The following guide provides some lessons learned from a PTA project to bring cold, filtered water to public elementary students at a school in Oakland, CA.  This guide focuses on installing a hydration station, though we do provide other low-tech options for bring water to schools at the end.

Some of the basic questions:

1. What is a hydration station?  A hydration station dispenses cold-filtered water into the water bottles of students, faculty and staff.   The dispenser is much like the soda fountains at fast-food outlets – only when you press cup against the filler you get healthy water – not sugary soda. 
2. Why A Hydration Station?  There are plenty of reasons why a hydration station makes sense.  School drinking fountains often don’t work or aren’t clean.  If they do work, kids often can’t get enough water in one visit to the fountain.  Or if the fountain does work, filling up a water bottle from a fountain is quite a challenge.  The hydration station gives kids a chance to fill-up a water bottle to go so they can stay well hydrated throughout the day. 

Hydration stations placed near cafeterias or food service areas have the added benefits of providing water to aid digestion and to provide a healthy alternative to other meal time beverages.

3. Why is water so important?  Our bodies need water – a lot of it.  Water has everything kids need and nothing kids don't.  Water has no added sodium to make kids thirstier.  Water has zero calories. Children who drink more water are less likely to drink soda or juice.  Water can make help make kids feel fuller so they are less interested in snacking or overeating.  And here’s the clincher:  studies in England show that school kids who are well hydrated perform better on academic tests.

So what are the steps to getting a hydration station at your school?

1. Keep Your Perspective While Building Your Case.  There are so many things than can be done to improve public schools: modernize facilities, provide better support and training for teachers, improve safety, give greater attention to arts, music, physical education, etc.  Hydration probably isn’t at the top of anyone’s list (and rightfully so).  But getting a hydration station going at your school can be both a concrete victory and a symbolic step.  The station is one those tangible improvements that can empower parents because they can see the fruits of their efforts.  It can also symbolize that student health is important to parents and the school.
2. Garner Support:  Every school is different, but to get a hydration station going you are most likely going to need to get the support of the principal and in some cases, your PTA.  If you keep things in perspective (see #1) it shouldn’t be hard to convince them of the benefits of the hydration station.  Depending on your situation, consider repeating some of the following points discussed above:
   • Existing water fountains don’t work. 
   • Filling up a water bottle in a bathroom isn’t hygienic
   • Drinking water will mean kids will drink less soda and juice.
   • Drinking water aids digestion – kids should be able to water bottles into the cafeteria.
   • Water makes kids feel full so that they are less likely to snack.
   • Drinking water can help improve academic performance.

Once you have convinced your Principal and PTA, you may have to convince others, perhaps School District representatives such as the Facilities Staff or Buildings and Grounds.  But you may want to nail down some specifics before engaging them, such as location (see below).  You may encounter opposition – see removing opposition below.

3. Choosing A Location:  Because a hydration station allows students to fill up and take water with them, many locations will work.  Some schools might want to consider locations near food service areas – that way kids can have access to water at meals (see picture). 

But if food service areas aren’t accessible during much of the day or aren’t centrally located, you might want to consider other locations, such as hallways. Because our school’s cafeteria is only accessible to students during meal times (an on-site before and after care program operates out of the cafeteria), that wasn’t an option.  And because our school operates many portables, there really wasn’t a good central hallway or location accessible to all students.  Thankfully, with our somewhat temperate California weather we were able to consider a semi-outdoor installation.  We chose a location that was not too far from the cafeteria building, near a well-used entrance to the school and accessible from the schools playground. 

As you’ll see in the picture, we chose to use an existing window to provide access to our station.  The window is in a ballroom where kids come to get playground equipment during recess so it seemed like a good location.  It was also between two student restrooms and near an existing fountain, so we knew water was nearby (see Thinking About Water and Electricity below).  To make this site work, we took out the bottom of the window and recessed the unit into the ballroom.  To provide access the water we needed to build a little step outside and a little box inside (see construction below). 

While this location provides easy access to students, it also provides easy access to vandals, so we had to take some special steps (see security below).

