Research Project
University of Georgia
Sustainability Signature Studio
Project Duration
1 Month
Coming back from studying abroad in Italy, where one could not walk more than a quarter mile in even a rural city without finding a water fountain, I was made too clearly aware of the lack of public water fountains in the United States, especially in the South. Going back to Atlanta in August, news outlets could not stop talking about the extreme heat, the record breaking temperatures, and the creeping consequences of climate change in daily American lives.
I remember going for a run and forgetting my water bottle. I ended up going a couple miles until I felt light-headed and too hot. I was near a park, and I found a water fountain–covered in spiders, hot to the touch, and metallic, lukewarm water inside it. I felt lucky.
The few truly public drinking fountains in the U.S. are usually around parks and greenspaces, but those are lacking overall in American cities. With the amount of urban sprawl, the distances between these grows too long for pedestrians or even cyclists, requiring people to drive, especially with the lack of public transportation available.
Because of the lack of public drinking fountains, in order to access water, one must have a home with running water (with trustworthy tap water, also a rising issue as infrastructure ages), or the means to a grocery store or gas station to buy bottled water (contributing to the amount of plastic consumed, and in the manufacturing process, requires 1.6 liters to produce a single liter of water).
I humbly propose to install a network of water fountains in American cities for public health and security. Insecure access to water affects us all, especially when temperatures demand that one should stay hydrated more than usual in order to avoid death. With the climate in the South steadily gaining heat, this issue is becoming ever more urgent.
Sources:
- Geographies of insecure water access and the housing–water nexus in US cities. Katie Meehan, Jason R. Jurjevich, Nicholas M. J. W. Chun, and Justin Sherrill. Edited by William A. V. Clark, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, and approved September 21, 2020 (received for review April 20, 2020) November 2, 2020 117 (46) 28700-28707 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2007361117
- “Mapping Food Deserts in the United States” December 01, 2011. Michele Ver Ploeg, David Nulph, and Ryan Williamshttps://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2011/december/data-feature-mapping-food-deserts-in-the-us/
- U.N. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/FactSheet35en.pdf
- https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/index.html
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-dont-trust-drinking-fountains-anymore-and-thats-bad-for-our-health/2015/07/02/24eca9bc-15f0-11e5-9ddc-e3353542100c_story.html
- https://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Drinking_Fountains_and_Public_Health_Feb_2017-1.pdf
Alexa Pfeiffer 