Drink Up! part 1: Lafayette's Water Bottle Filling Stations

Yes it's true. Lafayette College has embraced the idea of retrofitted water bottle filling stations.This small college, located in Easton, PA (60 miles north of Philadelphia) holds only 2,406 students. It is named for the French aristocrat Marquis De Lafayette, who was said to be a man of courage, talent and virtue.

On May 8th, 2009, seven refilling stations were installed in high traffic buildings. This effort was student led. The goal was to "decrease the number of disposable water bottles discarded on campus." This project was a result of Lafayette's 2007 Technology Clinic. Technology Clinic is a course at Lafayette that brings together students from different majors to solve real world problems. In the case of the 2007 Tech Clinic it was "reducing Lafayette's carbon footprint."

The water bottle refilling units installed are actually water coolers that have been retrofitted to water fountains. At first the students who came up with the idea weren't sure if students would actually use the filling stations or stick to their disposable water bottles. After all, it seems that they are more convenient. To solve this issue engineering students analyzed the quality of the water and also how it would affect the usage of the filling stations. They decided that to make the idea more "attractive" they needed to provide students with the best tasting water possible. So they conducted taste tests to find the perfect filter. To further promote their project, incoming freshmen were given BPA free water bottles.

At the end of the day, it looks as if the Lafayette student's project was a successful one. "People love the filling stations. I’d say most students use reusable bottles and the filling stations make it much more convenient to refill them," says Jenn Bell, a member of the class of 2011 and the president of L.E.A.P (Lafayette Environmental Protection and Awareness).


* The above photo is a picture of students posing by one of seven water filling stations on Lafayette's campus