4. Thinking About Water And Electricity:  The location was also ideal because it was near a water supply and electricity (since we were choosing to chill our water).  The location of water and electric supplies will most likely drive your location options – you might see what opportunities are near one of your existing (and probably non-working) drinking fountains.  The further away you are from these supplies the most costly or more challenging the installation. 

Messing with electricity and water may make your school facilities chief a little nervous, so your school district might insist that they handle it.  Having the district handle this will be a big relief for your project but it may take some advocacy (see Making It Happen below).  If the District wants you to do it, depending on the size of your school, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a parent with some skills.  If not, paying a pro may eat a big hole in your budget.

 

5. Security:  If you have chosen a location within the school, then security is less likely to be a problem. However, if you chose to an external site, as our school did, you will have to ensure that vandals can’t waste water or damage the dispenser. As you’ll see in the photo, we used a window security screen to block access. This security screen was already in place, all we had had to do was put a small lock on it.  The screen is able to be swung out of the way. It is opened at the beginning of school and then locked at the end of the day. We thought this was pretty clever. You may need to develop your own security solution, to protect your investment and to ensure precious water is not wasted.

6. What You’ll Need. Every installation will be different. You can decide if you need to spend a little more or less depending your needs and your budget.  In general, you’ll need:

·         Dispenser/ Sink assembly

·         Chilling Unit

·         Filter

·         Electrical connections

·         Plumbing connections

·         Lumber/Wood/Wire

·         Tile

You may want to spend a little on paint or tile to make the area around the station attractive to students and encourage consumption. We decided to do a mosaic mural around our station depicting a kelp forest featuring our school mascot, the otter.

The cost of these materials will vary but I have provided some estimates as well as descriptions below.

The dispenser.  We got ours at local restaurant supply store – it is also called glass filler.  You’ll want to get something sturdy as it will receive repeated use.  Our dispenser came with a sink unit.  We spent $135.

The chilling unit. This will likely be the biggest ticket item in your budget. If resources are tight, you can consider skipping the chilling unit.  Having chilled water will certainly increase consumption, as most kids will prefer it.

One way to reduce chilling unit costs is to use parts from an old refrigerator to chill the water. We did not try this, but from what we understand crafty folks can rig something up using chilling units from a variety of appliances. Again, if you are trying to save money, this might be a way to go.

Shopping for a chilling unit wasn’t so hard, thanks to the internet. A mom from our school volunteered to do some online shopping.  But first we needed to know what we wanted. Luckily, one Dad at our school grew up in the business. He recommended a few of the major brands: Halsey-Taylor, Elkay and Oasis.  There are several websites you might want to check out:

r     drinking fountain-net

r     classwater.com

r     plumbingsupply.com

r     allfountains.net

r     equiparts.net

If you can afford it, go for a larger output (12 gallons or more per hour).  If not, go with a cheaper unit, but recognize that during peak times (lunch times) that unit may fall behind and the water might not be as cold.  Again, the colder the water the more likely it will be consumed (but partially chilled will do, too).

We paid a little more ($665) for 12 gallon per hour unit.  If you expect less demand, you could get a 5 gallon per hour unit for less than $500.  We went with the Halsey Taylor brand but the advice we got is that all the major brands are comparable, so just try to get the most output for your money.

The Filter System.  Our water in Oakland comes from the Mokelumne River in the Sierra Nevada range.  Like much of the water in California, it is delicious.  However, our school has been around along time and so have our pipes.  So to play it safe, we installed a filter system.  We got the system from the same restaurant supply store where we got the dispenser.  It cost $125.  We bought a replacement filter to keep on hand.  The replacement filters cost us $67.  Depending on your school, you can skip the filter, but we think parents would feel better if you didn’t skimp here.

Electrical connections.  We were able to do the electrical connections ourselves – it doesn’t take much skill.  We simply bought a heavy duty electrical cord extension cord designed for an air conditioner from the local hardware store.  We cut off the female end and wired it into the chilling unit.  Thankfully, there was an outlet nearby so we could connect the electricity pretty easily.

