starting anything.)

There is no water in CA.

drinking the agua wrote:

water bottles wrote:

Proliferation of bottled water and refillable bottles probably really killed off the need for them. Many of the water fountains on my campus have been replaced with bottle refilling stations.

This. And also, many people don't trust tap water unless it's filtered.

Any dentists or scientists that can comment on the lack of fluoridation effect on teeth by avoiding tap water? Just curious since bottled water isn't usually fluoridated. (Or is it?)

Only idiots drink "purified" bottled water. Never mind flouridation, the lack of minerals in general will kill you. Especially magnesium, which you'll never get enough of from food.

I would vote for a politician who promised to make America hydrate again by bringing back water fountains. It's a beautiful option on a 15 mile run in August.

Here at Miss Porter's School for Girls the water fountain is celebrated.

The fascinating history of public water fountains:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/14/history-of-water-fountains_n_6357064.html

Uselessly fascinating:

Controversies such as the lead poisoning scare may have dented the popularity of drinking fountains, making them vulnerable to competition — which finally came, in the 1980s, in the form of bottled water. Starting in the late ‘80s, American consumption of bottled water skyrocketed, rising from about seven gallons per American in 1987 to 30 gallons per American in 2007. MacArthur fellow Peter Gleick argued, in his landmark history Bottled and Sold, that the rise of bottled water was instrumental in the declining popularity of drinking fountains

In recent years, various forces — including the EPA — have tried to reverse the movement against drinking fountains. They argue that the consumption of bottled water is wasteful, on several levels, and that we should embrace drinking fountains as a more sustainable, economic alternative. Some have proposed installing new, better drinking fountains, as a way to encourage their use. There’s even an app that helps people find drinking fountains in public places. It’s too early to say whether these efforts will succeed. But if the last 150 years have shown anything, it’s that drinking fountains are resilient.

He meant *drinking fountains.*

The Guru Matt James wrote:

bottled water is more expensive and wasteful, so it makes no sense to me to abandon these water fountains.

Local government Republicans happened to them. In an era of constantly cutting budgets, where more dollars are earmarked for public safety than anything else, the Socialist sharing of water via a city paid-for service is rapidly being destroyed. The only way you can get them repaired, installed, serviced is by donating money for that specific purpose.

The Guru Matt James wrote:

Maybe this is localized to my area (Springfield/Hartford), but it seems like water fountains are becoming less and less prevalent. Water fountains I used to utilize on runs several years ago have either been removed or permanently turned off. In fact, I'd wager at least 66% of the water fountains I come across are out of commission. Perhaps late April is still too early, but I noticed this all last summer as well. And it is the same whether I'm running in the rich suburbs or in the hood.

Anyone else lamenting the demise of the water fountain?

Discus.

This post brings a few things to mind. In elementary school my friends and I, when looking at the water fountain, wished for lemonade fountains and chocolate milk fountains. In Jr. High and HS you had to check the fountain for a lodged stick in the spout that would make the water spray 15 feet in the air or look for a condom or something attached to the fountain.... Or Vaseline on the handles. And then in college we had a drinking fountain at the track that not once worked and/or was never turned on. And now I'm a teacher and realizing that often when a kid wants to get a drink of water from a water fountain, it's really a tactic used to avoid concentrating, applying themselves, or doing work.

Vandalism

In So Cal a couple of my water fountains I used were shut off this year. I think it was some stupid save water because of the drought thing. Yes its our drinking water usage that is taxing the states water usage. At many restaurants now they won't serve you water unless you ask for it or refill an empty water glass unless asked in an effort to save water. My state is so stupid.

I'm from MI, and shortly after I returned from a CA trip the whole Flint lead water thing hit. In CA, you're chastised if you let the faucet run before drinking. In MI, it's practically required ("Get the lead out" was seriously a catchphrase for running your water a few minutes before drinking to flush the lines).

What I'm finding out now is there are lead pipes and plumbing components all over the country. So what do you do in CA? Just don't drink the water?

The lead pipes are in old cities. It's very common for old cities and every place that has such issues adds phosphoric acid or does something to avoid the lead leaching out. One of the things that makes the Flint situation so inexcusable is that treating it was technically trivial and should have been an obvious thing to check out when they switched water sources.

Anyway, it's probably not a problem in most of CA, which has newer pipes. Maybe in San Fran or some older places.

People use about 100 gallons of water per person per day in their house and with commercial and industrial it adds up to about 200 gallons per person per day for a city. Getting an extra glass of water at a restaurant or letting it run a bit while you're brushing your teeth is not significant.

Also consider like 80% of the state's water goes to agriculture. And that's probably a low ball guess.

Disk did wrote:

My university agreed to take money from coke and part of the agreement was that the school get rid of all water fountains so coke could sell more daisani water.

This was a secret agreement of course until it came to light.

What university? This sounds implausible. Urban folklore, possibly?