With the various amount of water fountains around school, they have become an essential part of everyday school life. Both students and faculty alike can be seen sipping water from the fountains and filling their water bottles around the school during class, in between periods or even after school. Due to this, water fountains play a vital (and perhaps underappreciated) role in the school, which is why a review was conducted on the ones seen around the building.
In order to properly do the rating, multiple factors were taken into consideration. The main ones accounted for were temperature, water pressure, taste, location, inclusion of water bottle fillers and the overall cleanliness of the water spout. Each cluster of fountains was rated from 1-10, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best.
Interestingly enough, a general trend noted was that most of the water fountains closer to the girls’ restroom were often cleaner, colder and had a significantly better taste compared to the fountains closer to the boy’s restroom in each hallway. This trend occurred in places such as the cafeteria and the D100/ELA hallway. However, this trend did have some outliers and may be coincidental and thus should be taken with a grain of salt before attempting to drink from a fountain.
For those who are looking to avoid the worst fountains, the ones in the B000/Art hallway are unfortunately plagued with various issues, ending up with a 3.5/10 rating. The water pressure is extremely high, to the point where the water flies outside the fountain and onto the floor, creating a watery mess in the process. In addition, the water itself had a strange and lukewarm taste to it, bringing down the score. The cleanliness of the fountains were also somewhat questionable. Students should try to avoid these fountains unless absolutely necessary.
On a more positive note, for students looking for the best water fountains in the school, objectively those would be in the D000 hallway – they were clean, had a decent water pressure and overall were the best-tasting fountains. Unfortunately, they are out of the way and likely wouldn’t be worth a trip to visit them. Thankfully, the water fountains in the cafeteria were a close second and are much more accessible to students and faculty alike.
A review of the school water fountains may seem silly at first, but it in fact highlights many of the underlying issues that deter many students from drinking from them. Overall, most of the school water fountains scored an average of 5.5/10. While painstakingly average, the main issues for low-scoring fountains were usually due to issues with water pressure, taste and temperature. Many of the fountains would benefit from some much-needed upgrades such as water bottle fillers, which the D100, B000 and D000 hallway lacked. A more thorough cleaning of the fountains, along with the addition of water bottle fillers, and perhaps a look into the water pressure and temperature, would undoubtedly increase the overall rating of the school water fountains.
