<p>A growing trend, according to USA Today, is the removal of bottled water from campus stores and eateries, and to instead offer "hydration stations." These are a lot like the antique devices (used by some of us in ye olden days) called "water fountains," but are designed to make it easy to fill water bottles brought by the thirsty user. One pictured in the article had a digital readout showing how many plastic bottles had been avoided by using the station.</p>
<p>Of course, not all students are ready for such a totalitarian ban. On one campus, protesters handed out bottled water to passers-by.</p>
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According to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), 14 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada have campus-wide bans, while another dozen or so have bans that cover a portion of campus.
<p>I do find the popularity of bottled water in the US odd. It is not like in some countries where even the locals boil the tap water before drinking it because it is otherwise unsafe.</p>
<p>Ucbalumnus, most US tap water is fine, but marketers have convinced us that water from a faraway source is superior. In fact, a lot of the bottled water isn’t from a mountain spring, or from Fiji, but rather from a municipal water source (perhaps with some additional processing). Brilliant marketing.</p>
<p>Having said that, I’ve lived in a few places that relied on well water (which was safe but had flavor and even aroma issues) or that had old pipes that added contaminants to the municipal water. Neither of those are an issue on most campuses.</p>
<p>Just more examples of the US turning into a socialist nanny state ala the UK. We all know the hole in the ozone is the fault of Aquafina right? The whole “every little bit helps” is as silly a belief as the belief that vegetarians cause fewer cows to die or refusing to shop somewhere impacts a retailer.</p>
<p>And I’ll pass on these drinking fountains with a straw. I don’t want herpes from the dude who rams his slobbered up pus riddled water bottle against the nozzle.</p>
<p>Banning bottled water is a moronic idea, to put it bluntly. All it will do is lure students over to sugary beverages. (And banning those is silly, too, but that’s a different story.)</p>
<p>“Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”</p>
<p>I propose that colleges offer both choices - let the students decide. That is how it works where I go - lots of people use the filtered fountain, while those in a hurry are free to buy a bottle.</p>
<p>My college also has discounts on coffee, fountain drinks, etc. for those who bring a reusable thermos/bottle.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t that be a better solution - offer incentives, but ultimately let the students decide?</p>
<p>College students are smart enough to know better than to start drinking loads of soda or ‘juice cocktail beverages’ as a substitute for bottled water.</p>
<p>The bottled water craze has always amused me, too. But banning the product is an overreaction. The return of the beloved ‘water fountain,’ lovingly remembered from grade school, would be a very welcome development. By the way, did you ever notice that most municipal parks have water fountains, but they seldom work or seldom produce tasty or ample water?</p>
<p>Colleges are a business- they can choose to sell whatever they want. </p>
<p>@queen- Seriously? “Nanny state”? No. This is freedom of choice- the college CHOOSES to not sell it just as a store would. A “nanny state” would be banning the sale and possession of plastic water bottles nationwide. </p>
<p>This is a good idea. I have a refillable water bottle that I usually just get out of my filtered pitcher in my fridge or fill up at a drinking fountain. I wish my school offered these.</p>
<p>They put one of these in at UVA but they still sell lots of bottled water, too. I never saw the problem with using the soda machine water tabs, and you got ice that way, too.</p>
<p>I think it is an EXCELLENT idea to discourage the routine use of bottled water and encourage refillable water bottles. The environmental benefits are obvious and huge. I know a girl who has been involved in the effort on her campus. Good for her.</p>
<p>We had these installed in the office about 15 years ago. We had bottled water and it was replaced by filter + heated/chilled water. We paid $1 per bottle of water (contract with the food company). The water machine was about $300 and I’d guess that we pay $100/quarter for filter service. The water machine also provides hot water for tea, hot chocolate, etc. The filters also serve our coffee service machine.</p>
<p>I would guess that we went through about 70 bottles a day (there are also soft drinks and juices in cans and bottles). So I think that we save a ton of money using filtered water.</p>
<p>BTW, I generally bring a water bottle and fill it from a water fountain or filter machine where they are available.</p>
<p>We have hydration stations at umich. I am unsure what the attraction is since you can just as easily fill a water bottle with a normal water fountain.</p>
Here are some articles to save me from typing it out. Basically the same argument you make against the Prius, and more. If you don’t believe in global warming, whatever; skip it, it doesn’t change the info very much.</p>
<p>You really think that manufacturing one-use bottles, filling them up, and trucking them to stores has less environmental impact than using the existing piped treated water (which is the source for some brands of bottled water)?</p>
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<p>Perhaps a greater environmental impact than a Yaris, but less than a more typical (in the US) larger/heavier/thirstier car like a Camry or larger vehicle like a 4Runner, Sienna, or Tundra.</p>