Have you seen the drinking fountain in the Student Center that has an automatic water-bottle filler on the wall behind it? That thing is awesome! I am one of those people who are always stopping to use the drinking fountains in buildings. It seems like I never remember to bring my own water or I drink what I brought and need a refill. I take medication that makes my mouth dry and I am constantly in need of a little more moisture to keep my tongue from sticking to the roof of my mouth and the frogs out of my throat.
During my first trip to the Student Center to get my books on Monday I happened to have a water bottle with me. I didn’t plan it that way – my daughter and I went out Sunday afternoon and she had left it in the car -- so I had it in my bag to bring it back to her. That turned out for the best for me though because I was able to fill it at the drinking fountains on campus throughout the day. I never dreamed I’d get bottled water quality from one of the school’s hallway fountains.
It looks like they retrofitted a standard drinking fountain with a stainless steel attachment that covered the wall above the drinking fountain. It has a spout at the top, about a foot above the top of the fountain, with directions showing where to put your bottle or container and it automatically sensed the presence of my bottle and started dispensing water. I was thrilled when the water came out clear and cold and in the perfect location to go directly into my bottle without getting all over my hand. My bottle was full very quickly and when I tasted the water it really did taste much better than standard drinking fountain fare.
This may be due to my age or just my temperament, but I am not usually enamored with automatic bathroom fixtures like the soap, sink and towel dispensers. However, this is one automatic dispenser that I enthusiastically support using. It was fast, convenient and provided a better tasting quality water than I got from the drinking fountains I found on the rest of the campus. Imagine my delight when I went to my Thursday night class at the Owen Building at the College of Business and found more of these drinking fountains!
Whoever is in charge of these things, thank you very much and keep installing those dispensers. I saw a few in the Owen Building at the College of Business and I think you should make it a point to install these on all the drinking fountains campus-wide. The taste of the water was so much better than just getting a drink from the traditional fountain spout. I just know it was much better for me as well as saving on the number of water bottles that end up in landfills. And I’ll make a note to myself to get a good water bottle I can keep with me all the time when I am on campus – or maybe I’ll just steal my daughter’s.