Plumbing Connections:  Our district staff insisted on doing the plumbing connections.  While this led to considerable delays (see below), they did a quality job with no impact on our limited budget.  You may have a parent-plumber at your school who can do the job for free and fast.  You’ll need to connect the water supply to the filter to the chilling unit to the dispenser.  You will also need to connect the sink drain to the waste water pipe.  There’s nothing to tricky here but you’ll want someone (and your district will, too) who knows what they are doing.

Lumber and other materials.  In our station, we needed to build a box to house our dispenser.  We also needed to find a way to keep little fingers from touching the chilling unit, yet still allow proper ventilation.  The solution was wire covered box.  Depending on your situation, you’ll have to spend a little on lumber and other materials to make things work.

Tile:  We used tile to surround our dispenser but you could also build the unit into a countertop (see the 3 dispenser station above).  We are also used tile as part of our mosaic that will surround the station.  This is a nice touch but you don’t have to include such an effort, if your budget does not permit it.

Making it Happen:   Developing the plan wasn’t hard, but implementation was.  Here are some steps, we went through:

r     Securing PTA Support.  We did a sticky-dot exercise to prioritize school improvements.  After all of the compelling arguments for the hydration station from above were made, we not only got support but a commitment of some funding.

r     Fundraising:  We couldn’t do the project on just PTA funds so we approached one of our City Council people (Jean Quan) about providing matching funds.  Our City Council members have PayGo funds that they can use for community projects.  We wrote a proposal for matching funds and thankfully, Council Member Quan approved it.  You should consider contacting local elected officials, local hospitals (as they have an interest in healthy living), and even your local water department for financial support for your project.

r     Get Principal’s Support and Action.  We didn’t have a hard time with this.  In fact, we had a change in Principals during our project.  Thankfully, the new Principal not only cares about children’s health but also had a gentle, but forceful way of pressuring the district to hook our water up.  Her persistence really paid off, so you really should spend the time to get your principal on board.

r     Pressuring the District:  We really had everything in place and ready to go except for the water and plumbing about 9 months before our project was completed.  Our biggest challenge was getting the district out to connect the water.  As discussed above, it takes a lot of advocacy to get attention to such a project when many schools are dealing with things like asbestos, broken boilers, etc. 

r     Removing opposition:  Despite the many benefits of free water, there may be some resistance.  You may not face resistance, but if you do, it is good to be prepared.  

Beverage Contracts:  One potential source can come from those that benefit from beverage sales.  Even though soda has been banned in California, many school districts still have beverage contracts.  The contractors (often soda companies that may also sell bottled water, juice, sports drinks) may be concerned that offering something for free is going to hurt their business.  District lawyers may be a little squirrelly about doing anything that would be appear to be in conflict with a beverage contract.  In this situation, you must go to your school board and ask that they put student health before beverage contract profits.  If you are unsuccessful within the current contract, demand that your school board not enter into another contract that would limit the availability of free water at school. 

Food Services:  Your school food service official may also voice opposition because of confusion about school lunch regulations.  Because the milk offered in school cafeterias delivers a lot of nutrients (especially to low-income kids), rules have been developed to ensure that beverages don’t compete with milk sales.  Problems can be avoided by ensuring that water does not compete by offering it for free and if possible making it available where schools meals are eaten instead of sold (meaning after the cash registers/swipe stations in the cafeteria lines).  There is still more clarification needed in this area – we’ll post when we learn more.

Inexpensive Alternatives To A Hydration Station.  Not all schools may have the resources or the existing water supply to make water available at school.  There are a couple of low-tech options:

Inverted water jugs.  Common, large 5 –gallon water jugs can be used to avoid a major investment in plumbing to get water into food service and other areas.  A bay area high school fills these water jugs for use during meal times.  The water need not be chilled and can come from an existing tap.  The jugs can then be transported to the food service or other area.

Pitchers.  Can’t get much lower tech than this.  Large schools may have challenges with this option, but it may be ideal for small schools. 

Good luck with bringing water to your school.  The Montclair Elementary School Health and Safety Committee is happy to answer your questions.  Feel free to email us with questions at george@cfpa.net or call George at 510-532-6768.  We’ll continue to update this information with your tips and suggestions, so please send them our way.